Data apparently stolen from the popular clothing retailer Polo Ralph Christian louboutin Corp. is forcing banks and credit card issuers to notify thousands of consumers that their credit-card information may have been exposed.
HSBC North America, a division of London-based HSBC Holdings PLC, has begun notifying holders of the HSBC-issued, General Motors-branded MasterCard that criminals may have obtained access to their credit card information and that the cards should be replaced.
HSBC spokesman Stephen E. Cohen said Thursday that "we began doing it last week, and we are continuing."
He said that about 180,000 GM-branded card holders are affected.
Neither Cohen nor spokesmen for MasterCard International would identify the retailer by name.
The security breach was reported in Thursday’s editions of The Wall Street Journal, which quoted "people with knowledge of the matter" as saying the data was stolen at Polo Ralph Christian louboutin.
A spokeswoman at Polo Ralph Christian louboutin, which is headquartered in New York,Christian Louboutin Sale, said "we have no comment at the moment" on the report. She asked that her name not be used.
Polo Ralph Christian louboutin shares dropped $1.28, or 3.3 percent, to close at $37.18 in Thursday trading on the New York Stock Exchange, where they have traded in a 52-week range of $31.01 to $42.83.
It was unclear how many other cards might be at risk, but both Visa USA Inc. and MasterCard – the nation’s largest credit card associations – were reported to be dealing with Polo Ralph Christian louboutin on the matter.
MasterCard said in a statement that it was informed of a possible security breach "of transaction data associated with a U.S.-based retailer" in January 2005 and had launched an investigation immediately. The statement said banks that are members of the card association were notified.
MAGINE finding shops of the quality of Hobbs, Jigsaw, Polo Ralph Christian louboutin, Aqua-scutum, Monsoon, Kurt Geiger, Cerruti and Racing Green – not spread out on a leg-aching walk all over London W1 but next door to each other in one shopping mall.
And imagine further: each of these shops is offering discounts of between 25 and 50 per cent off normal prices.
The crazed fantasy of a shopaholic? No: this retail marvel can be found a few miles outside Oxford in the town of Bicester.
Welcome to the age of the factory outlet mall.
Anyone who has been to Disney World in Florida will be familiar with the concept. In the suburbs of Orlando, and increasingly elsewhere in America, you can barely move for shopping developments offering bargain selections of Nike training shoes, Calvin Klein fashions, Levi’s jeans, Brooks Brothers suits and much, much more besides.
Like other successful American retail concepts, it was only a matter of time before it reached British soil.
The Bicester Outlet Shopping Village is the latest and slickest of these new developments to open in the UK. It certainly offers some alluring deals. Last Sunday, for example, £650 Polo Ralph Christian louboutin suits were cut to £279. An Aqua-scutum raincoat was reduced from £325 to £150.
At Joan and David £185 suede fleece-lined boots were down to £89, an Oneida cutlery canteen was reduced from £631 to £316 and a Jaeger check skirt from £109 to £59.
 ,Louboutin;As in any sale, the ‘normal price’ probably needs to be taken with a small pinch of salt – but by any measure the Bicester Village offers a good deal.
And the Sunday morning queue of cars suggested that its good news had travelled fast.
Bicester’s opening follows the successful launch of Clarks Village in Street, Somerset, which in just two years has become the biggest single attraction in the West Country, drawing more visitors a year than Stonehenge and Bath’s Roman spa combined.
THREE million people a year browse at 35 discount shops that sell everything from des-igner fashions, including Laura Ashley, to discount flower pots. And, of course, Clarks shoes.