Claire's has filed for bankruptcy multiple times

Sears filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2018

Although the retailer may have failed financially speaking, some argue that longevity in itself is a success—the brand operated for over 130 years before that bankruptcy filing, after all.

Multiple business choices may have hindered Sears’ financial success

There’s no shortage of potential culprits for Sears’ death, from hedge fund manager Eddie Lampert, to Amazon, to the 2008 stock market crash.

Rent the Runway recently lost over 90% of its value

The COVID-19 pandemic and increased competition post-2020 are just two factors plaguing the designer clothing rental company.

Can Shein escape its Chinese roots?

Many Chinese companies are currently facing issues as they spread into global markets today. Shein, a Chinese clothing retail company, now accounts for half of fast-fashion sales in America. But its parent country has created issues, causing concern for people abroad about data security and supply-chain ethics. While Shein has moved its headquarters to Singapore and avoids selling in China, they continue to face scrutiny from Americans.

North American department store retail groups report sales declined from 2018 to 2023

That's according to a recent report from Bain & Company that dives into consumer sentiment around department store shopping and explores a potential reset for the industry.

As of 2024, Macy’s wanted to monetize its store closures through real estate deals

In a 2024 earnings call, Macy’s noted that while it’s remodeling and investing in some of its brick-and-mortar locations, it seeks to shutter other stores in lower-performing locations. It’s estimated that Macy's will close 150 locations through 2026.

Hooters filed for bankruptcy in March 2025 after being operated by two very distinct operations

For years before that filing, the restaurant group had been operated by two different companies: one owned by private equity, and the other that includes the original founders.

Venture capitalists were once bullish on DTC brands

While a physical store can only hold so many objects, online retailers without the limits of four walls that could sell their products direct-to-consumer could theoretically be great investments. But they didn’t always provide investors with expected returns.

Financial hardships forced functionality into every piece of Marie Curie's wardrobe

Curie's upbringing in a family that lost its fortune when participating in failed uprisings for Polish independence instilled frugality in her. Much of the clothing she purchased, including for special occasions like her wedding, was repurposed for lab use.

WeWork, once a unicorn, declared bankruptcy in 2023

This podcast episode chronicles the complete rise and fall of WeWork—from its founding in 2010 to its eventual 2023 bankruptcy.

Sophia Amoruso's company Nasty Gal was worth $100M at its peak

In 2006, Sophia Amoruso started an eBay shop that would later transform into the clothing company Nasty Gal. However, Amoruso’s rags-to-riches success with Nasty Gal didn’t last. After multiple rounds of layoffs and employee complaints, the company filed for bankruptcy in 2016.

Chanel faced major backlash in 2021 over its $825 Advent calendar

Chanel’s $825 Advent calendar drew millions of views on TikTok after shoppers unboxed items like stickers, string bracelets, and a standard dust bag—products many felt didn’t match the luxury price. The viral controversy made the calendar one of the year's most criticized holiday releases.

Temu mainly sells off-brand items, while Amazon offers brand names

A personal finance expert breaks down the key similarities between Temu and Amazon in a quick video so consumers can decide which is the better choice for their shopping needs.

IPOs that failed

Plenty of private companies fail once they try to go public. Failing can mean shares sell for less than their initial asking price on its IPO date, or it can look like a company pulling out of the IPO process at the last minute. Some companies with failed IPOs include Pets.com, Etsy, and Robinhood. Learn more about these companies and others here.

Filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy can be complex

Debtors must know whether their liabilities are secured or unsecured and what type of assets they have. They also need to know what a filing can and can’t help them with.

Paper coupon suppliers and major newspaper insert distributors are in decline

Given the uptick in digital coupon adoption, sellers who offered coupon inserts or individual coupons for sale online have been closing up shop in recent years.

Inside a company making millions on retro, refurbished technology

Retrospekt is one of the many companies flipping old, fan-favorite technology like Polaroids, cassette tapes, and Tamagotchis. Studies show that nostalgia can make people spend money and is one of the driving forces behind the demand for second-hand gadgets.

To ward off competition from Revlon, Estée Lauder launched Clinique—the first dermatologist-approved skincare line—in 1968

Clinique launched in 1968 as an entire product line, as opposed to just a single product, which was rare for cosmetics brands at the time. Clinique marked Estée Lauder's first venture into a younger, less luxury-oriented retail market.

A deep dive into the data behind the romance bookstore renaissance

As the literary genre expands, so does the network of romance-specific stores. Romancing the Data keeps track of the rise of romance bookstores across the globe. This article not only shows how quickly the trend is taking off but also explains how brick-and-mortar shops are simply catching up with audience demand.

Walmart has historically been one of Amazon's largest competitors

While Walmart has been America’s largest retailer by revenue for over three decades, Amazon is now fighting for the title, seeking retail supremacy. In this podcast episode from the Wall Street Journal, Sarah Nassauer explores the efforts Walmart has taken to keep its crown.

Gap and Sephora now accept BNPL, despite paying up to 8% per sale

Despite these merchants paying roughly 2% to 8% of each sale's cost (more than they pay for most credit card processing fees), they're signing on, in part, because BNPL can help them improve their conversion rates at checkout.

The Marc Jacobs grunge fashion collection

After Nirvana's breakthrough, the grunge aesthetic became a marketable commodity. Fashion designer Marc Jacobs created a collection for Perry Ellis that featured grunge fashion, incorporating thrift store clothing typically worn by grunge bands onto the runway, accompanied by the music of Nirvana and Sonic Youth. Jacobs sent samples of the collection to Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love, but the couple burned them. "We were punkers," Love said in 2010, "we didn't like that kind of thing."

In 2007, Bridgewater Associates warned of an impending financial crisis

Ray Dalio even presented his concerns to the US Treasury Secretary. In late 2025, Dalio warned of another recession, in line with models he created in his book "How Countries Go Broke: The Big Cycle."

Ruby Franke is an influencer serving time in jail for child abuse

The story of this parenting influencer is perhaps one of the darkest stories to come out of the creator economy. Ruby Franke previously ran a YouTube channel with millions of followers where she made money by monetizing her controversial parenting advice. Now she’s serving jail time for child abuse.

The worst things to buy at the dollar store, according to a financial expert

Some dollar store products can be low quality, and experts advise not purchasing them. This list includes 17 products to avoid at dollar stores, including batteries, toys, costumes, and more.

US consumers collectively owe more than $1T to credit card companies—almost as much as they owe in auto loans.

Fast-casual restaurant Chili's is experiencing a resurgence, with its parent company recently reporting a nearly 32% increase in sales, thanks to passionate Gen Z fans on TikTok.

When a Paris department store hesitated to sell Estée Lauder's perfume, she 'accidentally' broke a bottle, causing the smell to spread throughout the store and shoppers to start asking to buy the scent.

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

A vending machine run with Anthropic's AI went out of business after it was convinced to give away items for free and sell a video game console.

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

How Amazon operates a 'flywheel' business model, a self-reinforcing cycle that drives continuous growth

Search a massive database of over 4 decades of clues from the TV quiz show 'Jeopardy!'

A century of Billboard issues documenting the evolution of popular music.

Frank Lloyd Wright's houses are historically hard to sell because they're old, subject to local landmark commissions, and often unfashionable

The Beatles' US label rejected the band's first two singles, 'Please Please Me' and 'From Me to You,' with one executive calling the band 'dead in the water.'

Comedy legend Catherine O'Hara, star of 'Schitt's Creek' and 'Home Alone,' quit 'Saturday Night Live' after just one week to return to her old job.

In preparation for this weekend's Eurovision finale, which is something like the World Cup of pop music, here's a young Céline Dion performing (for Switzerland?) at the 1988 competition.

Indefinite cloning of some endangered species may not sustain their longevity because cloning success rates decrease as genetic mutations accumulate.

See a ranking of the best (and worst) Federal Reserve Chairs since 1914 out of the 16 men and women who have held the office since.

An investigation suggests a Scottish island became awash in forever chemicals via seafoam and seaspray—raising questions about what that means for the safety of other coastal areas.

Some researchers have labeled nomophobia, the fear of being without your phone, as 'the phobia of the 21st century.'

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide, thanks in part to the subjective nature of valuing a work of art.

Memecoins are a type of cryptocurrency—a form of digital currency with a wide variety of uses—created around popular 'memes,' or viral internet jokes.

To reduce wrinkles in clothing, research recommends gentle wash cycles with more water and tumble drying with smaller loads and longer times.

A 2019 Facebook event called on attendees to "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," resulting in countless memes, the creation of a music festival, and eventually the arrests of those who did try to approach the area.

An initial public offering or 'IPO' is the process of a private company becoming public by putting shares of the company on the stock market for purchase.

The rivalry between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson centered on federalism—the question of how much power the federal government should hold relative to the states.

All rainbows are 'raincircles' caused by water droplets separating white sunlight into a spectrum of colors, but Earth's surface blocks the bottom half of the circle from our line of sight.

Watch contemporary footage covering the US-backed Shah of Iran fleeing the country in the face of the 1979 Iranian Revolution