Ahead Of The Bell: Retail Sales Expected To Rise

As baby boomers have aged, they have accumulated more assets leading to more discretionary spending. Since retiring two years ago, Joan Harris has upped her travel game. Once or twice a year, she visits her two adult children in different states. She’s planning multiple other trips, including to a science fiction convention in Scotland and a Disney cruise soon after that, along with a trip next year to neolithic sites in Great Britain.“I really have more money to spend now than when I was working,” said Harris, 64, an engineer who worked 29 years for the federal government and lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Being the punchline in a fictional story doesn’t always work out for brands (ask Peloton), but why waste a good marketing opportunity when you’re on a roll? Jerry Seinfeld has spent decades eating and writing jokes about Pop-Tarts.

California’s character performers don’t have consistent scheduling, requiring them to take on Hollywood-related gigs to make ends meet. During three years of working as a parade performer at the Disneyland Resort in Southern California, Zach Elefante always has had a second or third job to help him earn a living. Unlike the experiences of his peers at Disney’s parks in Orlando, Florida, where there is a much smaller talent pool, the performers who play Mickey Mouse, Goofy and other beloved Disney characters at the California parks aren’t always provided a consistent work schedule by the company.

Beginning in August and continuing through the fall, route reductions will impact cities including New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Dallas-Fort Worth. If you were planning on jetting off to Europe or other destinations this fall, your options for getting there just became fewer. That’s because American Airlines has said that it will reduce service on some long-haul international flights to certain cities beginning in August.

Between devastating hail storms and catastrophic wildfires, homeowners are getting pummeled by rising property insurance rates. Colorado has the sixth-highest average premiums for a standard homeowner’s policy and some insurers aren’t renewing policies or writing new ones in certain areas. Reporter Judith Kohler would like to talk to people who have experienced big increases in their home insurance premiums, haven’t been able to renew their policies or can’t get a new policy. If you’re interested in sharing your experience for an article, please fill out the information below. [contact-form] Get more real estate and business news by signing up for our weekly newsletter, On the Block.

Workers are seeking pay hikes and a reversal of pandemic-era staffing cuts. Unionized hotel workers demanding significant pay raises will rally on May Day in 18 U. S. and Canadian cities, as talks are beginning with operators Marriott International, Hilton Worldwide Holdings, and Hyatt Hotels Corp.