Spurred by a new wave of stimulus checks and emboldened by their COVID vaccines, consumers spent in a big way last month, driving retail sales to their highest levels since last May.

As if vendors and retailers didn’t have enough to contend with, add a container shortage to the industry’s supply-chain woes.

The severe winter weather that gripped much of the nation last month took a bite out of February retail sales.

It’s a case of the glass being half empty or half full. Yes, container ships laden with furniture and appliances are sitting idle in the nation’s ports, waiting days and sometimes weeks to unload their wares.

Mark your calendars: Appliance industry veteran, YSN columnist and BrandSource keynoter Joe Higgins is returning to the AVB airways next week to present his economic outlook for the second quarter and beyond.

The world’s largest retail trade association has painted a rosy picture for retail sales this year.

The dramatic shift to online shopping brought about by the pandemic is causing a major overhaul at Best Buy.

As quarantined consumers bedded their nests unabated, The Home Depot ended 2020 with a stellar fourth quarter.

A report in FurnitureToday magazine points to stiff tariffs on Chinese-manufactured goods as a contributing factor to today’s furniture and appliance backlogs.

Best Buy is trimming the ranks and cutting back the hours of its in-store Blue Shirt employees as COVID-wary customers continue their shift to online shopping.

Now that America’s 46th president has assumed office, the question for dealers is whether a Biden administration will be good or bad for retail.

Total U.S. retail sales grew 8.3 percent year over year during the November-December period, topping $789 billion.