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NEW YORK (AP) — Americans overlooked shortages, spiking prices and uncertainty over the omicron variant to break spending records during the critical holiday shopping season. But figures released Friday show that after spending robustly early in the holiday season, consumers sharply slowed their purchases from November to December.
CHICAGO (AP) — Two Chicago men have been charged in a shooting at a suburban Chicago shopping mall that wounded four bystanders and sent thousands of last-minute Christmas shoppers running for cover last week.
EDIRNE, Turkey (AP) — Bulgarian shoppers are crossing Turkey’s western border in packed cars and buses, taking advantage of a declining Turkish lira to fuel their own shopping sprees.
Their first stop is the currency exchange and then it's off to the markets and grocery stores in the northwestern Turkish city of Edirne.
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — The latest COVID-19 variant is upending holiday plans for tens of thousands of travelers — but it didn’t do much damage to holiday shopping.
Airlines canceled hundreds more flights Sunday, citing staffing problems tied to COVID-19, as the nation’s travel woes extended beyond Christmas, with no clear indication when normal schedules would resume.
OAK BROOK, Ill. (AP) — Police said Friday that they were searching for a man suspected of taking part in a shootout at a crowded suburban Chicago shopping mall in which four people were wounded, including another suspected gunman who was taken into custody.
OAK BROOK, Ill. (AP) — A shooting at a suburban Chicago mall full of Christmas shoppers left four people injured Thursday, police said.
The incident at Oakbrook Center in Oak Brook began with two males involved in a shootout in a corridor around 5:45 p.m., police Chief James Kruger said.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumer prices rose 5.7% over the past year, the fastest pace in 39 years, as a surge in inflation confronts Americans with the holiday shopping season under way.
The November increase, reported Thursday by the Commerce Department, followed a 5.1% rise for the 12 months ending in October, continuing a string of annual price gains that have run well above the 2% inflation target set by the Federal Reserve.
NEW YORK (AP) — After a wearying nearly two years of the pandemic, independent retailers are cautiously hoping their holiday seasons will be bright, despite the challenges this year ranging from supply chain snags to shortages of hot holiday items.
ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. (AP) — Authorities have recovered the body of a man who was working at a distribution center in North Carolina for the QVC home-shopping television network when a massive fire erupted, destroying most of the facility, a local official said Sunday.
ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. (AP) — A fire ripped through a distribution center in North Carolina for the QVC home-shopping television network early Saturday, causing extensive damage to the facility, officials said.
Maybe Baker Mayfield needed to follow the lead of Kareem Jackson.
The Cleveland quarterback attended an event at a Boys & Girls Club, now has tested positive for COVID-19, and the youth organization had needed to take extra precautions.
NEW YORK (AP) — Target is heading into the final stretch of the holiday season with lots of momentum.
CEO Brian Cornell reports that holiday sales have continued to stay strong even amid worries about the new omicron variant.
NEW YORK (AP) — Americans slowed their spending from October to November but continued shopping ahead of the critical holiday season, brushing off rising prices and shortages.
Retail sales rose a modest, seasonally adjusted 0.3% in November compared with the previous month when sales jumped 1.8%, the U.S.
NEW YORK (AP) — Second hand. Like new. Thrift. Buy Nothing. Gently used. There are lots of ways to describe consumption in the booming resale market.
Add “Merry Christmas!” to the list.
Resale has taken off among those looking to save the planet and spend less on gifts during what can be the most wasteful time of the year — the December holidays.
It’s hard to resist the holiday messaging to buy gifts — and lots of them — to make the season brighter and more fulfilling.
However, supply chain disruptions may make this year’s shopping stressful, especially for parents looking to buy toys in short supply.
Supply chain snags. Sold-out merchandise. Empty shelves. Hefty shipping fees. Inflation. There are plenty of complications working against you this holiday shopping season.
And despite warnings to shop early because of pandemic-related delays, some of us didn’t prioritize holiday shopping in October and November.
NEW YORK (AP) — Like many shoppers, Kathleen Webber understands the struggles of getting the right gifts for her three children this holiday shopping season amid widespread shortages.
She promised to buy her 23-year-old son the Sony Corp.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Al Kelly believes there has been a permanent shift in how consumers worldwide pay for goods and services. His 91-year-old parents are a prime example.
The CEO of payments processing giant Visa recently visited his mother just after she'd finished buying her groceries online — something she'd never done prior to COVID-19.
NEW YORK (AP) — Americans are spending freely and going back to store shopping, knocking out some of the momentum in online sales from last year when Americans were making many of their purchases exclusively via the internet.
TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — Police in Washington state on Saturday were investigating a shooting at a shopping mall that left one person seriously wounded and sent hundreds of Black Friday shoppers fleeing for exits or hiding in stores.
NEW YORK (AP) — On this year's Black Friday, things almost seem normal.
Malls and stores report decent-sized crowds, if not the floods of people that used to fight over the latest toys and electronics — online shopping is much too common for that now, and discounts are both more subdued and spread out over the weeks leading up to Christmas, on both websites and in stores.
Climate activists blockaded Amazon warehouses in three European countries on Friday, part of a global effort to pressure the ecommerce giant on one of its busiest days of the year to improve working conditions and end business practices that hurt the environment.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Groups of thieves, some carrying crowbars and hammers, smashed glass cases and window displays and ransacked high-end stores throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, stealing jewelry, sunglasses, suitcases and other merchandise before fleeing in waiting cars during a weekend of brazen organized theft that shocked holiday shoppers and prompted concerns about the busy retail season.
NEW YORK (AP) — Target will no longer open its stores on Thanksgiving Day, making permanent a shift to the unofficial start of the holiday season that was suspended during the pandemic.
To limit crowds in stores, retailers last year were forced to turn what had become a weekend shopping blitz into an extended event, with big holiday discounts beginning as early as October.
NEW YORK (AP) — Department store chains Macy's and Kohl's delivered strong results for the fiscal third quarter as shoppers go back to buying dresses and other goods that fell to the bottom of the shopping list when the pandemic struck.
BOSTON (AP) — Toys with tiny accessories children can choke on, wheeled toys that could lead to falls, and toys that fire projectiles that could possibly injure a child's eyes are among the playthings on an annual “10 Worst Toys" list released Wednesday by a consumer safety advocacy group.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Many Americans have taken a darker view of the economy as inflation has worsened. Yet so far, they appear no less willing to spend freely at retailers — an encouraging sign for the crucial holiday shopping season.
SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Four people have died in Indian-controlled Kashmir after a deadly raid by government forces on alleged militants in the disputed region’s main city, police and families of the victims said Tuesday.
BEIJING (AP) — Chinese shoppers spent $139.1 billion during this year's annual Singles' Day shopping extravaganza, breaking last year's record even though spending slowed during the coronavirus pandemic.
MILAN (AP) — The personal luxury market of high-end accessories, leather goods and apparel has snapped back to pre-pandemic levels as U.S. shoppers outspent those in China in pursuit of the latest fashion trends, according to a study released Thursday by the Bain consultancy.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A worsening surge of inflation for such bedrock necessities as food, rent, autos and heating oil is setting Americans up for a financially difficult Thanksgiving and holiday shopping season.
HONG KONG (AP) — China’s biggest online shopping day, known as “Singles’ Day” on Nov. 11, is taking on a muted tone this year as regulators crack down on the technology industry and President Xi Jinping pushes for “common prosperity.”
NEW YORK (AP) — In this world, there's a book for everybody. Take advantage of that sentiment during the holiday shopping season.
Book sales have thrived during the pandemic after initial concerns that it might hurt the publishing business.