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Target's winning streak slows with disappointing holiday sales

Jan 15, 2020
The retailer missed the mark on electronics and toy sales.
A Target cashier rings up customers at a Target store in Albany, California.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Indie booksellers innovate to survive the age of Amazon

Jan 7, 2020
The holiday season is the busiest time of year for many retailers, including the country's 2,500 hundred independent bookstores. Some, despite Amazon's dominance, are flourishing.
Angel and Bob Dobrow opened Zenith Bookstore in Duluth in 2017.
Dan Kraker

Online shopping deliveries overloading office mail rooms

Dec 23, 2019
Some employers have banned personal packages.
How to protect your packages from porch pirates? Get them delivered to your office.
Sébastien Duval/AFP via Getty Images

Getting holiday shopping done at work can boost productivity ... maybe

Dec 18, 2019
It can save time and clear your mind ... or send you down an e-commerce rabbit hole.
Do you shop online while at the office?
Matt Cardy/Getty Images

eBay aims to strengthen focus on core business as competition builds

Nov 26, 2019
The site known for its auctions has shifted to more fixed price sales, but can't compete with Amazon.
The eBay headquarters in San Jose, California in 2014.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

How accessibility dictates how we shop

Nov 22, 2019
Why one Georgia woman uses catalogs instead of going to the store.
Photo courtesy of Mark FInlay.

How Amazon's counterfeit problem reached a bird feeder manufacturer in Rhode Island

Nov 18, 2019
The vice president of the company likened policing Amazon for fakes to "a game of whack-a-mole."
Can you spot the fake hummingbird feeder? It's on the left. Counterfeit products sold in online marketplaces often bear the same name and trademarks as the legitimate brand.
John Happel/Marketplace

For public good, not for profit.

Breakfast with your paint supplies? Home Depot tests in-store café

Oct 22, 2019
The café at a Home Depot in Kansas City is the first of its kind.

Resellers find treasure in online returns

Aug 8, 2019
Ever wondered where your online returns go? They may be fueling new resale businesses.
Naveed Ahmed uses his living room to sort through returned merchandise from pallets he bids on online. He says he makes between $150 and $200 in profit on each pallet he buys.
Leila Goldstein/Marketplace

The new Toys R Us won't be like the old Toys R Us

Jul 19, 2019
Although holding onto the name for customer nostalgia, stores will be fewer and smaller with more of an emphasis on show cases and play spaces.
An "old" Toys R Us closing, as seen in Arlington Heights, Illinois in 2006.
Tim Boyle/Getty Images