That pricing disconnect comes from a lot of moving parts in the industry. For example, there's an oversupply of coffee beans, and industry-wide moves towards less coffee-reliant drinks, like pumpkin spice lattes or Ariana Grande's "cloud macchiato." Today on The Indicator, how that squares for coffee drinkers. Full story here. #Retail #Food

Radio reporter Sally Herships, a native New Yorker and longtime friend of the show, has been obsessed with a particular block in midtown Manhattan. Given the crowds and the traffic and the tourists, every inch of the block should be attempting to sell something. Instead it is littered with empty storefronts. What explains these perplexing retail deserts, both in New York and throughout the rest of the country? #Amazon #Retail #Consumers #NewYork #RealEstate #Economy

Listener Brian Stieler had this question: Why is the ice cream machine at McDonald's always broken? Full story, . #Consumers #Retail #Food

Shopping in Soho is full of mysteries. Like blanket or unusually large scarf? Heaped on a table in a Wooster Street store is a pile of chunky knit cream-colored merino wool. The stitches are unusually large — each one is the size of a caterpillar not terribly worried about its waistline. It looks as though were the wool unfolded, it might reveal itself as a blanket. But then again, maybe a scarf? Read more... #Retail #Marketing #Merchandising

The Internet can tell us how long it takes to walk the length of the Great Wall of China (10 months), how many girlfriends George Clooney has had (lots) and even how many snowflakes fall in a year (about a septillion). But consumers still can’t quickly and easily compare prices for a leather purse (big enough to tote a laptop, please) or a 10-quart aluminum stockpot. Read more... #Retail #Consumers #Tech

Sally Herships: I’m about to play a joke on someone. Benjamin Clymer. Here’s what you need to know -- he’s editor of an upscale watch blog Hodinkee.com. This guy is all about watches. He’s wearing a vintage Rolex. Herships: Hey, do you know what time it is? Clymer: It is 1:37 on the dot. Herships: And how did you tell me? Clymer: On my iPhone. Here’s what makes Clymer’s answer even more ironic, we’re at Audemars Piguet, a Swiss luxury watchmaker, in midtown Manhattan, surroun