New York Times: ‘Bleak Friday’ for Stores as Pandemic Pushes Holiday Shopping Online. “Analysts at Morgan Stanley estimated that retailers’ overall Black Friday sales fell 20 percent from last year, based on early reports of drops in store foot traffic and increases in online sales. Consumers spent $9 billion online on Friday, a 21.6 increase […]
CBC: Man arrested after assault of Walmart employee who asked him to wear face mask, B.C. RCMP say. “A 30-year-old man has been arrested for assault and mischief after allegedly assaulting an employee at a Walmart in Dawson Creek, B.C. RCMP were called to the store at around 8 p.m. PT Wednesday after reports of […]
Cheddar: Exclusive: Hypur Finds Coronavirus Is Changing How Consumers Pay for Pot. “While many consumers still prefer to pay for cannabis with cash, fears concerning health and safety amid the COVID-19 pandemic are driving many toward alternative payment methods, according to a new survey from digital payments provider Hypur.”
Washington Post: Two more retailers file for bankruptcy: Lord & Taylor and Tailored Brands. “Two more retail icons have filed for Chapter 11 protection, joining more than a dozen major brands that have tipped into bankruptcy as pandemic-fueled store closures sent sales plummeting. Lord & Taylor, the nation’s oldest department store chain, filed for bankruptcy […]
CNBC: 14% of businesses expect layoffs after using their PPP loan funds. “Roughly 14% of business owners who received a loan through the Paycheck Protection Program expect to lay off workers once they deplete their funds, according to a survey published by the National Federation of Independent Business. The finding comes as lawmakers debate the […]
Retail TouchPoints: Q1 2020 Results Highlight Gap Between Retail ‘Haves’ And ‘Have Nots’. “The COVID-19 pandemic has led to one of the worst financial quarters in retail’s modern history, and the near-universal rise in e-Commerce sales is of little comfort to retailers that are staring down double-digit declines in their brick-and-mortar businesses. But while this […]
CNET: Apple will close some stores again amid coronavirus spikes. “Apple plans to temporarily close some of its retail stores again because of spikes of coronavirus cases in some states across the US. The closures, earlier reported by Bloomberg, will impact 11 stores across Arizona, Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina.”
ABC 13: The Children’s Place expected to close 300 stores amid struggles during COVID-19 pandemic. “The Children’s Place is the latest retailer to close several stores soon. After releasing its financial report last week, the popular children’s clothing company said it would close an additional 300 stores by the end of fiscal year 2021. Of […]
CNET: Price gouging persists during pandemic, despite push to stamp it out. “We’re three months into the pandemic, but it’s still easy to find examples of price gouging on Amazon. Last Friday, within five minutes, CNET found Cottonelle toilet paper listed on Amazon for $57.42 (price for the same item on Target: $21.49), and a […]
BBC: Coronavirus: The first thing I bought when the shops reopened. “As stores across England selling non-essential goods opened their doors for the first time since the lockdown began, shoppers arrived early to centre:mk in Milton Keynes. Some were picking up goods they had been waiting months to buy, such as baby clothes and home […]
University of Bristol: New report shows survival of the fittest and most agile will make or break retailers as lockdown eases. “Customers panic buying in droves, running out of stock on many basic essentials, and imposing product purchase restrictions may now be less of a headache for retailers, but plenty of other hurdles lie ahead […]
Raw Story: WATCH: Staten Island grocery shoppers drive out woman who refuses to wear a mask in the store. “A group of angry shoppers at a Staten Island ShopRite were captured on video driving out a woman in the store who refused to wear a face mask. The 20-second video clip shows masked shoppers swarming […]
Arkansas Online: Chinese retailers embrace livestreaming. “At the height of China’s coronavirus outbreak, the skin-care-products maker Forest Cabin closed more than half of its 300 stores across the nation as shoppers stayed home. With sales plunging, founder Sun Laichun decided it was time to reach his customers more directly. ‘We knew it was time for […]
BBC: J Crew files for bankruptcy protection. “Fashion firm J Crew has filed for bankruptcy protection, making it the first big US retailer to fall victim to the coronavirus pandemic. Under the terms of the filing, its main creditors are set to take control of the group in exchange for cancelling its debts of $1.65bn […]
Consumer Reports: Coronavirus Is Pushing Car Dealerships Into Online Sales and Home Delivery. “As the coronavirus pandemic intensified this year, foot traffic at the Honda of Hollywood dealership in Los Angeles dried up quickly. To try to keep some business flowing, the dealership started advertising online transactions and free home deliveries that would respect social […]