The rapid spread of the highly contagious COVID-19 Delta variant has grabbed national headlines and put a dent in people’s optimism that the pandemic will soon be over in the U.S. According to the New York Times, as of this morning, case counts in the U.S. are continuing to climb rapidly, with the seven-day rolling […]

With early-returning school districts already opening their doors and welcoming back students, the back-to-school shopping season is in full swing.  But for a second year in a row, COVID-19 is creating significant uncertainty for students, parents, teachers, administrators, and the retailers that can typically count on a surge in school-related spending at this time of […]

For Hallmark Channel viewers, Christmas in July is a thing.  And at least some of us are beginning to think that Christmas shopping in July should be a thing too. Import logistics issues have dogged the U.S. for months now. It started with shipping capacity shortages for goods sourced from Asia, which has resulted in […]

The past year has been extremely challenging for certain sectors of the consumer economy, including physical retail and the apparel industry. However, as overall clothing sales struggled last year, the resale market for clothing saw strong growth. Thredup, a resale platform that allows consumers to buy and sell secondhand apparel and footwear, estimated in its […]

With COVID-19 driving interest in outdoor activities, consumer preferences have shifted. Concerns for safety and shutdowns of many indoor fitness and recreation outlets during the pandemic led people outside. This has resulted in higher participation on two fronts – consumers who were not participants before COVID are now trying new activities, and consumer who were […]