National Retail Federation

Black Friday shoppers fought for parking spots and traveled cross-state to their favorite malls, kicking off a shortened shopping season that intensified the mad scramble between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The shopping season is the shortest since 2013 because Thanksgiving fell on the last Thursday in November — the latest possible date it could be. That means customers will have less...

Although some retailers have already started marking down items and cueing the holiday music, the season will kick off in earnest this week. Retailers are preparing for crowds of shoppers as the holidays approach, with retail sales expected to grow between 3.8% and 4.2% this year to between $727.9 billion and $730.7 billion, according to the National Retail Federation. For...

When most people think of Black Friday deals, they picture discounts on electronics, toys or clothing. But restaurant chains also offer their own deals. Here’s where to find deals on restaurant gift cards and discounted food and drinks on Black Friday.

They call it the most joyful time of the year, and for good reason: the holidays are a time to join family and friends and share in the things that make life special. But the celebrations and gift-giving aren’t without cost.

With trick or treating over, all that candy is in your house. So now what? You can hide it from the kids, or maybe eat it yourself, but there are concerns about the amount of candy kids are consuming. “I am a really big candy fan,” says Heather Flannery. “We eat a lot of candy at our house.” The National...

CandyStore.com compiled 12 years of candy sales to break down the top candy by state.

Fake cobwebs and some other spooky, outdoor Halloween decorations meant as harmless fun can do real damage to wildlife. Halloween spending has skyrocketed in recent years, and the National Retail Federation says Americans are expected to spend $2.7 billion on Halloween decorations this year. Wildlife organizations say they also have seen an increase in animal visits to local rehabilitation centers...

President Donald Trump is threatening to use the emergency authority granted by a powerful but obscure federal law to make good on his tweeted “order” to U.S. businesses to cut ties in China amid a spiraling trade war between the two nations. China’s announcement Friday that it was raising tariffs on $75 billion in U.S. imports sent Trump into a...

Everyone loves Halloween — except when it falls on a weekday night. The after-school homework routine is tricky enough, even without a kid who just wants to put on a costume and eat candy; early bedtimes curtail what could be hours of trick-or-treating. Even older fans of the holiday are disappointed — it’s hard to have a fun time when...

Guillermo Robles, who is blind, has tried to order a custom pizza from Domino’s at least twice in recent years, using the company’s website and mobile app. He says despite using screen reading software, he wasn’t able to order the food, because the website is not accessible to blind people. So three years ago, Robles filed a lawsuit against the...

U.S. retailers expect to handle about $72 billion worth of holiday returns this year, according to estimates from the National Retail Federation. That’s 10 percent of their total holiday sales. An analysis of current holiday return policies by ConsumerWorld.org, a consumer education website, finds that most major retailers are nice, and a few are even innovative. “My number one tip...

Shoppers across the tri-state area scramble to buy last-minute gifts in time for Christmas Day. Katherine Creag reports.

With the economy singing, more Americans are getting into the holiday spirit. For the most part, that means spending more money. The National Retail Federation estimates the average consumer will shell out more than $1,000 this season on everything from gifts to food to festive attire — a 4.1 percent increase from last year. Another analysis, from NerdWallet, anticipates an...

Almost before the leftover turkey is put away into Tupperware, the holiday shopping season is fully underway. But now, popular shopping day Black Friday has to share the spotlight with its relatively new sidekick: Small Business Saturday. This year, the shopping day, when consumers are urged to shop at independently owned stores to support those business owners, falls on Nov....

It would have been easy to turn on their computers at home over plates of leftover turkey and take advantage of the Black Friday deals most retailers now offer online. But across the country, thousands of shoppers woke up before dawn the day after Thanksgiving and brought their mobile devices with them to take part in this most famous ritual...

Cozy sweaters and soft pajamas are in for adults. Kids, meanwhile, are asking for board games featuring fake poop and pimples. Those are just some of the trends expected this holiday season, when shoppers are projected to spend as much as $720 billion, according to the National Retail Federation. Here’s what to expect.

Shopping for Halloween costumes doesn’t have to be scary. This year, shoppers can find more ways to save time and money. Discounters like Walmart and Target are expanding their costume offerings and creating designated sections where customers can find more of their Halloween needs in one place. And for the first time, Party City is offering an assortment of Halloween...

Serena Williams talked about her fashion business and her family, but not tennis fouls during a Friday appearance before a business trade group in Las Vegas. The 23-time Grand Slam champion wasn’t asked about gender equality in sports or an argument she had last weekend with the chair umpire at her U.S. Open finals match in New York during about...

Getting a job at a store or fast-food restaurant — often a way into the economy for an unskilled worker — used to be as simple as walking up and down the mall and applying. Now, with store chains closing and laying off thousands of workers, that path is more complicated. The stores that remain financially healthy are actually raising...

From toys to clothes to shoes to cellphones, Americans buy a half-trillion dollars’ worth of goods from China each year — the biggest haul of imports from any one country. And that means the prices of many such products could surge as a result of President Donald Trump’s plan to impose tariffs on up to $60 billion of imports from China.