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A 118-year-old department store perseveres in a tenuous economy

Feb 17, 2023
How a department store more than a century old has survived two pandemics, the Great Depression, and multiple recessions.
Dunham's Department Store in Wellsboro, PA. Ann Dunham Rawson, whose great-grandparents opened Dunham's, said the store is doing well despite wider economic anxiety.
Courtesy Ann Dunham Rawson

Department stores rebound, but have a long way to go

Aug 20, 2021
This week, we saw positive quarterly earnings from Macy’s and Kohl's, and news that Amazon plans to open what are essentially department stores.
Customers enter a Kohl's store on Aug. 21, 2018 in San Rafael, California.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Did department stores train people to be difficult customers?

Aug 13, 2021
Amanda Mull, a staff writer at The Atlantic, argues that department stores had a hand in building class consciousness.
Customers shop at Macys department store in New York on Black Friday, Nov. 27, 2020.
Kena Betancur/AFP via Getty Images

Are malls and department stores really springing back to life?

May 24, 2021
Retailers realize the pandemic has also shifted a lot of shopping online.
Retailers like Macy's and T.J. Maxx reported significantly higher sales this first quarter relative to 2020.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Amazon in talks with Simon Property Group on taking over mall space

Aug 10, 2020
But for those other mall tenants, sharing space with Amazon might feel like an insult.
A closed JC Penney department store in North Carolina. Amazon is in talks with Simon Property Group — which owns closed Penney and Sears stores — about using the space as fulfillment centers.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

J.C. Penney joins ranks of major retailers filing for bankruptcy

May 18, 2020
Experts say these companies were already in trouble before the pandemic.
Retail watchers say J.C. Penney won't be the last company to see this kind of financial trouble during the pandemic.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Another year of "retail apocalypse"? Not quite.

Jan 8, 2020
With more consumers shopping online, the in-store experience remains crucial to keeping brick-and-mortar alive.
Consumers continue to shop online more and more, leading to the closure of brick-and-mortar stores.
Scott Olson/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Kohl's banks on Amazon returns to improve store traffic

Apr 24, 2019
Kohl's is expanding a deal with Amazon that allows online shoppers to return their merchandise at Kohl's stores.
Customers enter a Kohl's store on Aug. 21, 2018 in San Rafael, California.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

After bankruptcy, Sears launches smaller stores

Apr 5, 2019
Sears is once again opening new locations, but much smaller Home & Life stores.
Sears is once again opening new locations, but much smaller Home & Life stores.
Mario Tama/Getty Images