U.S. movie theater visits fell by at least 10% year-over-year in 2025 when comparing second and third quarter data from 2024 with the same periods in 2025, according to location intelligence provider Kalibrate. Major cinema chains experienced steeper declines with average visit volumes down approximately 15%, including Regal Cinemas declining 12.2% and Century Theatres dropping 20.3%, while independent theaters showed greater resilience with only an 8.6% decrease. Households earning over $100,000 annually showed signs of pulling back more than other income groups, notable since moviegoing has historically skewed toward those with more disposable income. Highly urbanized areas experienced the largest year-over-year declines with visits down 18%, while rural and exurban areas saw a much smaller decline of just 5%, and several Western states including Idaho, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming posted increases of more than 5%.

Major retail brands have closed stores across Middle Eastern shopping hubs including Dubai as escalating regional conflict disrupts business operations and travel, with many locations operating with skeleton staff or shuttered entirely.  Chalhoub Group, operating 900 stores for brands including Versace, Jimmy Choo, and Sephora, closed all Bahrain locations while making staff attendance voluntary in UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan markets. Luxury conglomerate Kering temporarily closed stores in UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar, while Amazon shuttered Abu Dhabi fulfillment operations and suspended regional deliveries. Apple's Dubai stores remained closed, H&M shut Bahrain and Israel locations, and consumer goods group Reckitt closed its Bahrain manufacturing site while instructing all Middle East employees to work from home. Luxury stocks LVMH, Hermès, and Richemont declined 4% to 6.5% as investors assessed the impact on a region that represented luxury's strongest growth market in recent years, accounting for 5% to 10% of global luxury spending. 

The Senate advanced the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act with an 84-6 bipartisan vote, combining affordability and housing production measures with a Trump administration proposal to ban institutional investment in single-family homes. The bill defines institutional investors as companies owning 350 or more homes and includes exemptions for homes built to rent, with the White House indicating President Trump would sign it if passed as written.  Key provisions include simplifying National Environmental Protection Act review processes to reduce construction delays, increasing Federal Housing Administration multifamily loan limits, changing manufactured housing definitions to spur construction, and supporting housing development in opportunity zones and Community Development Block Grant jurisdictions. The legislation, authored by Senators Tim Scott and Elizabeth Warren, still requires a final Senate vote and must be reconciled with the House bill before reaching the president's desk. 

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that President Trump's tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) are unconstitutional, with Chief Justice John Roberts writing that Trump lacked peacetime authority to use IEEPA to impose tariffs. The decision strikes down tariffs that initially imposed at least 10% on goods from most countries, with rates reaching up to 145% on Chinese imports and 25-35% on Canadian and Mexican goods, and could require the government to refund over $130 billion collected through these tariffs. Before Trump, no president had ever used IEEPA to impose tariffs, and the ruling invalidates many but not all of Trump's tariff programs, as it doesn't affect tariffs imposed under other legal authorities. The administration has indicated plans to reimpose tariffs using alternative statutes including Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, and Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act, though these come with more procedural requirements and time limitations. 

Eddie Bauer LLC, the entity responsible for operating the brand's brick-and-mortar footprint in North America, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on February 9, 2026, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey, marking the end of the brand's century-long presence as a major physical retailer. Going-out-of-business sales have already begun across all 175 locations, which are set to close by April 30 unless a buyer emerges, with the brick-and-mortar operations carrying liabilities of more than $1 billion against assets of just $100 million to $500 million. The filing cites declining sales, supply chain challenges, ongoing inflation, and tariff uncertainty as key drivers, while the brand's e-commerce and wholesale operations — now managed by a separate entity called Outdoor 5 LLC — remain unaffected.  The bankruptcy marks the third filing for the storied brand, which was founded in Seattle in 1920, and follows a string of high-profile retail collapses in early 2026 including Saks Global and Francesca's. 

After 25 years of operations, Houston-based women's clothing and accessories chain Francesca's filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey, with plans to close all approximately 400 stores across 45 states and liquidate. The filing came after a convergence of factors including a 2023 data breach, failed investments in non-core brands, supply chain disruptions after two major suppliers lost their own funding, and the failure of an anticipated capital infusion in December 2025. The company carries about $30.1 million in secured debt, with between $10 million and $50 million in consolidated assets and approximately 1,000 to 5,000 creditors, including landlords Simon Property Group and Tanger Properties listed among its top 30 unsecured creditors. This marks the second bankruptcy filing in six years for Francesca's, which was previously sold out of bankruptcy in January 2021 to an affiliate of private equity firm TerraMar Capital for $18 million.

Retail industry trends for 2026 include continued AI adoption for product research and customer service, value-seeking consumers driving traffic to discount retailers, and shopping malls experiencing a rebound with renewed investment in mixed-use projects. Mall foot traffic increased in 2025, with indoor malls seeing a 1.8% rise in visits and visit durations up 3.3% compared to the first half of 2024, as traditional retail shopping centers transform into destinations for entertainment and experiences. Industry executives remain optimistic, with 96% expecting revenue growth and 81% anticipating margin expansion in 2026, despite challenges including weakened consumer buying power, high interest rates, and competition from mass merchants and value retailers. Specialty retailers face particular vulnerability in 2026 as high interest rates, shifts toward online shopping, and aggressive competition from mass merchants are predicted to push overleveraged companies into bankruptcy.

U.S. retail sales are projected to grow 3.5% year-over-year in 2026 to reach $5.3 trillion, slightly down from estimated 4.0% growth in 2025, according to Bain & Company's 2026 Global Retail Sales Outlook. Volume growth will remain modest with inflation projected between 2.6% and 3.0%, as mounting consumer strain and declining confidence affect spending amid economic uncertainty, rising unemployment, and slowing labor supply growth. Bain's Consumer Health Index found that sentiment among higher-income U.S. households, who account for more than half of retail spending, declined in January 2026. The report notes that shoppers increasingly gravitating toward lower-priced and private label goods could create a "flight to value" that tempers nominal sales growth, though reduced taxes, declining fuel prices, and potential interest rate cuts could bolster consumer sentiment and spending power.