As we face the COVID-19 pandemic, references are often being made to war.  It is true that today there is hardship, a great sense of uncertainty, and fear.  C.S. Lewis told an incoming class at Oxford in 1939 – on the cusp of World War II – that war makes more obvious the permanent human […]

As the pace and gravity of COVID-19 headlines markedly increased last week, it became clear that a number of spheres of public life in this country will be impacted in the next several weeks, and potentially longer. Daily life has begun to change in healthcare, travel, education, commerce, hospitality, entertainment, and more. Here at Consensus, […]

Last week, three major U.S. department stores, J.C. Penney, Macy’s, and Kohl’s, topped analysts’ fourth quarter earnings and revenue estimates. Despite exceeding expectations (which were already tempered by a generally soft Holiday season), notable risks still loom for large brick and mortar retailers. The hazards are well documented: consumers have changed purchasing habits to favor […]

It has been an unsettling couple of weeks as fears about the coronavirus has spread worldwide.  On January 30, the Director-General of the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of COVID-19 (the virus’s official name) to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern and issued a set of temporary recommendations. And while the WHO […]

Reckless expansion and heightened competition for natural and organic foods were factors behind the recent bankruptcies of Fairway, Earth Fare and Lucky’s Market, but each chain faced unique challenges. Fairway, a New York institution known for its wide selection of cheeses and cheap produce, filed for Chapter 11 on Jan. 23. The bankruptcy was attributed […]