ANNE D'INNOCENZIO

Shoppers looks at items displayed at the Uniqlo stores in New York on Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023. Retailers are kicking off the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season on Friday with a bevy of discounts and other enticements. (AP Photo/Anne D'Innocenzio)

Retailers offer bigger Black Friday discounts to lure hesitant shoppers hunting for the best deals

Retailers try big discounts and other enticements to lure shoppers to stores for Black Friday. But they worry those may not be enough.

Retailers are ready to kick off Black Friday just as shoppers pull back on spending

Retailers are kicking off the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season on Friday with a bevy of discounts and other enticements.

FILE - Shoppers are silhouetted as they walk toward a Best Buy store after doors opened at 5 a.m., Nov. 26, 2021, in Lone Tree, Colo. Best Buy Co. posted stronger-than-expected profits, Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023, but reported a drop in revenue for the fiscal third quarter as shoppers continue to pull back on buying gadgets in an uncertain economy. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, file)

Best Buy posts better-than-expected 3Q profits but sales sluggish amid spending malaise

Best Buy Co. posted stronger-than-expected profits, but reported a deeper-than-expected drop in revenue for the fiscal third quarter as shoppers continue to pull back on buying gadgets in an uncertain economy.

A Scrabble game with larger tiles is displayed at the 2023 Toy Fair, in New York's Javits Center, Monday, Oct. 2, 2023. Toymakers are tweaking original classic games or coming out with new ones that embrace an audience that's been around for a while: people over 65 years old. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Toys aren’t just for kids anymore. They’re also for the over 60s

Toymakers are tweaking original classic games or coming out with new ones that embrace an audience that’s been around for a while: people over 65 years old.

FILE - A woman pushes a shopping cart at a Walmart in Rolling Meadows, Ill., on Nov. 5, 2020. Walmart reports earnings on Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)

Walmart attracts more shoppers seeking to cut spending in Q3, but muted expectations spook investors

Walmart extended its streak of strong quarterly gains heading into the holiday season as its low-prices continue to attract shoppers looking for deals in a tough economic environment.

A customer browses the holiday lights section at Blackhawk Hardware, Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023, in Charlotte, N.C. On Wednesday, the Commerce Department releases U.S. retail sales data for October. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)

Retail sales slip in October as consumers pull back after summer splurges

Americans cut back on retail spending in October, ending six straight months of gains, though the decline was partly driven by falling prices for both gasoline and cars.

File - A shopper wheels a cart through the parking lot after making a purchase at the Target store, Monday, Feb. 27, 2023, in Salem, N.H. Target reports earnings on Wednesday, Nov. 15. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

Target tops third quarter profit expectations, but inflation weighs on shoppers

Target on Wednesday reported a hefty third-quarter profit increase that handily beat Wall Street expectations, benefiting from efforts to hold down costs.

Workers pour concrete to create part of a bus stop in the Manhattan borough of New York City on Thursday, October 12, 2023. On Friday, the U.S. government issues the October jobs report. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)

US employers pulled back on hiring in October, adding 150,000 jobs in face of higher borrowing rates

The nation’s employers slowed their hiring in October, adding a modest but still decent 150,000 jobs, a sign that the labor market may be cooling but remains resilient despite high interest rates that have made borrowing much costlier for companies and consumers.

FILE - Shoppers carry shopping bags down Fifth Avenue, Monday, Dec. 19, 2022, in New York. The National Retail Federation, the nation’s largest retail trade group, expects holiday sales growth will ease to a range of 3% to 4%, compared with 5.4% growth a year ago. The forecast, released Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023, comes as shoppers keep spending, powered by sturdy hiring, low unemployment and healthy household finances. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson, File)

Retail trade group: holiday sales expected to slow to 3% to 4%, compared with 5.4% growth a year ago

The National Retail Federation, the nation’s largest retail trade group, expects shoppers will spend more this year than last year, but their spending pace will slow given all the economic uncertainty.

File - Shoppers push carts into a Costco warehouse Friday, Aug. 4, 2023, in Thornton, Colo. A surge in U.S. consumer spending is fueling economic growth, reflecting a resilience among households that has confounded economists, Federal Reserve officials and even the sentiments that Americans themselves have expressed in surveys.(AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

US consumers keep spending despite high prices and their own gloomy outlook. Can it last?

A flow of recent data from the U.S. government has made one thing strikingly clear: A surge in consumer spending is fueling strong growth, demonstrating a resilience that has confounded economists, Federal Reserve officials and even the sour sentiments that Americans themselves have expressed in opi

FILE - In this May 22, 2017, file photo, a store window reflects a street scene at an Abercrombie & Fitch store on New York's Fifth Avenue. A former model for Abercrombie & Fitch has sued the fashion retailer, Friday, Oct. 27, 2023, alleging it allowed its former CEO Mike Jeffries to run a sex-trafficking organization during his 22-year tenure.(AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)

Abercrombie & Fitch slapped with lawsuit alleging sexual abuse of its male models under former CEO

A former model for Abercrombie & Fitch has sued the fashion retailer, alleging it allowed its former CEO Mike Jeffries to run a sex-trafficking organization during his 22-year tenure.

FILE - A customer loads a car after shopping at a Walmart in Philadelphia, Nov. 17, 2021. Walmart, the nation's largest private employer, is expanding nationwide its health care coverage next month for employees who want to enlist the services of a doula, a person trained to assist women during pregnancies. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, file)

Walmart expands nationwide health care coverage for those employees who want doulas during pregnancy

Walmart, the nation’s largest private employer, is expanding nationwide its health care coverage next month for employees who want to enlist the services of a doula, a person trained to assist women during pregnancies.

File - Paddy Cosgrave, CEO and founder of Web Summit, speaks at the Web Summit technology conference in Lisbon on Nov. 1, 2021. The fallout from the Israel-Hamas war has spilled into workplaces everywhere, as top leaders of prominent companies weigh in with their views and workers complain of their own voices not being heard. Backlash has been swift, including to a tweet from Cosgrave suggesting that Israel was committing war crimes. (AP Photo/Armando Franca, File)

CEO of a prominent tech conference resigns amid backlash for public statements over Israel-Hamas war

Paddy Cosgrave, the chief executive officer of a prominent European tech conference called Web Summit, resigned from his role on Saturday amid backlash for his public statements that suggested Israel was committing war crimes.

File - Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla sits on a podium at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 19, 2023. The fallout from the Israel-Hamas war has spilled into workplaces everywhere. In a LinkedIn post and a letter to employees, Bourla said he has been constantly on the phones with friends and relatives in Israel and expressed his horror of hearing of "civilians of all ages targeted and killed in cold blood, hostages taken and tortured." (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)

Company bosses and workers grapple with the fallout of speaking up about the Israel-Hamas war

The fallout from the Israel-Hamas war has spilled into workplaces everywhere, with corporate leaders from the highest ranks of prominent companies weighing in with their views while workers complain their voices are not being heard.

File - A man looks at the Apple's new iPhone 15 models on the first day of sales at an Apple Store in Los Angeles on Sept. 22, 2023. On Tuesday, the Commerce Department releases U.S. retail sales data for September. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

Retail sales rise solid 0.7% in September, reflecting US shoppers’ resilience despite higher prices

Americans showed their steadfast resilience and kept spending in September even as they grappled with higher prices, interest rates and a host of other headwinds piling up.

Quinn Byrne, 5 left, shops with her mother, Jamie Byrne, at a Learning Express store in Lake Zurich, Ill., Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023. While still in its early phase, a growing number of toy marketers are embracing MESH — or mental, emotional and social health — as a designation for toys that teach kids skills like how to adjust to new challenges, resolve conflict, advocate for themselves, or solve problems. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Amid a mental health crisis, toy industry takes on a new role: building resilience

As more children emerge from the pandemic grappling with mental health issues, their parents are seeking ways for them to build emotional resilience.

File - Signage hangs from a Macy's store in San Francisco, April 18, 2023. Macy’s is accelerating the expansion of its small-format stores as it looks to cater to shoppers seeking more convenient locations. The department store said Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023 that it aims to add up to 30 new small format locations through the fall of 2025, bringing the total number of such stores to roughly 42. The next round of expansion starts in fall 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

Macy’s to greatly expand number of smaller stores, about a fifth the size of their mall counterparts

Macy’s is accelerating the expansion of its small-format stores as it looks to cater to shoppers seeking more convenient locations.

FILE - A Target store is seen June 29, 2016, in Hialeah, Fla. Target announced, Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023, that it will close nine store in four states, including one in East Harlem, New York and three in San Francisco, saying that theft and organized retail crime have threatened the safety of its workers and customers. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz, File)

Target to close 9 stores, including 3 in the San Francisco Bay Area, citing safety concerns

Target says it’s closing nine stores in four states, including one in New York City’s East Harlem neighborhood, and three in the San Francisco Bay Area.

FILE - A UPS driver prepares to deliver packages in Baltimore, Md., Dec. 19, 2018. UPS plans to hire more than 100,000 workers _ at higher pay than a year ago _ to help handle the holiday rush this season, in line with hiring the previous three years. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

UPS plans to hire more than 100,000 holiday workers this year, on par with last year

UPS plans to hire more than 100,000 workers _ at higher pay than a year ago _ to help handle the holiday rush this season, in line with hiring the previous three years.

Walmart’s head of fashion Denise Incandela talks about changing discounter’s staid image in fashion

Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer, has been long known for its basic socks, T-shirts and pull-on pants.

FILE - Kanye West, known as Ye, watches the first half of an NBA basketball game between the Washington Wizards and the Los Angeles Lakers, March 11, 2022, in Los Angeles. Adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden said on a recent podcast that he didn't believe that Ye “meant what he said” when he made a series of antisemitic remarks in 2022. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis, File)

Anti-Defamation League says Adidas CEO apologizes for misstatement about Kanye West

The head of the Anti-Defamation League said in a post on X on Thursday that he was in touch with Adidas CEO Bjorn Gulden who apologized for his remarks about Kanye West and reiterated the sportswear company’s fight to end antisemitism.

Shoppers wait to purchase items in a boutique on Tennyson Street Saturday, Aug. 5, 2023, in northwest Denver. On Thursday, the Commerce Department releases U.S. retail sales data for August.(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Retail sales rise 0.6% in August largely due to a spike in gas prices

Americans stepped up retail spending modestly from July to August as the price of gasoline jumped, cutting into budgets as many families send their kids off to school.

FILE - The entrance to a Walmart store is shown on June 25, 2019 in Pittsburgh. Walmart reports earning on Thursday. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

Walmart cuts starting hourly pay for some workers in move it says will offer consistency in staffing

Walmart, the nation’s largest private employer, is making adjustments to its pay scale that will have some new store workers like those picking online orders start at lower hourly pay than it did a few months ago.

Victoria’s Secret overhauls its racy fashion catwalk in the company’s latest move to be inclusive

Victoria’s Secret has been trying to reverse its image built on a man’s vision of sexiness that eventually backfired.

Childhood friends Sydney Allbritton, 18, left, and Emma Kirk, 19, both of Grenada, Mississippi, pose in their decorated dorm room at the University of Mississippi, in Oxford, on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. Students are spending big bucks to decorate their rooms, adding yet another layer to the soaring costs of college. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Students transform their drab dorm rooms into comfy living spaces

A studded headboard for your dorm bed? Or how about a custom-made cabinet that covers your mini-fridge?

File - A construction worker wires rebar for a foundation, Friday, March 17, 2023, in Boston. On Friday, the U.S. government issues the August jobs report. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)

US employers added a solid 187,000 jobs in August in sign of a still-resilient labor market

American employers added 187,000 jobs in August, evidence of a slowing but still-resilient labor market despite the high interest rates the Federal Reserve has imposed.

The JCPenney sign lights up the entrance to a store in Frisco, Texas, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. The retailer is reinvesting more than $1 billion into the storied but troubled 121-year-old department store business by the end of 2025 to remodel its stores, upgrade its online shopping site and app and make its supply network more efficient to speed up online shipping among other plans. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

JCPenney is spending $1 billion on store and online upgrades in latest bid to revive its business

JCPenney says it plans to spend more than $1 billion by the end of 2025 in a bid to revive the storied but troubled 121-year-old department store chain.

FILE - A woman walks with a boy to the Best Buy store at the Mall of New Hampshire, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2020, in Manchester, N.H. Best Buy sales and profits slid in the second quarter, Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2023, as the nation's largest consumer electronics chain continues to wrestle with a pullback in spending on gadgets after Americans splurged during the pandemic.(AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

Best Buy and the reluctant shopper. Sales fall as Americans pull back on spending

Best Buy sales and profits slid in the second quarter as the nation’s largest consumer electronics chain continues to wrestle with a pullback in spending on gadgets after Americans splurged during the pandemic.

FILE - This photo shows the entrance to a Nordstrom store, Jan. 30, 2023, in Pittsburgh. On Thursday, Aug. 24, Nordstrom reported that its sales and profits fell in its fiscal second quarter, joining its department store peers coping with shoppers' cautious spending. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

Nordstrom’s results reflect cautious consumer spending, echoing department store sector blues

Nordstrom says its sales and profits fell in its fiscal second quarter, joining its department store peers coping with shoppers’ cautious spending.

FILE - A shopper arrives at a Kohl's store in West Des Moines, Iowa, on Feb. 25, 2021. Kohl’s reported on Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023 that both profits and sales declined in the second quarter as the department store wrestles with shoppers’ cautious spending in a challenging economy. But the results beat Wall Street expectations as the department store chain cut inventory and expenses. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)

Kohl’s posts declines in 2Q profits and sales, joining other stores facing cautious spending

Kohl’s reported on Wednesday that profits dropped nearly 60% on weak sales in the second quarter, joining a slew of retailers that are wrestling with shoppers’ cautious spending in a challenging economy.

ANNE D’INNOCENZIO