When Brian Kulbacki’s younger brother flew home to New Jersey for Christmas, he came to share a less than stellar reality: He was one of 800,000 federal workers affected by the government shutdown, and one of 420,000 “essential employees” who were required to work sans paycheck. Some businesses back home in Chicago are softening the ...

When it comes to commerce, New Jersey in general and Essex County in particular are thriving hubs. From the county’s diverse, educated population — 64% of residents are black, Hispanic or Asian, and nearly half have a bachelor’s, graduate, or higher degree, according to Choose New Jersey — to the nearly 19,000 businesses that the ...

Orangetheory Fitness, a high intensity interval training fitness franchise, will open seven locations in New Jersey this year. Studios in Freehold, Rockaway, Wayne, Somerville, Paramus, Ramsey, and Short Hills are slated to open between April and December. Franchisee Adam Krell is the area developer for Orangetheory, owning locations in the tristate area. A New Jersey ...

Sears Holdings Corp. has reached a $5 billion deal with Chairman Eddie Lampert to keep 425 stores open, CNBC reported Wednesday. Lampert upped his offer from about $4.4 billion to $5.3 billion to save the failing retail giant through his hedge fund ESL Investments Inc. His offer beat out Closter-based Abacus Advisory Group LLC’s offer ...

Outdoor clothing store Carhartt will open a standalone New Jersey store in Cherry Hill on Jan. 31. While some stores currently carry the brand, this will be its first standalone store in the state and 30th in the nation. With this opening, the brand’s footprint spans 18 states. “This Carhartt store is the first of ...

Children’s clothing purveyor Gymboree Group will file bankruptcy this week and close its 900 stores, the Wall Street Journal reported. The company operates 22 Gymboree brand stores in New Jersey, along with 15 stores under the Crazy 8 and Janie and Jack brands. In December, Gymboree announced that it would close all locations of its ...

Lingerie company Adore Me sold its bras and corsets exclusively online from 2011 to 2016. The start-up was proud of its digital nativity, but a retail experiment in 2016 gave those at the helm an epiphany. The future of retail, they realized, isn’t just online. It’s omnichannel. “Since Adore Me was born, we’ve been very ...

Destination Maternity Corp. has appointed Dave Helkey as chief financial officer and chief operating officer, and has appointed Doug Goeke as chief transformation officer. Both will report to chief executive officer Marla Ryan. Helkey’s new role will include overseeing the Moorestown retailer’s finance, accounting, IT, real estate, inventory management, sourcing, human resources, legal and warehouse/logistic ...

Consumer spending is shifting from acquiring goods to taking part in an activity, and the trend in 2019 is to create businesses that offer an experience that attracts and keeps customers engaged, according to Levin Management President Matt Harding.