Enesco files Chapter 11
Giftware company Enesco plans to file voluntary bankruptcy and will be purchased by a private equity firm. Tinicum Capital Partners agreed to buy virtually all Enesco assets and assume the company's unsecured liabilities. Enesco does not anticipate any distribution to its stockholders from the transaction. In the past year, the troubled giftware giant was de-listed from the New York Stock Exchange and went through a series of executive changes.

4.8% growth for retail forecast
Nat.'l. Retail Federation released its 2007 forecast last week, predicting that retail industry sales (which exclude automobiles, gas stations and restaurants) will increase 4.8% from last year. NRF expects subdued first-half economic growth to give way to accelerated sales in the second half. "This year, slow economic growth will be reflected in moderate consumer spending and retail sales gains," said NRF chief economist Rosalind Wells. "The quarterly industry sales pattern will be the opposite of last year with modest gains early in the year and better increases in the second half." NRF expects demand for merchandise related to the home will be impacted by a soft housing market.

Merchants push PIN transactions
More mom-and-pop retailers are encouraging customers to use PIN numbers at checkout, according to The Wall Street Journal. Merchants fed up with rising costs of accepting cards are steering customers toward this method, which has lower transaction fees. Wal-Mart and CVS have been using this strategy for years. There is a downside for consumers, though. PIN-based transactions don't allow customers to earn credit card rewards.

Cell phones become digital wallets
Visa unveiled technology allowing consumers to make payments using cell phones at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this month. The system can be used for mobile contactless payments, remote payments, person-to-person payments and mobile coupons. The technology was trialed at Phillips Arena in Atlanta last year. Consumers swipe phones across card scanners that read information on a microchip embedded in the handset, E-Commerce Times reported. Customers authorize purchases by pushing a button on the handset.

PPA names 'Rozanne' Plant of the Year
Geranium 'Rozanne' is Perennial Plant Assoc.'s 2008 Perennial Plant of the Year. The plant produces 2½-inch, violet-blue summer flowers with white centers. Deep-green foliage is slightly marbled and the plant has a mounding habit, reaching 20 inches high. It's hardy in USDA Hardiness Zones 5-8 and was discovered by Donald and Rozanne Waterer in Somerset, England, in 1989. It was introduced by Blooms of Bressingham in 2000.

Heritage wins Perennials Marketing Contest
Heritage Nursery and Garden Center in Kennewick, Wash., won the 2006 Perennials Marketing Contest sponsored by Plant Publicity Holland and Perennial Plant Assoc. The store's winning submission was called "The Sky's the Limit … Plant Perennials!" Fall-blooming perennials were prominently featured in displays. "It was our way of welcoming our customers back to the nursery after the 90-degree-plus temperatures we endured all summer," nursery manager Laurie Montero told Holland Nursery News. The winners will receive a trip for 2 to Holland in August. Garden Center Magazine is media sponsor for the contest.

Worth a visit
Retail consultant Ian Baldwin says the new generation of customers (and quite a lot of the older ones) are overwhelmed with the plethora of choices in plant material. Only on GreenBeam.com.

View from a blog
Are flower bulb sales a thing of the past? Open Register