I know Amazon employ lots of people in this country but they also have head offices in Luxembourg and Ireland for tax avoidance reasons and I couldn't ignore that. Sheila O'Reilly, owner of Dulwich Books in London, told the Bookseller: 'I think I would search my heart and find that morally I just couldn't stock the Kindle. indies anticipate a similar offer from Amazon, which already has a partnership with the Waterstones bookstore chain. The same has been true overseas, where U.K. Wednesday's unveiling of Amazon Source, a program through which indies and other retailers can sell Kindle e-readers and accessories, prompted a near unanimous response from independent booksellers in the U.S.-a blend of suspicion, irritation and sarcasm. 'The promotional levels were very high and that kind of worked in terms of driving traffic.' The Wall Street Journal noted that retailers 'reported better-than-expected sales in October as steep discounts and promotions helped drive traffic, a trend that is likely to continue through the critical holiday season.' 'People were watching a dissolving quarter in September and were nervous about whether it would continue into October,' said Rebecca Duval of BlueFin Research Partners.

The International Council of Shopping Centers is forecasting same-store sales will rise 3%-4% in November, but anticipates modest growth for the holiday season, according to chief economist Michael Niemira.

For the month, Thomson Reuters said that sales at stores open at least a year increased 3.7%, which was better than analysts' expectations for a 2% gain.

Although sales numbers were up in October, retailers expressed caution as the holiday season approaches, noting that 'consumer confidence has dipped, in part because of slow employment growth, and shoppers have gravitated toward bargains in recent months,' Reuters reported.

The Sergeant's Lady by Susanna Fraser