JC Penney Co Inc
This Thursday, May 27, 2021, photo shows the closed Sears in Buena Park Mall in Buena Park, Calif. California state lawmakers are grappling with a particularly 21st-century problem: What to do with the growing number of shopping malls and big-box retail stores left empty by consumers shifting their purchases to the web. A possible answer in crowded California cities is to build housing on these sites, which already have ample parking and are close to existing neighborhoods. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
California eyes shuttered malls, stores for new housing

By Adam Beam May. 31, 2021 04:53 PM EDT

Matefo Litali opens the curtains of her small rented room that she shares with her youngest daughter and a granddaughter, in the town of Ha Thetsane, Maseru, Lesotho, on Friday, Dec. 11, 2020. While she waited for her final paycheck after being laid off, Litali received no income or support for three months. The family survived off food parcels donated by the local church until her salary arrived. “I got so stressed I thought I was going mad,” she explains. “I would spend the whole day in my house sleeping, not doing anything. It got to a stage where I wouldn’t even try to talk with my daughter. She would ask me: ‘Are you sick? What is the problem?’ and I wouldn’t say anything to her. I didn’t want to speak to anyone or ask for help.” (Neo Ntsoma/The Fuller Project via AP)
Pandemic crushes global supply chains, workers at both ends

By Louise Donovan/The Fuller Project Dec. 22, 2020 10:07 AM EST

Matefo Litali, 53, hangs laundry with her youngest daughter, Refiloe, 20, whom she regards as her best hope for a better future, in the town of Ha Thetsane, Maseru, Lesotho, on Saturday, Dec. 12, 2020. Litali's dream is to save money to send her daughter to enroll for a hairdressing course, which she believes will enable her to eventually start her own business and be financially independent. (Neo Ntsoma/The Fuller Project via AP)
Pandemic crushes global supply chains, workers at both ends

By Louise Donovan/The Fuller Project Dec. 22, 2020 10:05 AM EST

A sign advises holiday shoppers of social distancing to battle the spread of the coronavirus Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020, in Park Meadows Mall in Lone Tree, Colo. After a weak start to the holiday season for many mall-based retailers, the strugglers are making their final push in the final days before and the week after Christmas. Many are stepping up discounts while heavily promoting curbside pickup as a way to get shoppers, worried about being infected with the virus, to visit their stores. But experts believe that any burst of sales will be too little and too late to save some stores. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
The holidays could make or break struggling stores

By Anne D'innocenzio Dec. 21, 2020 02:56 PM EST

FILE - In this Nov. 29, 2019, file photo, customers walk outside of a Kohl's store in Colma, Calif. A number of stores including Kohl's, J.C. Penney, Ulta Beauty and others are encouraging shoppers on their websites to order online in the next few days - unless they want to pay for expedited shipping fees to ensure their items are delivered in time for Christmas. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)
Retailers urge shoppers to buy early amid shipping crunch

By Anne D'innocenzio And Joseph Pisani Dec. 11, 2020 08:00 AM EST

FILE - In this Friday, March 20, 2020 file photo, a shopper leaves the Target Store on 34th St. with supplies as carpenter board up the Sephora story in New York. Target Corp. said Friday it will give a $2 an hour wage increase to its 300,000-plus workers who have been scrambling to help customers. The pay bump will be effective at least through May 2. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)
Sephora to take over cosmetics in Kohl's stores

By Anne D'innocenzio Dec. 01, 2020 10:08 AM EST

FILE - In this Nov. 19, 2012 file photo a woman leaves Eastgate Mall after shopping in Cincinnati. Two mall operators filed for bankruptcy protection Monday, Nov. 2, 2020 hurt by the coronavirus pandemic, which has forced its tenants to permanently close stores or not pay rent. Both companies, CBL and Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust, said their malls will remain open as they go through the bankruptcy process. (AP Photo/Al Behrman, file)
Crushed by the virus, 2 mall operators file for bankruptcy

By Joseph Pisani Nov. 02, 2020 11:43 AM EST

Passers-by examine a storefront window, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020, in Boston's fashionable Newbury Street shopping district. The U.S. Commerce Department said Wednesday that retail sales rose 0.6% last month, the fourth straight month of growth. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Retail sales rise for 4th straight month as growth slows

By Joseph Pisani Sep. 16, 2020 08:43 AM EDT

What slowdown? Amazon seeks to hire 33,000 people

By Joseph Pisani Sep. 09, 2020 08:30 AM EDT
NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon is on a hiring spree. In the latest sign of how it's prospering while others are faltering during the pandemic,...

FILE - In this Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2020 file photo, people walk through the parking lot at a Target store in Oklahoma City. Target has reported that its sales as measured by a key metric registered their strongest performance to date for the company’s fiscal second quarter. It's the latest evidence that big-box stores are becoming consumers' prime shopping destinations during the pandemic. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)
Target sales surge as Americans lean on big box stores

By Anne D'innocenzio Aug. 19, 2020 06:49 AM EDT

FILE - This May 6, 2020, file photo shows a Brooks Brothers store in Pittsburgh. The fashion retailer Brooks Brothers is filing for bankruptcy protection. The company that says it's put 40 U.S. presidents in its suits survived a pair of world wars and navigated through casual Fridays and a loosening of dress standards even on Wall Street, but the coronavirus pandemic pushed the 200-year-old company into seek Chapter 11 protection Wednesday, July 8, 2020. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
Brooks Brothers, worn by Lincoln and Kennedy, goes bankrupt

By Joseph Pisani And Matt Ott Jul. 08, 2020 09:18 AM EDT

In this photo provided by American Eagle Outfitters, social distance markers are shown at Cranberry Mall American Eagle Store in Cranberry, Pa. (Ross Ribblett/American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. via AP)
Stores focus on cleaning to get shoppers back to spending

By Anne D'innocenzio Jul. 06, 2020 06:00 AM EDT

FILE - In this March 30, 2020 file photo, bicyclists pass in front of a closed Macy's department store in Santa Ana, Calif. The future of the post-pandemic retail economy in the U.S. looks boxy and digital. The pandemic has divided potential winners and losers from the economic shock, with Wall Street looking more favorably at e-commerce retailers and companies with well-established online sales. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson, File)
Target, Walmart outbox department stores in reshaped world

By Damian J. Troise May. 28, 2020 11:49 AM EDT

Chart shows same-store sales for J.C. Penney since 2006; 2c x 4 inches;
Pandemic claims another retailer: 118-year-old J.C. Penney

By Anne D'innocenzio May. 15, 2020 06:46 PM EDT

Amid concerns of the spread of COVID-19, few shoppers are seen at the Galleria Dallas mall in Dallas, Monday, May 4, 2020. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
What's shopping in a pandemic like? Drive to your local mall

By Anne D'innocenzio May. 04, 2020 03:43 PM EDT

FILE - This Jan. 29, 2010, file photo, shows the company logo and view of Netflix headquarters in Los Gatos, Calif. COVID-19 may have knocked U.S. stocks into a bear market and pummeled the U.S. economy, but the disease has also left some companies asking the question: “What recession?” (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)
How some companies survive, even thrive, in viral crisis

By Paul Wiseman And Anne Dínnocenzio Apr. 28, 2020 10:15 AM EDT