How many people have watched a perfect showstopper come out of the Bake Off tent and thought, quietly, I could sell that? Quite a lot, I suspect. And this autumn there is a fresh reason to wonder. A new judge in the tent The Great British Bake Off returned for its seventeenth series on 22
Can Home Baking Pay Its Way? Read More »
A model walks down a London runway in a jacket that has already belonged to someone else. The photographers do not flinch. The audience does not gasp. Within minutes, the jacket is available to buy through an app, secondhand, from a stranger’s wardrobe. That scene would have been unthinkable at a major fashion week not
From the Catwalk to the Resale App Read More »
The world’s three most watched shoppers handed in their August receipts this month, and they could not have told more different stories. America spent like someone who had just been paid. Britain spent like someone who had checked their balance first. China barely opened its purse. If you want to understand where the global economy
The World Went Shopping in August. Not Equally. Read More »
I have a weakness I should declare. Show me a stall with a handwritten sign, a small queue and someone explaining exactly which field their grass-fed meats came from, and I will stop walking. It is not a sensible weakness. It is a very happy one. The weekend in Wales On Saturday 19 and Sunday
A Great Food Weekend Without the Great Bill Read More »
The most profitable thing Costco sells is not in any of its warehouses. You cannot put it in a trolley, and nobody queues for it on a Saturday morning. It is the small plastic card you show at the door. The results On Thursday 24 September, Costco reported its figures for the final quarter of
Costco Sells Groceries. It Profits From the Card. Read More »
Do you remember the marshmallow test? A child sits alone at a table with one marshmallow. They are told that if they can wait a few minutes without eating it, they will get two. The adult leaves the room, and a hidden camera records the most relatable struggles in human psychology. The original studies, run
Delayed Gratification Paid Me Back, Slowly Read More »
You are probably wondering why a Swiss interest rate decision deserves your morning coffee. Most of us do not bank in francs, and very few of us have a chalet to worry about. But Switzerland is where the world runs when it gets frightened, and this week its central bank quietly said something useful about
Switzerland Held at Zero and Looked Relieved Read More »
I have a confession. When a business survey lands, I skip the headline and go straight to the prices. The headline tells you how busy firms are. The prices section tells you what they are about to do to your bill. This month, the prices section was the story. What the survey said On Wednesday
Britain’s Economy Slowed. Its Prices Did Not. Read More »
The man at the pump next to me on Thursday evening stood watching the numbers roll with the expression people usually save for a parking fine. He clicked off at a round figure, looked at it, and shook his head. He will almost certainly never sail through the Strait of Hormuz. Neither will I. And
The Strait You Will Never See Sets Your Petrol Price Read More »
Have you ever booked a table at the restaurant everyone raves about, sat down, eaten a perfectly good meal, and walked out feeling faintly let down? Nothing was wrong. It just was not the evening you had already enjoyed in your head for a fortnight. That, more or less, is what happened to markets this
The Summit Everyone Priced In, Then Priced Out Read More »
