"WOW - I love this idea - I would LOVE LOVE LOVE a Costco in my neighborhood (actually I would prefer SuperTaget but Costco is great too) - I love cheap stuff and I'm tired of paying $5 for Corn Flakes - build it, build it, build it." ["Remember Trump City?"]

With government stimulus checks mostly spent, July was a gloomy month for retailers. WWD took a toll of the national chains that either fell short of expectations or took a hit last month--or both--compared to July 2007.

Sales were up 3 percent year-over-year at Wal-Mart, falling short of the 3.4 percent boost analysts predicted. The nation’s largest retailer prepared investors for a tough August as well, estimating a 1 to 2 percent increase.  read more »

• Target’s sales fell 1.2 percent annually.
• Kohl’s dropped 10.4 percent.
• J.C. Penney's were down 6.5 percent.
• Neiman Marcus' sales were down 1.7 percent.
• Saks were down 5.3 percent.
• Nordstrom’s same-store sales dropped 6.