ANNE D'INNOCENZIO Retail Writer, Author at The Rapid City Post

FILE - An Amazon Prime delivery person lifts packages while making a stop at a high-rise apartment building, Nov. 28, 2023, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

Amazon spends $1 billion to increase pay and lower health care costs for US workers

September 18, 2025

Amazon says it’s investing $1 billion to raise wages and lower the cost of health care plans for its U.S. fulfillment and transportation workers. The Seattle-based company said Wednesday that the average pay is increasing to more than $23 per hour. Some of its most tenured employees will see an increase between $1.10 and $1.90 per hour and full-time employees, on average, will see their pay increase by $1,600 per year. Amazon also said it will lower the cost of its entry health care plan to $5 per week and $5 for co-pays, starting next year. Amazon said that will reduce weekly contributions by 34% and co-pays by 87% for primary care, mental health and most non-specialist visits for employees using the basic plan.

Amazon ends a program that lets Prime members share free shipping perk with users outside household

September 2, 2025

Amazon is ending a program that allows members of its Prime membership subscription program to share their free shipping benefits with people who don’t have the same primary address. The online behemoth said it will eliminate the sharing on Oct. 1 and is encouraging users outside the household of the account holder to sign up for their own Prime subscription. Amazon is replacing the so-called Prime Invitee program with Amazon Family, which lets account holders share the free two-day shipping perk as well as a broad range of other perks like exclusive deals and movies with only one other adult in their household, up to four teens (who were added before April 7) and up to four profiles for children, according to Amazon’s website.

FILE - This photo shows a sign outside a Best Buy store in Bethel Park, Pa., May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

A solid quarter at Best Buy overshadowed by outlook grown cloudy with tariffs

August 28, 2025

Best Buy posted a solid second quarter that exceeded Wall Street expectations, but the performances was overshadowed by an outlook that has grown cloudy due to tariffs the U.S. is imposing on trading partners. Despite easily beating expectations, shares slid more than 6% Thursday after the company stuck to earlier guidance for 2025. The company cited the potential impact of tariffs. Comparable sales, a good barometer of a retailer’s health, increased 1.6%, better than the small decline that analysts had expected. Yet the company had been battered by online competition. CEO Corie Barry pointed out that it was the highest growth for same-store sales, which include online sales, in three years.

FILE - Shoppers walk from the Walmart store, Aug. 14, 2025, in Manchester, N.H. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, file)

Tariffs aren’t keeping Walmart from attracting shoppers and outpacing Target

August 21, 2025

Walmart is showing it can keep pulling in shoppers and outpacing rivals like Target in an uncertain economic environment. and tariff concerns to deliver solid second-quarter financial results Thursday, showing it keeps pulling in shoppers and outpacing peers like Target. The nation’s largest retailer delivered solid second-quarter financial results on Thursday. It reported a 4.6% quarterly increase in comparable sales, or those coming from established stores and online channels. Company executives say Walmart is attracting customers with fast deliveries, grocery discounts and trendier clothes. The earnings of the Bentonville, Arkansas, company differed notably from those of Target, which on Wednesday reported another quarter of comparable sales declines.

Dora Diaz, left, and her daughter Fernanda Diaz, 14, shops for school supplies at a Walmart in Dallas, Texas, Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Shopping for school supplies becomes a summer activity as families juggle technology and tariffs

August 13, 2025

Shopping for school supplies has become both easier and more complicated for families. The websites of major retail chains generate lists of recommended items by school and grade, allowing parents to shop with a click. Some schools partner with vendors to sell premade boxes of student essentials. Despite these conveniences, many families start shopping months before Labor Day to find the best deals. Analysts say concerns about price increases from new U.S. tariffs on imports have motivated early shopping. One market research company estimates back-to-school spending in the U.S. will reach $33.3 billion from June through August. Some of the biggest chains are advertising selective price freezes on key products to hold onto customers.

Amazon expands its perishable delivery service, putting pressure on traditional grocers

August 13, 2025

Amazon is now rolling out a service where its Prime members can order their blueberries and milk at the same time as their batteries and other basic items. The online juggernaut said Wednesday that customers in more than 1,000 cities and towns now have access to fresh groceries with its free Same-Day Delivery on orders over $25 for Prime members, with plans to reach over 2,300 locations by year-end. The company said that if an order doesn’t meet the minimum, members can still choose Same-Day Delivery for a $2.99 fee. For customers without a Prime membership, the service is available with a $12.99 fee, regardless of order size.

FILE - People shop at a Claire's in New York, Saturday, March 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

Claire’s, known for piercing millions of teens’ ears, files for Chapter 11, 2nd time since 2018

August 6, 2025

Mall-based teen retailer Claire’s, known for helping to usher teens into a key rite of passage _ ear piercing _ but now struggling with a big debt load and changing consumer tastes, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The bankruptcy filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware on Wednesday, marked the second time since 2018 and for a similar reason: high debt load and the shift among teens heading online. It follows the bankruptcies of other teen retailers including Forever 21, which filed for bankruptcy protection in March and eventually shut its U.S. business as traffic in U.S. shopping malls fades and competition from online retailers like Amazon, Temu and Shein intensifies.

American Eagle’s ‘good jeans’ ads with Sydney Sweeney spark a debate on race and beauty standards

July 30, 2025

U.S. fashion retailer American Eagle Outfitters wanted to make a splash with its new advertising campaign starring 27-year-old actor Sydney Sweeney. It has. The question is whether some of the public reactions the fall denim campaign produced is what American Eagle intended. Titled “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans,” the campaign has sparked a debate about race, Western beauty standards, and the backlash to “woke” American culture. Most of the negative reception focused on videos that used the word “genes” instead of “jeans” when discussing the blonde-haired, blue-eyed actor. Some critics saw the wordplay as a nod to eugenics, a discredited theory that held humanity could be improved through selective breeding for certain traits.

FILE - Amazon employees load packages on carts before being put on to trucks for distribution for Amazon's annual Prime Day event at an Amazon's DAX7 delivery station, July 16, 2024, in South Gate, Calif. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)

Customers seeking deals gave Amazon’s Prime Day and competing sales a solid start

July 9, 2025

Retail analysts say the first day of Amazon’s Prime Day event and competing sales drove solid online spending. Adobe Digital Insights reports that U.S. consumers spent $7.9 billion at e-commerce sites on Tuesday. That was 9.9% more than on the comparable day last year. Analysts are evaluating sales by Amazon, Walmart, Target and other U.S. retailers for clues on whether President Donald Trump’s trade policy and unpredictable tariffs affect prices and consumer behavior. According to consumer data company Numerator, the average Prime Day order on Tuesday cost $58.37. However, the company says 42% of participating households placed more than two orders.

Amazon extends Prime Day discounts to 4 days as retailers weigh tariff-related price increases

July 7, 2025

Amazon’s annual Prime Day sales are here again. The e-commerce giant is making the now-misnamed Prime Day a four-day event for the first time. Its promised blitz of summer deals for Prime members starts at 3:01 a.m. Eastern time on Tuesday and runs until early Friday. The company launched the event in 2015 and expanded it to two days in 2019. Amazon executives declined to comment on the potential impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Prime Day deals. Some retail analysts expect U.S. consumers to make purchases this week out of fear that high taxes on foreign imports will make items they want more expensive later.

Why hosting a July Fourth pool party may cost less this year

July 3, 2025

Americans have one more reason to celebrate this Fourth of July. A market research company’s preliminary data shows that getting all the gear needed to host a pool party costs less than it has in years. Consumer data provider Numerator said in an analysis prepared for The Associated Press that the total price to buy beach towels, a beverage cooler, bathing suits and other accoutrements of summer fun averaged $858 in June. That was the lowest amount for the month since 2020. The finding from the firm’s seasonal snapshot comports with broader economic measures indicating that U.S. consumers so far haven’t seen major impacts from President Donald Trump’s vigorous application of tariffs on foreign goods.

FILE - Leonard Lauder attends a gala launch party in New York, April 26, 2010. (AP Photo/Stephen Chernin, File)

Leonard Lauder, philanthropist who globalized family cosmetic business, dies at age 92

June 16, 2025

Leonard Lauder, a renowned philanthropist who expanded the family cosmetics business into a worldwide empire, has died at the age of 92. Estee Lauders Cos. announced the news in a release on Sunday and said he died on Saturday surrounded by his family. Lauder, the oldest son of Estee and Joseph H. Lauder who founded the cosmetics company in 1946, formally joined the New York company in 1958. Over more than six decades, Lauder played a key role in transforming the business from a handful of products sold under a single brand in U.S. stores to a multi-brand global cosmetics and fragrance giant. He had held the title of chairman emeritus at the time of his death.

ANNE D'INNOCENZIO Retail Writer.