Distressed retailers play "hot potato" with landlords and suppliers

May 28, 2020
Everyone is trying to pass the economic pan to someone else.
A "closed" sign on the Victoria's Secret shop in Herald Square.
Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images

J. Crew is the first major retailer to file for bankruptcy under COVID-19

Online business will continue as usual, and J. Crew still has plans to reopen stores.
J. Crew has almost $1.7 billion in debt its restructuring.
Jeenah Moon/Getty Images

Fall fashion braces for the effects of COVID-19

Mar 23, 2020
Most apparel companies aren’t in a state of emergency ... yet.
China's supply chain problem is starting to worry retailers.
Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

A look at why retailers may be closing so many stores

Jan 21, 2020
Are retailers shedding space because they have too much or because they're not giving customers the best store experience?
People walk through a nearly empty shopping mall in March 2017 in Waterbury, Connecticut.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Prepping for the holidays with one eye on politics

Nov 20, 2019
One toy store owner says potential tariffs could eat up almost half of his profits.
Much of what Hobby Works sells is from China — and destined for a 15% tariff scheduled to start Dec. 15.
Nancy Marshall Genzer/Marketplace

Why department stores are getting into the rental business

Aug 12, 2019
Department stores have a lot of problems these days. One of them: they can’t seem to attract younger customers.
People attend the grand opening of the new Bloomingdale's store at the Ala Mona Center on November 12, 2015 in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Marco Garcia/Getty Images for Bloomingdale's

Is Amazon hurting the retail industry?

Jul 25, 2019
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's recent comment that Amazon was destroying retail was "bold," according to James Pethokoukis at the American Enterprise Institute.
A close-up of  Amazon Prime packages in an Amazon fulfillment center in Peterborough, England.
Leon Neal/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Tariffs come for fleece, send Jo-Ann CEO to Washington

Aug 23, 2018
The arts and crafts retailer is enlisting customers on its listserv to petition the taxes on Chinese products.
President Donald Trump pushes in the chair for Jill Soltau, CEO of Jo-Ann Stores, as he arrives to meet with retail industry leaders in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in 2017.
SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

Despite high interest rates, people still sign up for department credit cards

Dec 11, 2017
Department store credit cards, which tend to have high interest rates, have fallen out of fashion. But for some with bad credit, they are the only option.
Credit cards are pictured, on February 5, 2013 in Rennes, western France.
DAMIEN MEYER/AFP/Getty Images

Tech in retail, from the good to the gimmicky

Nov 21, 2017
Retailers are using technology to attract more customers into their stores.
Shoppers walk among the Christmas lights in a mall.
Christopher Furlong/Getty Images