Online shopping

or the past two years, the economic downturn has hurt Black Friday sales. We’re checking in with a few of our listeners to see whether they’re super shoppers or shopping cynics.

Fighting for freight space is leading retailers to pay two to three times last year’s rates. What does this mean for consumers? For the answer to that question, we speak with Louise Story, reporter for our partner The New York Times.

For retailers November and December were grim, but they’re likely to look like the good old days compared with the post-holiday months. New York Times reporter Stephanie Rosenbloom joins us with analysis of the alarming facts and figures on retail sales.

A controversial new consumer product law regarding led and goods aimed at children goes into effect on February 10. Small business owners worry that the law, which is meant to protect children, will actually put them out of business.