Small businesses were devastated in 2020. They have pivoted so frequently to deal with state-mandated shutdowns, new customer needs and pandemic safety protocols that many aren’t sure what direction they’re […]
Shopping and Retail
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Back to news homeBed Bath and Beyond’s Big, Ubiquitous Coupon: An Oral History
The F.B.I. found one in the junk drawer at the Santa Monica hide-out of the notorious mobster Whitey Bulger, which goes to show that gangsters are just like everybody else.There’s […]
Silent Night: Scenes of a Pandemic Christmas
Philip Cheung, Sylvia Jarrus, Dina Litovsky and Dec. 14, 2020Every year, while braving the crowds and jammed parking lots at the mall, I vow that the next holiday season will […]
With 3 Billion Packages to Go, Online Shopping Faces Tough Holiday Test
“I don’t know how it could be as unexpected as it appears to have been,” said Tom Nolan, the brand’s president. “We are not getting what we were told we […]
This Japanese Shop Is 1,020 Years Old. It Knows a Bit About Surviving Crises.
KYOTO, Japan — Naomi Hasegawa’s family sells toasted mochi out of a small, cedar-timbered shop next to a rambling old shrine in Kyoto. The family started the business to provide […]
‘Bleak Friday’ for Stores as Pandemic Pushes Holiday Shopping Online
The 2020 edition of Black Friday did not offer the usual scenes of bustling stores and shoppers lined up outside discount chains and electronics retailers. Instead, most people bought online, […]
The Luxury E-Commerce Wars Heat Up
In 2015, the chairman and controlling shareholder of the luxury goods group Richemont, Johann Rupert, took to the stage at an industry conference in Monte Carlo and issued a rallying […]
Pushed by Pandemic, Amazon Goes on a Hiring Spree Without Equal
SEATTLE — Amazon has embarked on an extraordinary hiring binge this year, vacuuming up an average of 1,400 new workers a day and solidifying its power as online shopping becomes […]
This Year’s Black Friday Designer Fashion Sales May Not Be What You Think.
Fashion designers and luxury retailers have always had a complicated relationship with Black Friday.The super sale extravaganza doesn’t always fit right (no pun intended) with companies that make $890 shoes […]
Virus Cases Rise, but Hazard Pay for Retail Workers Doesn’t
With coronavirus cases rising across the country, retailers are preparing for another rush from shoppers worried about new lockdowns and pandemic shortages. But many retail workers, heralded as heroes during […]