SHOPPING

Most shoppers who traditionally rush to Black Friday sales will instead be crowding online checkouts this year.

Thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, Amazon wasn’t able to have Prime Day in July this year, but from midnight pacific time on Tuesday, Oct. 13 through Wednesday, Oct. 14, the sale is on with exclusive discounts for Amazon Prime members.  According consumer psychology expert Kelly Haws, like Black Friday or Cyber Monday, the idea with Prime Day is that Amazon “tries...

Pratt Street in Hartford is going pedestrian-only to attract new customers while the weather is still mild.

After scheduling and rescheduling, Amazon announced that Prime Day, its annual global sale event, will take place October 13 and 14. We spoke with DealNews.com consumer analyst Michael Bonebright, who offered tips about how to get the most out of Amazon Prime Day 2020.

The 2020 annual Connecticut sales tax-free week is Sunday, Aug. 16 through Saturday, Aug. 22.

Connecticut sales tax-free week is here. This year marks the state’s 20th tax-free week.

With the pandemic, the number of packages has spiked — and so have the shipping surcharges at United Parcel Service. The shipping company said Friday in a memo that it’s tacked on additional fees for some packages shipped within the U.S. and others shipped internationally. In the memo, it listed the shipping surcharges, which depend on the item’s weight, when it...

Target is joining Walmart in closing its stores on Thanksgiving Day, ending a decade long tradition of jump-starting Black Friday doorbuster sales. The move, announced Monday, comes as stores are rethinking the Black Friday in-store bargain shopping as they try to curb the spread of the coronavirus, which has seen a resurgence in a slew of states. Walmart, the nation’s...

Forget about making shopping fun. As clothing retailers and others try to stay viable during the coronavirus pandemic, they’re hoping steps like cleaning during store hours, offering hand sanitizer and other safety measures will bring in customers to spend.

New York City got more “back to normal” Monday than it has in three months as it entered Phase II, reopening long-restricted restaurants to outdoor dining, stores to in-person retail, playgrounds and more services with strict limitations. Mayor Bill de Blasio described Phase II as the five boroughs’ “biggest step forward” yet as the city looks to recover from the…

New Jersey entered Stage 2 of Gov. Phil Murphy’s reopening roadmap Monday, opening up outdoor dining at all times of day or night, in-person retail and child care services with restrictions in place to reduce the risk of COVID-19 spread. Libraries also reopen for curbside pickup starting Monday, while drop-off and pick-up services resume at New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission…

Five New York regions will enter Phase III of reopening Friday, opening up indoor dining at half capacity and personal care services like nail salons and tattoo parlors for the first time in months, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Thursday. Social distancing and masks are required. The five regions that will take the next step Friday were the first to reopen…

Experts know not every local retailer or restaurant will make it to the other side of the pandemic.

Nordstrom announced Tuesday that it will reopen its locations in Farmington and Norwalk this week. Company officials said the Nordstrom stores at Westfarms in Farmington and The SoNo Collection in Norwalk are set to reopen Thursday, as well as the Nordstorm Rack store in Farmington. The company said they have a phased approach to reopening and will follow local guidelines…

The Connecticut Post Mall will reopen to the public on May 20, company officials announced Thursday. The Milford shopping center is the state’s largest mall. Company officials said they are taking steps to follow the guidelines laid out by the state in the “Reopen Connecticut” plan. The mall closed on March 19 to help curb the spread of the coronavirus….

Westfield announced Monday it will reopen its mall locations in Meriden and Trumbull on May 20. Shopping malls across Connecticut were closed in March to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Malls are included in the first phase of reopening, state officials said last week, but they will have to follow the retail guidelines. Westfield said the shopping centers will…

Solutions range from reserving sanitized fitting rooms to window shopping You might be thinking twice about venturing to the mall to try on clothes in a fitting room, because of the coronavirus pandemic.  You’re not alone.  Sixty-five percent of women said they will not feel safe trying on clothes in dressing rooms, due to the COVID-19 crisis, according to a...

For the elderly and immunocompromised, getting groceries and other basic necessities has become challenging in the pandemic. But now it’s easier in West Hartford, thanks to a team led by teenagers. “It’s our job as young able-bodied citizens.  We thought we must give back to our community,” said Jett Rosner, co-founder of WeHa At Your Service. In West Hartford,...

Teens in West Hartford create the WeHa At Your Service volunteer team to go shopping for senior citizens and others who can’t leave their house

The Native American woman who has graced the packaging of Land O’Lakes butter, cheese and other products since the late 1920s has quietly disappeared