Except for the success of discounters like Wal-Mart Stores (WMT), BJ’s Wholesale Club (BJ), Dollar Tree (DLTR), Family Dollar Stores (FDO) and Dollar General, it feels like 1932. That being said, not all retailers will go the way of Circuit City and Linens-n-Things. So the question becomes what retailers canMORE HERE

Here, a little AMF Bowling pre-Christmas promotion, connected to DreamWorks’ Madagascar. The reverse gives a free bowling game for 10, as well as a promo for the Madagascar Bowling Club. Keeping bowling fresh, and making it a great family activity, are exactly what the brand needs to do. BrandlandUSA.com isMORE HERE

ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. – Thanks to our friend Johnnie Hubbel who tells us of her love of Red & White supermarkets. Johnnie (we call her LOU!) went into the one in Red Oak,  N.C. and found a big bin of Necco Wafers, rock candy and Chick-O-Stix. If you want toMORE HERE

We think it would be so much more interesting if CBS still used this bumper, which dates from the Lou Dorfsman era. We thought about it because Dorfsman just died, and Charlie Brown Christmas, which used to be a staple on CBS, is now running each December on ABC.MORE HERE

They used to make this sort of stuff in America. Here, the old Shiny Brite brand of glass Christmas Tree ornaments. We are now looking up some history on Max Eckardt & Sons, the company that made these back in the day. Find out more at www.brandlandusa.com for in depthMORE HERE

NEW YORK – Each year, as part of Christmas, we pull out a box of Shiny Brite glass ornaments. But each time, there are fewer and fewer. But we keep the box, as it reminds us of another era, when Americans actually made things. Eckardt was a German immigrant whoMORE HERE

The Heat Miser and his friends from Rankin Bass are back on ABC Family in a new special, The Miser Brothers’ Christmas. The characters were part of The Rankin Bass Production of The Year Without a Santa Claus. ABC aired the original shows beginning in 1974, and ABC Family hasMORE HERE