By Ian Sherr

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – The U.S. economy may have begun to recover in 2009, but holiday office parties are sinking even further into the dumps.

Fewer companies plan to break out the bubbly this season than in 2008, at the height of the global financial crisis, according to a survey from Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.

Only 62 percent of about 100 companies that responded to the survey were planning holiday parties this year, down from 77 percent a year ago and 90 percent in 2007, as recession-era cuts extended from benefits and profit-sharing to Santa hats and disc jockeys.

“For companies that have recently announced layoffs or other significant cost-cutting measures, such as wage freezes, it would be difficult to justify, let alone get in the mood for a holiday party,” said John Challenger, the firm’s chief executive officer.

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By Ian Sherr

CHICAGO (Reuters) – With only 160 shopping days left, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in some stores.

After U.S. retailers posted 10 straight months of sales declines, some chains are trying to bring holiday spirit — and revenue — to the summer with “Christmas in July” promotions.

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By Ian Sherr

Santa’s not getting any rest this year.

After U.S. retailers posted the longest running decline in same-store sales in nearly a decade, Sears, Kmart and Toys R Us announced Christmas-themed sales for the month of July. While actual sale dates and locations vary among the three chains, the event has drawn a lot of attention from news media, which had the once-in-a-year joy of headlining a story with “Christmas in July.”

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By Ian Sherr

CHICAGO, July 9 (Reuters) – U.S. retailer Sears is hoping not only to fulfill every child’s dream of Christmas in July, but also its coffers.

With only 168 days left before the holiday, Sears Holdings Corp’s Sears department stores have put out winter merchandise, trying to get customers to do their holiday shopping early.

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By Ian Sherr

A new survey by the National Retail Federation found that consumers are planning to spend significantly less on Father’s Day than they did last year.

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By Ian Sherr

My father can cook. Or so he says.

I grew up hearing stories of how my father wooed my mother by cooking her fabulous dinners and serving them to her over his grand piano in his tiny New York apartment.

The story, as my father tells it, was that his apartment was too small to hold a table and his piano and, being a world-class concert pianist, he chose the piano. So he bought a cover for the piano and fed his dates. I imagine he probably serenaded them, too, but the details have been lost both to time and trailing mumbled memories.

Still, what I’ve been brought up to believe is that my father can cook. And my mother – she grew up in Atlanta in the ’40s. Of course she can cook.

So what shocked my girlfriend, Laura, was that Thanksgiving this year was going to be catered by Marie Callender’s.

I said my parents could cook. I didn’t say they did.

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