Inflation Dampens Otherwise Bright Small Biz Holiday Season

Inflation Dampens Otherwise Bright Small Biz Holiday Season
A basket of plush mushrooms and animals are shown as customers shop at a Five Little Monkeys store in Berkeley, Calif., on Dec. 12, 2022. Jeff Chiu/AP Photo
The Associated Press
Updated:

NEW YORK—The free-wheeling holiday shopper of 2021, happy to spend money to relieve some pent-up pandemic demand, has given way to a more practical consumer this year, many small business owners say.

The reason: inflation.