With the holiday shopping season in full swing, retailers are hoping that they can attract lots of Christmas customers to offset the losses of an especially hard year. In normal circumstances, stores would roll out the red carpet for Santa Claus and his elves to set up shop and learn about exactly what kids wanted to see under their trees. But due to the pandemic, this year mall Santas will be following extra precautions that could take away from the Continue reading
Since the 1990s, on November 11th Chinese retailers led by the e-commerce giant Alibaba have celebrated Singles Day with an abundance of discounts and deals. Initially started as a sort of anti-Valentine’s Day and celebration of singlehood, over the years Singles Day has grown into one of the globe’s biggest sales events. In fact, Alibaba said that consumers purchased more than $75 billion worth of products on its site during yesterday’s festivities.
This massive haul represents a 26 percent Continue reading
While makers of staple foods like soups and cereals have seen sales skyrocket during the pandemic, candy companies like Hershey have not been so fortunate. With foot traffic down significantly in convenience stores and other shops, consumers are not making as many impulsive treat purchases as they did last year. Still, matters could get even worse for Hershey in the coming months if the company does not have a happy Halloween.
The nearly $800 million haul that the company brings Continue reading
Tomorrow is Juneteenth, a holiday that commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S. Although few major companies observed this day of remembrance in the past, many are now correcting this mistake in response to the protests that have been going on for weeks in cities across the country. Firms like Nike, Mastercard, Target, and Twitter recently announced that Juneteenth will become a paid holiday next year. Best Buy offered employees a “paid volunteer holiday” they can use this upcoming Continue reading
The holiday season is the most important time of the year by far for the nation’s retailers, with many earning as much as 40 percent of their annual sales during that period. Fortunately for them, 2019’s holiday sales increased by 3.4 percent compared to the previous year. Retailers are especially relieved since Thanksgiving arrived six days later than it did in 2018, which took away crucial time that companies could have used to drive sales.
To make up for Continue reading
According to the Census of Agriculture, from 2002 to 2017 Christmas tree production fell by 30 percent as artificial trees grew in popularity. American growers now harvest fewer than 15 million trees annually, down from 21 million in the early 2000s. Meanwhile, sales of artificial trees have steadily risen thanks to their affordability and convenience. Not only are plastic Christmas trees clean and reusable, but they’re also considerably safer than real trees that can quickly catch fire with a single Continue reading
If you have plans to travel this week for Thanksgiving, then you should already know that you won’t be the only one. According to experts, a record number of travelers will either fly or drive at least 50 miles to celebrate the holiday. As a result, the nation’s airports and highways will be jammed with travelers, inevitably leading to widespread traffic and plane delays.
The trade organization Airlines for America estimates that a record 31.6 million people will fly Continue reading
With Thanksgiving only a couple of days away, America’s grocery stores will soon be flooded with consumers looking to pick up a few last minute ingredients. And while these time-crunched cooks will likely spend a long time waiting in the checkout line, they at least won’t be greeted with a steep bill once they reach the register. That’s because the American Farm Bureau Federation said that this year’s average price for a Thanksgiving dinner has dropped slightly in comparison to Continue reading
Tomorrow night, children across the country will put on costumes and head out in search of as much candy as they can carry. And while many adults will accompany these kids on their sugary quests, plenty of others will be getting into the Halloween spirit without doing any trick-or-treating. After all, in recent years adults have become just as excited about All Hallow’s Eve as the most candy-crazed kids.
In fact, last year half of all Americans purchased a costume Continue reading