Apparel and accessories retail
FILE - Haruyuki Takahashi, then executive board member of the Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games arrives at Tokyo 2020 Executive Board Meeting in Tokyo, Japan on March 30, 2020. Prosecutors searched the home of former Tokyo Olympic organizing committee executive board member Takahashi on Tuesday, July 26, 2022, in connection with payments made to him by an Olympic sponsor of the Tokyo Games, the Japanese news agency Kyodo reported. (Issei Kato/Pool Photo via AP, File)
Report: Tokyo Olympic board member under investigation

Jul. 26, 2022 01:45 AM EDT

An employee of the beverage maker Suntory receives a Moderna COVID-19 vaccine shot at their office building as the company began its workplace vaccination Monday, June 21, 2021, in Tokyo. Thousands of Japanese companies began distributing COVID-19 vaccines to workers and their families Monday in an employer-led drive reaching more than 13 million people that aims to rev up the nation's slow vaccine rollout. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Companies give vaccines to workers, boosting Japan's rollout

By Yuri Kageyama Jun. 21, 2021 01:25 AM EDT

This photo provided by Levi Strauss & Co. shows the company's CEO Chip Bergh. As Americans start to go out and update their wardrobes, jeans giant Levi Strauss & Co. is seeing a denim resurgence. That has helped the company upgrade its fiscal first-half outlook and has pushed shares of Levi’s more than 30% higher so far this year.(Jessica Chou/Levi Strauss & Co. via AP
Levi's CEO on changing sizes, inflation and voter rights

By Anne D'nnocenzio Jun. 07, 2021 09:00 AM EDT

A young visitor looks at human skulls and weapons found in the River Thames dating 1300-1000BC at the Museum of London, which is reopening following the further easing of lockdown restrictions in England, in London, Wednesday May 19, 2021. (Victoria Jones/PA via AP)
UK inflation spikes as retailers respond to lockdown easing

May. 19, 2021 07:49 AM EDT

LL Bean store resumes 24-hour sales, Amtrak boosts schedule

May. 03, 2021 08:01 AM EDT
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — L.L. Bean's flagship store returned to 24-hour operations and Amtrak's Downeaster resumed its full schedule on Monday, marking moves...

Outdoor graduations encouraged; new cases down in Maine

Apr. 29, 2021 01:45 AM EDT
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention said outdoor graduation ceremonies can be safely held in the state...

Fashion designer Kevan Hall pauses for a picture with his at his haute couture atelier in West Los Angeles Thursday, March 18, 2021. Fashion retailers and designers had dramatically shifted their offerings more toward casual clothes and away from dressier items since the pandemic. But, they face a conundrum as they design clothing for the summer and fall in the next few weeks. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Americans update their closets as they emerge from pandemic

By Anne D'innocenzio Apr. 25, 2021 10:00 AM EDT

FILE - In this March 18, 2021 file photo, a salesperson helps a customer shopping for Bean Boots at the L.L. Bean flagship retail store in Freeport, Maine. Newly vaccinated and armed with $1,400 stimulus checks, Americans went on a spending spree last month, buying new clothes and going out to eat again. Retail sales surged a seasonally adjusted 9.8% after dropping about 3% the month before, the Commerce Department said Thursday, April 15. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)
$1,400 stimulus checks helped March retail sales soar 9.8%

By Joseph Pisani Apr. 15, 2021 09:29 AM EDT

FILE - In this May 7, 2020, file photo, a person looks inside the closed doors of the Pasadena Community Job Center in Pasadena, Calif., during the coronavirus outbreak. While most Americans have weathered the pandemic financially, about 38 million say they are worse off now than before the outbreak began in the U.S. According to a new poll from Impact Genome and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research 55% of Americans say their financial circumstances are about the same now as a year ago, and 30% say their finances have improved. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)
With layoffs down and spending up, US rebound gains momentum

By Christopher Rugaber And Joseph Pisani Apr. 15, 2021 08:41 AM EDT

This Week: Job openings, consumer credit, Levi Strauss earns

The Associated Press Apr. 05, 2021 01:10 AM EDT
A look at some of the key business events and economic indicators upcoming this week: JOB MARKET BAROMETER The Labor...

People walk past an H&M clothing store at a shopping mall in Beijing, Friday, March 26, 2021. H&M disappeared from the internet in China as the government raised pressure on shoe and clothing brands and announced sanctions Friday against British officials in a spiraling fight over complaints of abuses in the Xinjiang region. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
China erasing H&M from internet amid Xinjiang backlash

By Zen Soo And Joe Mcdonald Mar. 26, 2021 06:41 AM EDT

A woman walks past two out-of-business clothing stores located steps away from the U.S.-Mexico border on March 15, 2021 in Nogales, Ariz. The economic wear from nearly 12 months of a partially shut border is easy to spot in downtown Nogales. Bargain clothing stores, money exchanges, secondhand shops and retailers selling plastic knickknacks within walking distance of the border stand closed and many storefronts are boarded up. (AP Photo/Suman Naishadham)
US businesses near border struggle with boundaries' closure

By Suman Naishadham And Lisa Rathke Mar. 20, 2021 10:49 AM EDT

A salesperson helps a customer shopping for Bean Boots at the L.L. Bean flagship retail store, Thursday, March 18, 2021, in Freeport, Maine. Maine-based retailer L.L. Bean saw the best sales in nearly a decade during pandemic. Officials say the Freeport-based retailer started its fiscal year with store closings and worries about survival but the company weathered the turbulent times to revenue growth of 5%. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
L.L. Bean sees sales boom amid pandemic's push to outdoors

By David Sharp Mar. 19, 2021 11:00 AM EDT

Customers wearing face masks as a precaution against the spread of coronavirus, in an Ikea store on its reopening day, in Geneva, Switzerland, Monday, March 1, 2021. Swiss authorities last week gave a go-ahead to what they called a “cautious” reopening despite a new, more-transmissible COVID-19 variant that first appeared in Britain that is increasingly circulating in the rich Alpine country. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)
Swiss bask in reopened shops as COVID-19 cases drop

By Jamey Keaten Mar. 01, 2021 01:48 PM EST

Online retailer Boohoo buys 3 fashion brands from Arcadia

Feb. 08, 2021 08:00 AM EST
LONDON (AP) — British online fashion retailer Boohoo has bought three clothing brands owned by the collapsed Arcadia retail group for 25.2 million pounds ($34...

This photo provided by Target shows Levi Strauss & Co. home collection on display at Target. The Jeans maker is deepening its partnership with Target Corp. by launching its first-ever home collection at the discount chain. Levi's limited time only 100-item collection of denim-inspired tableware, quilts, pillows and other items will hit Target stores on Feb. 28, 2021. (Target via AP)
Levi's first home collection deepens Target relationship

By Anne D'innocenzio Jan. 26, 2021 02:02 PM EST

Holiday sales tick up as shoppers invest in their homes

By Alexandra Olson Dec. 26, 2020 04:56 PM EST
NEW YORK (AP) — Retail sales increased a modest 3% during a longer holiday season this year, as homebound shoppers spent more on furnishing and food but less...

Meredith Hopkins, right, helps fit ski boots on Makenna Houghton at the ski shop at McIntyre Ski Area, Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020, in Manchester, N.H. Over the summer, people looking to get out of the house snapped up boats, bicycles and patio furniture, figuring they were safer socializing and being active outdoors than inside. Now that temperatures are dropping, they're buying snowshoes, skis, boots and winter coats, boosting the beleaguered retail sector. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Consumers still want to get outdoors as temperatures plunge

By David Sharp Dec. 25, 2020 07:32 AM EST

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