From Lady Gaga's workshop at Barneys to the precisely detailed vignettes at Lord & Taylor, window shopping is never more fun - or more exciting - than during the holiday season. Here is Chain Store Age's slide show. You can send you're own shots for inclusion in the show to jmosscro@lf.com.

When part of the purchase price of a gift benefits charity, or if it was manufactured in a free-trade zone, or reduces the buyer's carbon footprint, it's moving off the shelf. The ranks of such cause-conscious shoppers are growing, retail analysts say. They are looking for more than good prices and quality - seeking gifts that are made locally or sold by small businesses, made under sustainable or environmentally friendly conditions, and that benefit someone besides the recipient.

LeBron James challenged people to film and submit a video for Sheets, an energy-boost product that dissolves on your tongue. Among those who took the challenge was Amar'e Stoudemire of the New York Knicks. In a spot that he wrote and directed, Stoudemire masquerades as an employee for a Duane Reade drug store in New York.

Wal-Mart Stores has launched "Get On the Shelf," a new-product competition that invites anyone to submit a product idea to the retailer for development. "Anyone with a great product in any product category that Wal-Mart carries is welcome to participate," a narrator states in a promotional video announcing the campaign. "It doesn't matter if the contestant is big or small."

According to StubHub, "The top-selling team so far is the New York Knicks, but the real excitement lies in that - for the first time in StubHub's history - demand for Los Angeles Clippers tickets has surpassed that of the Lakers by more than 40%, thanks to the much-anticipated arrival of Chris Paul."

Kids in the South get more trampolines this holiday season than people elsewhere. They were among the top 10 products purchased by customers in the southern region of the country through home goods website Wayfair on Cyber Monday this year, according to data from Wayfair. Indeed, retailers are offering products with a regional strategy, basing distribution strategy on regional trends.

Chevrolet has for the past few months been soliciting from filmmakers' worldwide submissions for an ad that could potentially run on NBC during Super Bowl XLVI.

Research In Motion, maker of the BlackBerry smartphone, gained in Nasdaq trading after analysts said a buyout is unlikely as company executives focus on guiding their own turnaround.

Consumer perception that electric cars might be more dangerous could stop sales, which is why issues with the Chevy Volt and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) investigation of the car's lithium-ion battery pack are a major area of concern for the industry.

Kevin Brown writes that American autoworkers -- and the public -- are told that high-wage work is unsustainable in today's globalized marketplace. "Apostles of neo-liberal economic theory - both in the public and private sectors - have stressed the message that worker adaptation is necessary to survive," he writes, noting that Steven Rattner, President Obama's "car czar" during the restructuring of General Motors and Chrysler in early 2009, has said he regrets that the federal government had not required the United Auto workers to take a wage cut.