Home Improvement

Berwyn, Pa. -- Planalytics has issued its weather outlook for the all-important days after Christmas when many consumers head to the stores to redeem gift cards and exchange presents. Here’s how the firm sees the forecast shaping up for the Northeast and South:

Toano, Va. - Lumber Liquidators announced the appointment of Robert M. Lynch as the company's president and COO, with an anticipated start date of Jan. 17, 2011.

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Ebay has announced the availability of Giftsnearby the first integration of its newly-acquired Milo shopping engine. 

According to the company, Giftsnearby shows shoppers a selection of popular holiday gift options ranging from electronics and other gadgets to home appliances and toys that are available at local retailers in or near their zip code. Only items that are in stock at a selection of more than 25 trusted retailers are offered as gift options.

ATLANTA - Home Depot is tinkering with the idea of  cutting back the space dedicated to kitchen showrooms. "We're piloting the removal of up to 40% of the space dedicated to kitchen showrooms," said Craig Menear, Home Depot's EVP merchandising, during the company's recent investor and analyst conference.

The small ad was a little lost on the bottom of page 36 of Target’s 40-page holiday circular this week, but there among an offering of floor care products was a reminder of a Facebook initiative that could be worth as much as $50,000 to the Kids In Need Foundation. The ad encouraged readers to visit Facebook.com/TargetGiveJoy to create a wish list of up to five items for a chance to win a gift card equal in value to those items with Kids In Need receiving a $5 donation for each wish list submitted up to a total of $50,000. The program ends at midnight on Christmas.

CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa.  - Ikea announced that it plans to install solar energy panels on two East Coast stores: Paramus, N.J. and Stoughton, Mass. Pending governmental permits, rooftop installation will begin in the new year, with completion expected in spring 2011. The plans bring the number of U.S. Ikea locations that will have a solar energy system to a total of 13. According to the company, these two systems will represent the largest store-top solar installations for Ikea in the United States.

NEW YORK - Home improvement expert Bob Vila announced the redesign of BobVila.com, which now offers digitized TV episodes and new home-related content that is easy to navigate, view and use.