President Obama and his daughters shop on Small Business Saturday

To the benefit of Upshur Street Books in Petworth (was there earlier last week to see Gabe Klein speak about his book, Start-Up City) and Pleasant Pops, a popsicle store, in Adams-Morgan ("For Obama, a new shopping haunt: Upshur Street Books," Washington Post).

Washington Post photo

President Barack Obama, joined by his daughters Malia, left, and Sasha, right, orders at Pleasant Pops on Small Business Saturday in Washington, Saturday, Nov. 28, 2015. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)


DC branded "Shop Small" shopping bag in the windows of the Bene hat shop on the 6200 block of 3rd Street NW.

In the Guardian ("Even my Furby knows it: our love affair with shopping is over"), Zoe Williams opines on a decline in consumerism and perhaps "the end of things."

I will say one of the problems with "commercial district revitalization planning" is that outside of convenience goods (food, pharmacy, etc.) and occasional purchase of shopping goods (furniture, appliances) and specialty goods (apparel), how much stuff do you really need?

(We go to estate sales on occasion, and you see a lot of stuff that will end up in landfills, which is a cautionary tale to us which discourages us from buying stuff we don't really need.)

Also see "As Americans Celebrate Thanksgiving, Black Friday Boycotts Gain Momentum" and "Black Friday Fever Cools as E-Commerce Trumps Brick-and-Mortar" from Brandchannel. The latter story reports sales down on Black Friday, in part attributed to more stores opening on Thanksgiving, but also because of a rise in online shopping.