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How one bookseller arrived at its next chapter

by Anais Amin and Marketplace Staff
Nov 3, 2021
The co-owners of “A Good Used Book” in Los Angeles, California, are back in their retail space and looking ahead to the future.
This summer, Jenny Yang and Chris Capizzi, co-owners of A Good Used Book, began selling books in-person again after pivoting to online sales during pandemic lockdown.
TTStock via Getty Images
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Vacant real estate: Spirit Halloween's favorite haunt

by Janet Nguyen
Oct 29, 2021
The pop-up shop has more than 1,400 stores throughout the U.S. and Canada, taking over iconic locations such as Barneys on Seventh Avenue.
Spirit Halloween expanded this year, with 3% more stores than in 2020.
Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
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Small retailers are caught between order backlogs and ramping demand

by Sean McHenry
Oct 29, 2021
Three independent retailers on how they're dealing with shortages, price increases and high demand.
The interior of one Dean's Sweets location in Portland, Maine. "If we sell more chocolate with a lower profit margin, we're still going to be OK," said co-owner Kristin Thalheimer Bingham.
Courtesy of Kristin Thalheimer Bingham
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Business inventories didn't decline as sharply in September. That's good news.

by Justin Ho
Oct 28, 2021
It means businesses know that consumers want to buy and are working to meet that demand.
A person walks in a partially stocked Ikea on Oct. 15. Consumer demand is high, meaning products often fly off retailers' shelves.
Michael M. Santiago via Getty Images
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There's an industry that handles our returns, and it's not pretty

by Kai Ryssdal and Sean McHenry
Oct 19, 2021
Companies spend a lot of money processing those returns, and many items that are returned won't end up back on the shelf.
An Amazon delivery driver carries boxes into a van outside of a distribution facility in Hawthorne, California.
Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images
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Demand is up for small retailers, but supply is another story

by Sean McHenry
Sep 16, 2021
Customers are shopping at the three small retail stores we checked in with, but keeping inventory up isn't so easy.
A small-business owner works in her South Carolina retail shop in April 2020. Many small retailers have dealt with their share of pandemic-related supply chain issues.
Sean Rayford via Getty Images
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Vanishing America

Remembering Downriver Rookie, a beloved Michigan sports-card shop

by Rose Conlon
Sep 1, 2021
"You can almost smell the cards when you think about it hard enough," said high school teacher Ken Cameron.
Ken Cameron still has the baseball cards he bought at Downriver Rookie. "Baseball was such a part of my grandfather's life, my father's life, my life," he says.
Courtesy Ken Cameron
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Why curbside pickup has been a win for both retailers and consumers

by Meghan McCarty Carino
Aug 26, 2021
The ease of online shopping combined with the immediacy of pickup could save retailers on logistics and draw customers back from delivery.
An employee delivers a curbside pickup order to a customer's vehicle at a California Best Buy store in November 2020. Curbside pickup has proven a win-win for customers and retailers during the pandemic.
Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images
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Back in name only: Toys R Us brand to reappear in more than 400 Macy's stores

by Marielle Segarra
Aug 20, 2021
Just a few years ago, the toy retailer closed its U.S. operations and laid off 30,000 workers.
A Toys R Us store in New York in 2018, after the chain said its U.S. locations would close. Macy's plans to use the brand name to boost traffic in its department stores.
Spencer Platt via Getty Images
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Back to Business

The back-to-school shopping season is critical for this small business

by David Brancaccio , Rose Conlon and Daniel Shin
Aug 5, 2021
Nneka Brown of Innovative Supplies Worldwide says all-digital education deprives children of the opportunity to learn key skills.
Ina Fassbender/AFP/Getty Images
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