Much has been written about the gradual demise of the golden era of department stores. With the growing monopoly of e-commerce and the added catalyst of a pandemic, the future of brick-and-mortar stores looks beyond grim. Much has also been written about the pandemic’s other victim, the restaurant industry, similarly suffering a blow that it may never recover from. But no one is talking about the retailer-eatery union, the long legacy of restaurants nestled inside department stores, a symbiotic relationship that was envisioned as contributing …
Brand Betrayal
The pandemic, in combination with the demand for racial justice, has brought out the best and the worst of the retail and fashion industries, forcing us to examine more closely the brands we give our money to. Free Pass Most of the fashion industry has, for too long, been unable to uproot itself from its deeply embedded history of racial and class biases. Suddenly, though, voices demanding change have grown louder and the industry’s day of reckoning is finally upon us. Over the past few months, as the Black Lives Matter movement swept (and …