Beach-goers and pinickers aren't the only ones happy with the warm weather. An early spring and improving economy have lifted demand for merchandise such as clothing, whose sales heavily depend on the weather and disposable income.

The International Council of Shopping Centers estimates a 3 percent to 5 percent increase in March retail sales, compared to last year's gain of 2 percent.

Retailers like Target, Macy's and the Limited Brands are all expected to see jumps in sales for the month.

Discount stores are also seeing better sales on account of the weather and spring holidays.

Both St. Patrick's Day and Easter are expected to boost those buying spring items such as gardening tools. Sales for discount tools have already risen 3.9 percent for the month, compared to a 3.8 percent estimate by the retail research service Johnson Redbook.

Savvy consumers are using their smartphone while shopping.

Nielson reports that 29 percent of smartphone users employ their mobile companion while shopping or purchasing.

As you might expect price comparison ranks high on the list of activities -tied at the top with product browsing.

Coupons aren't just for clipping. Twenty four percent of shoppers hunt for them online via their mobile.

I've been spotted in the aisle reading product reviews and using scanner apps for price comparisons.

I am a little surprised the percentages are not higher.

CardStar is a favorite shopping app that I frequently use. It stores digital versions of all those plastic loyalty cards, reward cards and club membership cards. The app is available for iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Phone 7 and even Symbian.

Do you have a favorite shopping app or tip to share?

Fink's Jewelers will open later this year in the North Hills corner retail space occupied by Jolly's Jewelers, which announced plans to close in December.

Fink's operates 17 stores in Virginia and North Carolina, including three locations in the Triangle area at Streets at Southpoint in Durham, Cary Towne Center and Triangle Town Center in north Raleigh.

"North Hills really is an incredible development, and we have admired what Kane Realty has done with this property," said Mark Fink, president of the family-owned company that was started in 1930.

Kane Realty manages the sprawling North Hills development.

Jolly's owner Frank Ragsdale announced in late 2011 plans to retire and close the family's jewelry store, which has been continuously operated in the Triangle since 1881. There is no set date for the store's closure.

Cary's paddling, cycling and running enthusiasts can revel in increased REI gear selection when the outdoor equipment retailer relocates to Devonshire Place shopping center from Crossroads Plaza in the spring.

REI will move into a 27,000 square foot space left vacant by Borders after the bookseller filed for bankruptcy in February. 

With about 6,000 square feet in additional space at its new location, REI plans to add a new community space for more classes and presentations as well as expand product assortment in paddling, cycling and footwear, said REI spokeswoman Bethany Hawley.

Hawley said REI leadership had been looking to expand the Cary presence for some time. She could not comment on terms of the lease, which was announced on Nov .4.

The Walnut Street shopping center is operated by Brixmor Property Group. Other tenants include Dollar Tree, Golf Galaxy, Lifestyle Family Fitness and Monkey Joe's.

Target announced today that it is closing its North Raleigh store at 4700 Green Road due to its financial performance.

The store, which opened in 1995, will close Jan. 28.

Store employees will be offered the option of transferring to other nearby stores.

Target operates four other stores in Raleigh, including one at North Hills and one at 7900 Old Wake Forest Road.

The company also has Triangle stores in Apex, Durham, Garner, Wake Forest, Knightdale, Cary and Morrisville.

AT&T has named an executive to oversee the company's retail operations in North Carolina.

Lamont Therivel, 36, Therivel started this week as vice president and general manager of Mobility and Consumer Markets for North Carolina and South Carolina.

Therivel, based in Charlotte, oversees all AT&T consumer activities related to wireless, Internet, U-verse and other retail products. He's in charge of 70 AT&T stores in the Carolinas, but the company did not disclose the number of employees under his command.

Dillard's Inc. will pay $50,000 and offer additional relief to settle an age discrimination suit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of a Cary employee.

According to the EEOC's complaint, Dillard's fired Virginia Keene from her position as an area sales manager at the store in Cary in November 2008. At the time she was 61 years old. The company then replaced her with a 24-year-old employee who only had four months of experience as an area sales manager. At the time of her termination, Keene ranked second out of six area sales managers at the Cary store in terms of sales, the EEOC said.

The suit alleged that the Arkansas-based retailer violated the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, which prohibits employers from firing workers because of their age.

Dillard's declined to comment.

The owner of a key building in the Seaboard area north of downtown expects to begin converting the property into a small retail center by the end of the year.

St. Mary’s Associates, the partnership that owns the one-story building at 111 Seaboard Ave., has pre-leased more than half the 15,000 square feet planned for the center, said Settle Dockery, project director for York Ventures and a partner with St. Mary’s.

The renovated building will have a half dozen or more storefronts facing north towards Seaboard Ave., Dockery said.

“It’ll take an ugly building and make it pretty,” he said. “We’ve still got a ways to go but I think we’ve got our direction down.”

Two Triangle-area Michaels stores are among seven in North Carolina that are now included on the retailer's list of stores where customer debit card information may have been compromised.

The breach, originally reported on May 4, was initially thought to only affect Chicago-area stores. However today, Michaels said a preliminary screening of all the PIN pads in its 964 U.S. stores found 80 that had been tampered with in Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, Virginia and Washington.

In the Triangle, the two affected stores were the one in Knightdale's Shoppes at Midway and the one in Raleigh at 5240 Capital Blvd. There was also one store in Matthews and four in Charlotte that were affected.

Michaels will be replacing all affected PIN pads within the next 15 days. The company urges customers to check their accounts and contact their credit or debit card issuer if they believe their accounts have been compromised.

The Pantry reported a second quarter net loss this morning, but the company did see merchandise sales and its profit from gas rise during the quarter.

The Cary-based chain of 1,659 convenience stores mostly under the Kangaroo Express banner reported that its net loss for the quarter ended March 31, 2010 was $269,000, or 1 cent per share. However, sales of in-store merchandise -- which have been the focus of an ongoing remodeling campaign by the company -- rose by 2 percent in stores open at least a year.

The company also benefitted from rising fuel profit margins. In the second quarter, the amount the Pantry made on gasoline rose by 22 percent compared with the first quarter of this year and 5.4 percent conpared with the second quarter of 2010. However, with Americans watching their money and driving less, the company sold fewer gallons this quarter -- roughly 4 percent less than the second quarter last year.

"Our improving execution contributed to expanded gross margins, higher productivity, and ultimately Adjusted EBITDA growth, despite persistently rising fuel prices," said CEO Terrance Marks in a statement released this morning. "Of equal importance, we continued to make progress against our core strategic initiatives of foodservice expansion and productivity growth."