At Scraplanta, a nonprofit secondhand art supply and thrift store with locations in—you guessed it—Atlanta, January is usually a welcome change from the holiday rush. Executive Director Jonelle Dawkins told Retail Brew she even encourages her team, “If you want to take a vacation, January is a good time to do it.”

However, in 2025, the craft table got crowded; Dawkins said January was “one of the best months that we have had,” in terms of sales, foot traffic, and donations. “Since then, we’ve just been getting exponentially more business.”

One possible cause? Big box chain Joann Fabrics announced its second bankruptcy filing in January 2025 and closed all its locations nationwide by May. That means 2025 will be the first holiday crafting season without Joann since 1943, when its first store opened in Ohio.

While large players like Michaels and Hobby Lobby have since moved in to claim Joann’s share of the market, crafters have also turned to small, local businesses and nonprofits selling used art supplies for a fraction of the retail price. And this December may be an indicator whether these secondhand shops could become a fixture in the craft supply market or if they’ll snap like popsicle sticks under the pressure.

Keep reading here.—VWF

Come for the smothered pork chops and collard greens, stay for the sense of belonging—that’s the spirit at Drew’s Place, the Texas soul food restaurant that has been serving its community since 1987.

Stephanie and Andrew Thomas first opened Drew’s Place in Florence, Texas, later settling in Fort Worth. But despite the change of locations, one thing has remained central to its business: the people who walk through its doors.

“We get a lot of support from the surrounding communities and our customers are generational,” Stephanie, who co-owns the restaurant with husband Andrew, told Retail Brew. “Some of the customers that we have have been coming for years…since they were small children, when their parents and grandparents were bringing them in.”

Per American Express’s 2025 Shop Small Impact Study, 95% of small business owners say community support keeps them thriving, up from 86% in 2024, and Drew’s Place expects about a 20% to 25% uptick in shoppers on Small Business Saturday.

Keep reading here.—JS

Some warning signals of slumping demand are flashing right now: Consumer sentiment dropped to a three-year low this month. Restaurant executives warn of weak demand from customers, particularly those with lower incomes.

The latest signal? Home improvement giants Home Depot and Lowe’s both recently decreased their full-year financial outlooks.

“We are seeing a cautious consumer amid ongoing uncertainty in the macro environment and the timing of an inflection in the home improvement in housing markets remains unclear,” Brandon Sink, CFO of Lowe’s, said during a Q3 earnings call. The company, which reported a 0.4% uptick in comparable sales for the quarter, now expects flat comparable sales in fiscal 2025 versus last year, down from a previous estimate of flat to 1% growth, according to its Q3 earnings release.

Lowe’s rival Home Depot also tweaked its outlook.

Keep reading here on CFO Brew.—AZ

Zara, H&M, Shein: three brands that rewrote the rules of retail. Fast fashion’s 25-year evolution has fueled profits, controversy, and a new wave of conscious consumers. Here’s how the race to make and sell faster is reshaping fashion again.