NEW YORK — The free-wheeling holiday shopper of 2021, happy to spend money to relieve some pent-up pandemic demand, has given way to a more practical consumer this year, many small business owners say. The reason: inflation. Stephanie Sala felt last year had a YOLO, or “you only live ...
SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — For all the worries about inflation and the economy, Americans aren’t scrimping on a centerpiece of many celebrations this holiday season: the Christmas tree. Retailers from Home Depot and Lowes to mom and pop operations raised their prices on trees — but people are still buying them. Some Christmas tree growers fretted over external factors — high fuel, fertilizer and labor costs — only to rediscover that holiday greenery is largely inflation-proof, even as Americans cut back on retail spending last month. The cost of an average-size tree ...
WASHINGTON — Consumer banking giant Wells Fargo agreed to pay $3.7 billion to settle a laundry list of charges that it harmed consumers by charging illegal fees and interest on auto loans and mortgages, as well as incorrectly applied overdraft fees against savings and checking accounts. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday ordered Wells to repay $2 billion to consumers and enacted a $1.7 billion penalty against the bank. It’s the largest fine to date against any bank by the CFPB and the largest fine against Wells. Regulators made it clear, however, that they ...
NEW YORK — Ricki Fairley, a 11-year late-stage breast cancer survivor and advocate, is fighting hard to improve the chances for Black women to overcome breast cancer and to address the racial disparities in treatment. Before her diagnosis in 2011, Fairley, 66, was a seasoned marketing ...
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — Netflix’s trailblazing DVD-by-mail rental service has been relegated as a relic in the age of video streaming, but there is still a steady — albeit shrinking — audience of diehards like Amanda Konkle who are happily paying to receive those discs in the iconic ...
Back in January, 109 container ships waited off the California coast to unload cargo in Los Angeles and Long Beach, the nation’s two largest ports. Consumers, stuck at home amid the pandemic, had unleashed an avalanche of orders for goods that overwhelmed factories and ports. Importers ...
