consumer trends

Big, little guys get a chance if we balance our buying

Cinda Baxter has gotten tons of support since the veteran consultant and onetime retailer launched a March offensive in support of locally owned merchants.Baxter and her cohorts at the 3/50 Project urge us at www.the350project.org... more »

The gift of thrift

It was a Louis Vuitton purse. A woman walked into the Hoboken University Medical Center Auxiliary Thrift Shop on Garden Street last week and hung on the rack a slightly weathered but authentic Louis Vuitton... more »

New Aptos store, Outside-In Kids, born of the recession

Aptos -- Sure, there's a recession, but locally owned business are adapting to survive. Take, for example, John and Jerri Hammond, owners of Outside-In Home in the Aptos Center. When they saw the recession bite... more »

Good Times Roll On Inside Grand Central

Grand Central Terminal is a curious kind of threshold — rooted in Midtown Manhattan, but belonging as much to the suburbs as it does to the city.When the hordes from the north spill into the... more »

Store donates its stock to Habitat ReStore

The plugs will be pulled this week at Simpson's Lighting, but the closing of the South End store will be a financial bright spot for Habitat for Humanity.Owner Vernon Simpson is giving all his unsold... more »

Riding out the recession

Last October, then-presidential candidate Barack Obama acknowledged the vital role small businesses play in the economy, citing Small Business Administration (SBA) statistics when he said: "Small businesses employ half of the workers in the private... more »

Don’t worry, buy happy: Cheerful stuff is selling well

The economy's in the tank. Consumers have no spare cash. And the financial outlook is bleak. So, guess what the savviest consumer product makers are rolling out these days: happy stuff. That's right, products that... more »

Consumers still buying, just differently

Even given the nation's recent economic downturn, customers are still going out and shopping. They're just not going out as often, and they're looking for bargains, store owners say."We have customers that come in all... more »