Faced with a slowing economy and inflation, retail industry sales are expected to experience slow growth this year, rising only 3.5% from last year, the slowest growth since 2002, according to the National Retail Federation.

In an effort to boost its multicultural marketing capabilities, Aspen Marketing Services has acquired Hispanic agency Experiencia. Experiencia, which specializes in experiential and promotional marketing, changed its name to Aspen Latino on January 14.

When Americans want to learn more about health-related topics, they are more apt to look for information on the Internet than any other source, including their doctors, according to a report released by iCrossing, a digital marketing company.

The American Heart Association (AHA) will soon replace at least some of its general market fundraising ap­peals with more targeted efforts, thanks to a new three-year, multimillion dol­lar contract with database marketing agency Merkle.

Virgin Mobile has upgraded the database it uses to track and manage SMS text messages. The telecommunications company will use MySQL's platinum enterprise support system in conjunction with its extant MySQL open source database.

Profile America List Company Inc. has released a new list, Insurance Prospects. The file contains individuals who are most likely to purchase health, life, auto, disability or long-term care insurance. The median age is 43 with a $47,000 median income.

Multichannel retailers worked hard to improve Web site performance during the high-traffic holidays.

Valpak is celebrating its 40th anni­versary with a makeover that's more than skin deep. The familiar blue packet, which brings some 20 billion offers to US households annually, has a new look that includes a larger logo, a call-to-action on the front of the envelope and more space for national promotions designed to increase opening rates.

NEW LISTS - Acton International Ltd. - Description: This file contains active subscribers to online newspapers and magazines including The Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune. These savvy consumers like up-to-the-minute information and are responsive to products/services that save them time and money as well as enhance their busy, active lifestyle.

NEW LISTS - Millard Group - Description: This file contains Keepsake PaperCrafts buyers, a catalog geared toward busy women who love scrapbooking. The file contains all women, sourced through direct mail.

NEW LISTS - Datamatrix Lists - Description: This file contains affluent, well-educated legal professionals who seek a variety of products and services that will increase their profits and exposure, as well as luxury items. With this highly selective database, marketers can connect with individual attorneys or larger practices that specialize in legal areas ranging from antitrust to zoning matters.

NEW LISTS - MetaResponse Group - Description: This file contains investors who share a common interest in managing, protecting, and growing their personal wealth. A weekly electronic newsletter, Financially Fit focuses on all issues related to personal finance including selecting an online broker, maintaining a balanced portfolio, retirement planning, and understanding different investment strategies that might be right for your portfolio.

NEW MANAGEMENT - Walter Karl - Description: This file contains software professionals who care about quality. Subscribers to Better Software magazine are software project managers, analysts, quality professionals, software developers, software improvement practitioners, software engineers and measurement specialists who are interested in improving their product and productivity. More than half of the subscribers operate at the management level, and 74% make recommendations for quality and testing tools for their companies.

INSERTS - Infinite Media - Description: This file contains travelers staying at high-end hotels worldwide and those traveling on cruise ships via the New York Times Digest. Advertising in the New York Times Digest allows the ability to advertise a captive, educated and wealthy audience.