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Tag Archives: Retail

Pandemic Brings Early Holiday Season to New York

Pandemic Brings Early Holiday Season to New York

The rushed last-minute holiday shopping scramble may just be another annual tradition lost to the coronavirus pandemic. Across New York and the country, retailers are getting a head start on the holiday season.

While most shoppers don’t usually appreciate the holiday “creep,” this year there are several good reasons for getting an early go on gifts and cheer.

First, stores are looking to reduce in-store crowding. Typical doorbuster sales are not being offered, with many companies driving shoppers to websites to avoid crowds, curb the need for social-distancing enforcement, and minimize chaos.

Another good reason for the early holiday season is the goal of minimizing shipping holdups that are typical in November and December. Many chains were overwhelmed by the lock-down induced online shopping surge, so they are looking to learn from that experience and motivate shoppers to buy early.

The economic fallout of the pandemic has many New York stores rebranding their holiday gift ideas. Many people are unemployed, looking to save where they can, and not expecting to travel to large family get togethers where numerous presents would be necessary. Instead, merchandise is being geared toward “homey activities” that keep people active, offer entertainment for kids, and even introduce new hobbies. Similarly, more stores are offering on-line shopping with curbside pick-up. 2020 has certainly been a different kind of year. The early holiday retail is one good way of ushering in cheer and joy when we need it most.

Fur Free for 2020

All four brands of SMCP, the Chinese-owned French fashion company, are now entirely fur-free. As more and more consumers look for fashion that is sustainable, kind, and responsible, fur, leather, and animal byproducts are falling out of favor. Claudie Pierlot is the last of the ready-to-wear brand to cease the use of fur in its… Continue Reading

Tiffany & Co Gets a New Luxury Backing

The French luxury group LVMH has bought the Tiffany & Co jewelry company for $16.2 billion. LVMH is the world’s biggest luxury group and has 75 different brands, including Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior and Bulgari. For LVMH, Tiffany — which faced financial and public image struggles recently — is a sensible transformational project. Tiffany will… Continue Reading

NYC to Track Vacancies, Support Small Businesses

New York City is building a database of vacant storefronts to help small business owners find appropriate spaces. The city’s rising rents and recent trends favoring online shopping have resulted in a vacancy crisis. The five bills passed in July 2019 as part of this effort require yearly reporting on storefront vacancies, updates on the… Continue Reading

Extreme Weather Conditions May Impact Spring Business

Cities across the United States have been struggling with frigid temperatures, snow and ice, and the unusually harsh weather has had an impact on numerous industries and markets across the continent. According to Morningstar‘s Jamie Katz, the weather may also have a negative effect on retail this spring if retailers are forced to offer discounts… Continue Reading

ShopKeep POS, an iPad Point of Sales

ShopKeep, an iPad POS point of sale system, was developed by business owner Jason Richelson to suit the needs of those standing “behind the counter.” The ShopKeep system helps retailers simplify sales by allowing users to add items, select a payment method, add a gratuity and complete the transaction by tapping on an iPad. Reuters… Continue Reading

Holiday Spending Reaches New High

Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday all boosted consumer spending, thrilling business owners and retails throughout the United States. Now comes the real challenge: keeping up the trend. Many experts predict even better sales over the next few weeks. Black Friday weekend saw 247 million shoppers, according to the National Retail Federation. Last… Continue Reading

Retail Spending Picks Up Over the Summer

For the first time in five months, retail spending in the U.S. has seen major improvement. Throughout July, retail spending increased in all sectors, including electronics, building supplies, garden equipment, furniture, sporting goods, apparel and more. According to the commerce department, retail sales increased 0.8% in total last month; the most significant rise since February.… Continue Reading

Chinese Consumers Boost Global Luxury Sales

Despite global retail struggles and general confusion, the high-end luxury market in China appears to be peaking. In 2010, luxury goods sales raked in 212 billion yuan, growing an additional 25-30% in 2011. More than 60% of the retail burst was a result of designer brands like Cartier, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Christian Dior, Burberry, Prada and Gucci,… Continue Reading

Wal-Mart Offers Insight on New “Consumer Normal”

Americans will spend money despite the hesitant economic recovery as long as they believe they are buying at the lowest prices, according to Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the U.S.-based multinational retailer. The department store chain discovered the nation-wide habit by guaranteeing the lowest prices in the market throughout this year’s holiday season. Last year’s fourth quarter… Continue Reading