Click on the link below or scroll down for this month’s top headlines and tekservePOS analysis and tips.

• Dreaming of a green Christmas?
• Retailers say losing CIT would crimp supply chain
• Study: Self-service kiosk transactions expected to exceed $775B in ‘09
• Sainsbury’s wins eco award for use of NCR’s two-sided receipt-printing technology

Dreaming of a green Christmas?
In today’s economy, that means retailers need to prepare NOW! See who’s leading the way.

Stores take Christmas in July more seriously
A small display of snow-topped villages and ornaments sits nestledbetween the mattress and hardware departments at the Sears store inManassas. Next week, Toys ‘R’ Us stores in the area are invitingchildren to decorate Christmas cards and slurp away on candy caneswhile their parents shop Christmas sales.

Yes, it's July, but some stores have decided that to get ahead ofthe poor economy they need to start now on the holiday shopping season.

Nick White, a consultant in the Gerson Lehrman Group network, called the strategy a good bet for the struggling retail industry.

"No one wants to be hit with Christmas songs and nutcrackers when they walk into the front door of stores," White said.

But, he added, customers are realizing they'll be spending less forChristmas this year and are planning early exactly what to purchase.About 40 percent of holiday shoppers have made up their mind aboutbig-ticket purchases in early fall, he said. Read more here.

It's Christmas in July at Sears Holdings Corp.
On Sunday, while most of America was recovering from Fourth of Julyfireworks and cookouts, the Hoffman Estates-based retailer launched anonline boutique called Christmas Lane at Sears.com and Kmart.com. Italso set up Christmas decor shops at 372 Sears stores, including one atWoodfield mall in Schaumburg.

Sears typically waits until Nov. 1 to unveil its holidaymerchandise, said Sears spokeswoman Natalie Norris-Howser. But with therecession putting a crimp in spending, the retailer is hoping toattract holiday shoppers early.

"This is the first year we've done the Christmas Lane event," saidNorris-Howser. "We're allowing customers to put these items on layawayand pay over time." Read more here.

Best Buy to stress value this holiday season
Best Buy plans to send a value message to cash-strapped consumers thisfall by focusing on its competitively priced private-label brands.

At a holiday product preview held here yesterday, the No. 1 CE chainshowed a beefed-up offering of TVs, Blu-ray Disc players, sound bars,USB camcorders and accessories under its Insignia, Rocketfish and Inithouse brands.

The emphasis on value reflects a new frugality among consumers, whohave been beset by unemployment, tighter credit, and diminished realestate values, said Jin Chang, Best Buy's trend senior director.Unfortunately, the shift to thrift appears to be a long-term lifestylechange, he said, and will continue long after the holiday season. Readmore here.

As seen on tekBLOG:

I just read a blog that says the holiday shopping season begins in four weeks. A little over dramatic? Maybe. (Can we at least get through back to school season?) But I can honestly admit that I thought to myself just the other day about a specific gift to purchase for my parents for Christmas and made a mental note to keep an eye out for deals. And I am not alone, analysts are saying that about 40% of holiday shoppers will make up their mind about big-ticket items in early fall.

So what can retailers do NOW to guarantee a green Christmas this year? Read more here.

Retailers say losing CIT would crimp supply chain

For the nation’s already struggling retailing industry, the collapse of CIT would send yet another wave of pain through the supply chain, wiping out suppliers’ capital, depleting retailers’ credit and leaving the racks and shelves of the nation’s stores sparsely stocked -- just in time for Christmas.

CIT serves the retailing industry as a lender but, more significant, as something called a factor, a type of financial intermediary. When small and midsize suppliers ship goods to retailers, they are not paid right away. Yet they need cash to continue producing merchandise. Factors provide the suppliers money until the retailers pay, which can take 30 to 90 days. Factors also guarantee suppliers that they will get paid, even if a retailer to whom they shipped goes bankrupt.

CIT is the factor for about 2,000 manufacturers and suppliers whose goods are sold at about 300,000 retailers across the country. Read more here.

With over 950,000lending relationships, CIT Group is both the largest SBA lender as wellas the largest factoring company in the United States. It received$2.33 billion under the Treasury's Troubled Asset Relief Program lastDecember under the Bush Administration, is still struggling and itappears, based on reports, that the Obama Administration will take apass on providing any more help.

On Monday, CIT announced that major bondholders agreed to provide itwith a $3 billion loan with the hope this would keep it alive longenough to restructure the debt. But reports on Tuesday say that theloan may not be enough to cover upcoming debt maturities.

CITGroup says it still need to pay off about $7 billion in debt maturingover the next year, including $1 billion in August. It has launched anoffer to repay that $1 billion in maturing debt at a discount.

Sainsbury’s wins eco award for use of NCR’s two-sided receipt-printing technology

Sainsbury’s, which operates more than 500 supermarkets and 290 convenience stores throughout the United Kingdom, has been awarded the Business Commitment to the Environment Environmental Leadership Award 2009 for being the first European retailer to roll out a receipt printer that prints on both sides of the paper simultaneously.

The printer (NCR RealPOS Two-Sided Thermal Receipt Printer) can reduce receipt-paper usage by up to 45% and consume less power. With this technology Sainsbury’s anticipates savings of 502,000 receipt rolls per year -- cutting its receipt-paper usage by around two-fifths.

Dennis Fuller, Sainsbury’s head of store IT installations, commented, “The BCE Environmental Leadership Award recognizes the efforts that Sainsbury’s and NCR have put into improving the environmental performance of our tills. This includes NCR’s innovative receipt printers, which print on both sides of the paper simultaneously. This technology not only provides environmental benefits, but also provides our shoppers with shorter, more manageable receipts, faster print times and fewer stoppages for receipt roll changes.”

Read more here or view a video about the two-sided printing technology.

It’s no secret that 2-sided printing has been slow to market, but when you look at the numbers you almost have to ask why? Sainsbury’s claims in the video clip above that receipt paper they are saving equals the distance of traveling around the globe three times over. That is a considerable amount of receipt paper. And in an economy where 46% of consumers say they would shop at a retailer more if they were environmentally friendly, it seems like a technology that retailers should be considering. To see how retailers are using this technology, click here.

Additional stories of interest from ChainStoreAge.com

Barnes & Noble to embrace e-book market
Wal-Mart pushes for increased ad contributions from marketers
Study: Online retailers focusing on checkout to increase sales
Study: Self-checkout terminals to quadruple by 2014
Safeway rolls out online coupon program in all of its stores