“Even though I sold the company over a decade ago, I still have such a personal connection to it, and this isn’t how I thought the story would go,” said Candace Nelson, who started the company after she lost her job in 2005. The closure was announced Dec. 30.

Nelson started Sprinkles Cupcakes in her own kitchen, and the first location was in a small Beverly Hills storefront that had previously been a sandwich shop. The brand would go on to ascend to national fame, and fans took to social media following the company’s announcement to lament the closure.

The company’s cupcake-dispensing machines in malls and airports briefly went viral on TikTok for the not-so-subtle “I love Sprinkles” jingle that played repeatedly while a mechanical arm delivered the dessert.

The company no longer has any products for sale on its website, which also has removed all operational locations across the country.

Nelson sold her business to private equity firm KarpReilly LLC in 2012 after the company had expanded to 10 locations across the country. The firm owns dozens of other companies for products including a health food home delivery service, kombucha and protein wellness shakes.

KarpReilly did not respond to an emailed request for comment Friday evening. Neither the firm nor Nelson provided a reason for the cupcake company’s closure.

Private equity has dramatically expanded its influence in restaurants over the last decade, investing $94.5 billion between 2014 and 2024, according to data from capital market company PitchBook.

Some outraged Sprinkles Cupcakes fans said on social media that the closures were part of a larger trend where private equity firms purchase restaurants and retail brands — like Red Lobster or TGI Fridays — that later file for bankruptcy or close altogether.

December

OPENINGS:

Azur Mediterranean Bar & Grille opened Dec. 1 at the Trolley Barn Public Market in Quakertown. The menu includes hummus, falafel, kebab gyros, stuffed grape leaves, fish, spinach pie, baba ganoush and alcoholic beverages from Doan Distillery.

Luna’s Bakery & Cafe reopened Dec. 8 at 1120 W. Linden St. in Allentown.

The Kawaii Shop opened at Promenade Saucon Valley in Upper Saucon Township. It offers Japanese snacks, drinks, plush toys, ornaments, bags and artwork.

The pet salon Velvet Tails – Luxury Pet Services held a grand opening Dec. 5 at 39 Belvidere St. in Nazareth.

The Cozy Crumbs Café opened at the ArtsWalk at 21 N. Seventh St. in Allentown.

The hot dog vendor Rod’s Dogs reopened Dec. 11 at the Easton Public Market in Easton.

Taichi Bubble Tea held a grand opening Dec. 12 at 21 E. Third St. in Bethlehem, where it offers teas, poke bowls, spring rolls and ramen.

The Little Gym opened Dec. 15 at 6900 Hamilton Blvd. in Lower Macungie Township. It offers children’s classes such as for gymnastics and social skills.

Last Call Closeouts Liquidations opened at 3143 William Penn Highway in Palmer Township.

Dunkin’ opened its new kiosk Dec. 29 at the Lehigh Valley Mall in Whitehall Township.

CLOSURES:

HiJinx Brewing Co. closed its taproom on Dec. 20 at 905 Harrison St. in Allentown and ended brewery operations at the location Dec. 31.

Bilal’s Breakfast & Sandwiches permanently closed at 46 W. North St. in Bethlehem.

Jennifer’s Unique Boutique held its last day Dec. 21 at the Lehigh Valley Mall in Whitehall Township.

The Adagio seafood restaurant held its last day Dec. 27 at 530 Pembroke Road in Bethlehem.

Caring Hearts Clothing Closet and More temporarily closed to relocate from 7935 Route 873 in Washington Township to 241 Lehigh Gap St. in Walnutport.

Old Mecca Café announced Dec. 30 it would close at 527 Northampton St. in Easton.

Chick-fil-A closed Dec. 31 at the Lehigh Valley Mall in Whitehall Township

Griddle 145 closed Dec. 31 at 1146 MacArthur Road in Whitehall Township.

Easton landmark Mother’s Bar & Grille closed Dec. 31.

November

OPENINGS:

From Lino held a grand opening Nov. 1 at 802 Spring St. in Bethlehem. It serves quesitos, medialunas, cookies, sourdough Danish pastries, pan de cristal, palmeritas, espresso drinks and pantry items like eggs, cheese, sauces, olive oil and seasonings.

Spice Route opened at 845 Linden St. in Allentown. It offers paneer tikka, bhajia, Kung Pao chicken, fried rice, noodles, shrimp, curry, lamb, goat and desserts.

Pie + Tart held a soft opening Nov. 12 at 349 Northampton St. in Easton after relocating from 444 Northampton St.

Mama B Resale Boutique held a grand reopening Nov. 15 at 107 N. Seventh St. in Allentown after moving from 416 E. Fourth St. in Bethlehem.

The Worthy Dessert shop opened Nov. 15 at the Trolley Barn Public Market in Quakertown.

The new Phantoms Pro Shop opened to the public Nov. 18 next to the PPL Center’s Lehigh Valley Health Network Gate in Allentown, where it offers Lehigh Valley Phantoms apparel and collectibles.

Yung Esau’s Vintage Shop began a soft opening period Nov. 21 at 97 E. Broad St. in Bethlehem, where it offers clothing from the 1980s to the early 2000s such as T-shirts, hats, pants and jackets.

A new Giant supermarket opened Nov. 21 at South Mall at 3300 Lehigh St. in Salisbury Township.

The barbershop Sharkey’s Cuts for Kids held a grand opening on Nov. 22 at 355 S. Cedar Crest Blvd. in Allentown.

The coffee trailer Roasties opened its new cafe Nov. 26 at 17 N. Poplar St. in Macungie.

Barley Creek Taproom Saucon announced its opening Nov. 28 at Promenade Saucon Valley in Upper Saucon Township. It offers beer, cocktails, wings, burgers, pretzels, mozzarella wedges, pizza, sandwiches, shrimp tacos and macaroni and cheese.

Pickleball Kingdom held its grand opening Nov. 28 at the Whitehall Square shopping center at 2180 MacArthur Road in Whitehall Township.

The Gemeral Store reopened Nov. 29 at 216 W. Broad St. in Bethlehem.

CLOSURES:

The Palestinian-style restaurant Ayat closed at 1243 W. Tilghman St. in Allentown.

Chartered in 1826 and named for the Marquis de Lafayette, the Easton liberal arts college is selling bicentennial-themed merchandise while supplies last online and in person at the Lafayette College Store at 211 McCartney St.

“It feels amazing,” store manager Pete Violante said of seeing Lafayette College reach its bicentennial, adding that he was proud to be part of the celebration.

Special from Abercrombie & Fitch are “200”-themed hoodies, T-shirts and fleece pants.

Other non-Abercrombie & Fitch apparel and accessories include pullovers, polo shirts, keychains, lapel pins and hats.

Abercrombie CEO Fran Horowitz, who graduated from Lafayette in 1985, isn’t the only alum participating in the 200th anniversary merch.

Crayola, which has its corporate headquarters in Forks Township, created commemorative crayon boxes that include the limited edition colors, said Pam Pearson, commercialization specialization solutions director and a 1994 alum. Colors are Marquis Maroon, Cur Non Royal, Golden Leopard and Day on the Quad.

“This project was a lot of fun,” Pearson said. “It’s kind of like worlds collide. My work world and my college world came together.”

Pete Ruggiero, Crayola president and CEO and a member of the college’s board of trustees, said in a written statement, “Crayola celebrates Lafayette College’s historic celebration and its substantial impact on our world. Given Crayola’s long-standing partnership with Lafayette in building the Easton community, it has been an honor for us to participate in the bicentennial by producing the [commemorative] box of crayons.”

Finally, the gardening company Burpee is offering seeds for the bi-colored Marquis Marigolds, said Jamie Mattikow, a 1986 alum and president and CEO of the Bucks County company.

“Lafayette was a great university to help you experience different possibilities,” Mattikow said. “I went in as an undeclared liberal arts major and I tried different courses, and different areas captured my interest. The economics and business and government and law were nice complimentary majors with different curriculums.”

Additional 200th anniversary plans include the unveiling of a bronze statue dedicated to Adrienne de Noailles, wife of the Marquis de Lafayette. The work, by artist Audrey Flack and completed by Brian Booth Craig after Flack’s death, will be installed near Skillman Library and unveiled and dedicated in March.

Lafayette College President Nicole Hurd said the college’s celebrations are celebrating “our very democratic origin story.”

“I love the fact that we are named for a founding father that was the same age as our students when he came over to participate in the Revolution, who fought for freedom, for liberty, for democracy, but also spoke out against slavery,” she said. “He was somebody who was very committed to these ideas that are the American experiment.”

A customer watches as a “cupcake associate” serves Sprinkles Cupcakes in Beverly Hills in 2006. Twenty years after the cupcake chain was launched, it closed all shops abruptly on New Year’s Eve 2025. (File photo: H. Lorren Au Jr. / The Orange County Register)

Sprinkles Cupcakes, founded in 2005 in Beverly Hills, abruptly moved to close all of its locations on New Year’s Eve 2025. The cupcake chain launched by Candace Nelson touted luxuriously made sweets. She sold the chain to a private equity firm in 2013 for undisclosed terms. (File photo: H. Lorren Au Jr. / The Orange County Register)

LAS VEGAS, NV – MARCH 21: Founder and pastry chef of Sprinkles Cupcakes Candace Nelson poses at the grand opening of Sprinkles Cupcakes at The LINQ on March 21, 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 25: A woman takes her order of cupcakes after using a “Cupcake ATM” created by Sprinkles bakery on March 25, 2014 in New York City. The Cupcake ATM opened today, and while there were certain technical difficulties for the first day, lines of people waited to try out the new machine. (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

CULVER CITY, CA – APRIL 24: Sprinkles Cupcakes are seen during Safe Kids Day 2016 presented by Nationwide at Smashbox Studios on April 24, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jonathan Leibson/Getty Images for Safe Kids Worldwide)

Sprinkles Cupcakes, a chain of scratch-made gourmet cupcakes, cookies and cakes that got its start in Beverly Hills and was later bought by a private equity giant, is closing all stores on Wednesday, Dec. 31.

“A few days ago, I learned that Sprinkles Cupcakes, the company I started in 2005, and then sold to private equity in 2012, will be closing its bakery doors today,” founder Candace Nelson — an investment banker turned baker — said Wednesday in an Instagram video post.

Nelson opened the first Sprinkles in 2005 in Beverly Hills.

The chain, which was bought by investment firm KarpReilly LLC, operated 21 stores and 25 ATMs that dispensed fresh cupcakes 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in California, Florida, Nevada, Texas, Utah and Washington, D.C.

Spokespersons with Sprinkles Cupcakes and Greenwich, Connecticut-based KarpReilly were not immediately available for comment. However, an employee at Sprinkles’ Scottsdale store said that orders were no longer being accepted.

“After careful and thoughtful consideration, we’ve made the difficult decision to transition away from an operating company owned by Sprinkles Bakeries,” the worker read from a statement. “As a result, our company owned locations will be closing, with the final day of service scheduled for today.”

The worker, who declined to provide their name, would not comment further.

On opening day 20 years ago, Nelson sold 200 cupcakes in two hours, attracting celebrity devotees including Tyra Banks and Barbra Streisand. Nelson’s concept pioneered an explosion of specialty dessert and haute cupcake shops in Southern California.

The news of the chain’s closure hit the founder hard.

“Just to say that out loud is completely surreal. Even though I sold the company over a decade ago, I still have such a personal connection to it, and this isn’t how I thought the story would go. I thought Sprinkles would keep growing and be around forever,” Nelson said. “I thought it was a going to be my legacy. It’s hard to describe how I’m feeling right now. But one thing is for sure, I’m incredibly grateful for all of the joy our cupcakes brought to millions of people over the years.”

KarpReilly has a portfolio of 44 companies listed on its website and invests in small to mid-size consumer growth companies. Some of those businesses include Newport Beach-based California Fish Grill, San Diego-based Burger Lounge and downtown-Los Angeles-based women’s clothing brand Christy Dawn. Sprinkle Cupcakes was no longer listed as a current investment.

In 2007, the private equity firm acquired a majority position of Irvine-based Habit Burger Grill before taking it public in 2014, later selling in 2020 to Yum! Brands, the parent of KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.

KarpReilly manages funds and affiliates with capital commitments in excess of $800 million.

“I have so many amazing Sprinkles memories, which I plan to share over the next few weeks as I process this news,” Nelson said. “I built this company as a point of joy and connection.”

Over the years, Sprinkles was sold out of a cupcake truck and its proprietary mixes from more than 250 Williams-Sonoma stores throughout the United States and Canada. In 2012, the company debuted its cupcake ATM, dubbed as the world’s first such device.

Sprinkles also sold its bakery goods at Disneyland in Anaheim and through ATMs, such as those on the campus of the USC and the Little Italy neighborhood in San Diego. In Southern California, Sprinkles had stores in Beverly Hills, downtown Los Angeles, Irvine, La Jolla, Manhattan Beach, Newport Beach and The Grove shopping complex in the Beverly Grove area of Los Angeles.

The cupcakes were made fresh in small batches throughout the day and contained no preservatives, trans fats or artificial flavors, according to the company.

As of Wednesday morning, Nelson’s announcement on Instagram had received more than 360 comments on her post and nearly 2,100 likes.

“I’m so sorry. Damn PE (private equity) really does know how to f… up a good thing,” wrote one commenter under the handle of codiesanchez.

“Wow! Candace!!! That must be very tough. I’m happy you sold the company when you did, but truly sorry the new team was not able to grow and thrive with your strong foundation: Truly the end of an important chapter for you,” wrote another poster, faith_wheeler7.  “May one door close so another may open.”

Another poster, tayywalkerr of San Diego, wrote that she was speechless over the news. “This is so hard to hear. These cupcakes were my obsession for years. Still my favorite cupcake ever. You built something so amazing & always brought joy to anyone I bought cupcakes for.”

Bilal’s Breakfast & Sandwiches, which opened in the spot formerly occupied by Darto’s at 46 W. North St., closed earlier this month, according to manager Server Candir. During its operating hours Monday afternoon, the restaurant had a “Sorry We’re Closed” sign in the window, and its listing on Google says the restaurant is permanently closed. Phone calls to the restaurant were unanswered during operating hours.

There was no mention of the closure on the restaurant’s social media pages or website, although its Instagram profile was no longer available. Owner Bilal Bozkoc could not be reached for comment.

The restaurant opened in May and served a similar breakfast menu as Darto’s, alongside Mediterranean-style dishes.

Darto’s closed in March after operating for more than 30 years. It opened in 1984 under the family of Mike and Mary Lou Dartouzos.

Dunkin’ opened its new kiosk Monday at the Whitehall Township mall’s lower levels near the escalators, franchisee Ashish Patel said.

It replaced a former Starbucks space.

Other recent news at Lehigh Valley Mall includes the upcoming sale of Dunderbak’s, the opening of Drink Fresh by Djurdjura and the closure of Dino Sweets.

Griddle 145 announced it will close Wednesday at 1146 MacArthur Road.

“This place has been more than a restaurant — it’s been part of our lives, and part of yours,” the restaurant said online. “We’ve watched families grow, friendships form, milestones celebrated, and routines become traditions. For that, we are endlessly grateful. Closing this chapter is emotional. We’re sad to say goodbye to these walls, deeply thankful for the memories made here, and incredibly excited for what’s ahead — all at the same time.”

The kitchen and front-of-house team will move to the new restaurant The Broken Record at 6776 Hamilton Blvd., Unit 1 in Lower Macungie Township, where its menu will include many Griddle 145 dishes.

Griddle 145 said breakfast service there will begin in early January, but Jeff Trainer, who will co-own The Broken Record alongside Andrea Kenney, said they still need to get township approval to open at 8 a.m. instead of 11 a.m.

The Whitehall restaurant opened in 2012 under Taylor and Sherry Eisenhard.

The Dime has switched to serving an “elevated American” cuisine style on the third floor of the Renaissance Allentown Hotel at 12 N. Seventh St., according to a news release from property owner City Center Group.

The breakfast, lunch and dinner menus include “Tiramisu Brioche French Toast,” waffles, omelets, beef tartare, hummus, roasted chicken, burgers, hush puppies, prime ribeye, pasta, grilled octopus, branzino and salads.

Nick Vogel, who joined in March as the director of culinary and restaurant operations for the restaurant and hotel, said he designed the menus before fully implementing them around mid-November.

“I think the nice thing that American cuisine can lend itself to is, it’s a creative fusion that … reinterprets with traditional comfort foods and then also some international influences with innovative twists,” Vogel said. “It’s kind of moving away from heavy sauces and more toward lighter, maybe more artistic and globally inspired plates. But the nice thing is, I try to make it tie into something that … something can read and feel familiar and maybe some of the ingredients aren’t so familiar.”

Vogel said the menus are subject to change but that he plans to keep the breakfast and lunch ones largely the same.

After growing up in Philadelphia, where Vogel worked for his family in culinary spaces, he switched from pursuing a finance career and went on to become the executive chef at places like Alta Strada in Washington, D.C. (with the company of James Beard Award-winning chef Michael Schlow) and the Baron’s Cove resort in Sag Harbor, New York.

Vogel said that leading up to his work with The Dime, he hadn’t worked or lived in Pennsylvania in roughly 15 years, and was “looking to get back home in some form or function.”

“I’m just getting to that point where I want to set down and have roots,” he said. “Being close to Philadelphia is important to me.”

Now a resident of Allentown, Vogel said he enjoys being a part of its downtown development alongside establishments like the Moxy hotel and Okatshe restaurant, and hopes to provide customers with a familiar but “elevated” area to visit.

“I’ve been working in elevated cuisine and settings for the last 7, 8, 9, 10 years now, and so it comes natural,” he said. “And I think there’s nothing that I’ve had to change about myself and my cuisine by moving here. It’s more so just applying it to the locale.”

Michael Slivka, regional vice president for the Gulph Creek Hotels group that runs The Dime and the Renaissance and Moxy hotels, helped explain some of the property’s history.

Named for the historic Dime Bank building that was incorporated into the restaurant, The Dime opened as an upscale-American-cuisine restaurant in 2015 alongside the Renaissance, which was previously managed by the Greenwood Hospitality Group. After closing in March 2020 during COVID-19 pandemic, the hotel reopened under Gulph Creek in 2021 and switched The Dime in 2022 to an Italian steakhouse.

Slivka recalled, “Now you fast forward, we’re in 2025 [and] going into 2026. We said … we’re coming up on a renovation, let’s really look at The Dime because since the opening and moving forward through the years, we really started to see a strong demand for event space. And I’m talking the medium-size gatherings, like 60-100 guests. So The Dime restaurant, it’s a fairly large restaurant, so what we did was we took the opportunity and we divided it into event space on the back side of the restaurant and then the actual bar and restaurant is now all combined into one area.”

That change creates a more “intimate” feeling for the restaurant, Slivka said. He added that the hospitality design firm The Society collaborated for the updated restaurant, which has also shrunk the bar for timely service and now includes new TV seats, decorations and cooking equipment. Guests can also look forward to a new lounge space and furniture, Vogel said.

The Dime operates 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. all week.

Lehigh Valley retail and restaurant news in brief

Chick-fil-A will close at 2 p.m. on Wednesday at the Lehigh Valley Mall in Whitehall Township, nearly 30 years after it opened.

The nearly 50-year-old Dunderbak’s has changed course and will operate beyond its February deadline to sell or close at the Lehigh Valley Mall.

Casa Catrina, which announced a temporary closure earlier this month, will not reopen, its owners said. Humberto and Elia Chavolla, who owned the former Fiesta Ole in Emmaus, opened the Mexican restaurant in 2020 at 1905 Brookside Road in Lower Macungie Township.

Retail Watch is a weekly column covering retail and restaurant news in the Lehigh Valley. Have a question, tip, or want to see something in the area? Contact retail reporter Graysen Golter at retailwatch@mcall.com.

The Easton landmark announced Friday that it would close its doors for the last time at midnight on New Year’s Eve.

“Saying goodbye is hard to do,” the restaurant posted on Facebook. “We want to thank all of our staff and our patrons who have been with us for the past 15+ years. The memories and friendships we made over the years will last forever. We’re gonna miss you all.”

Located on Lehns Court in Easton, on the southeast corner of Centre Square, Mother’s has been in operation for more than three decades. Its current owners, Joseph and Michael Simonetta, recently purchased and reopened the nearby Pearly Baker’s Alehouse along with brother Philip.

NEW YORK (AP) — The shopping rush leading up to Christmas is over and in its place, like every year, another has begun as millions of people hunt for post-holiday deals and get in line to return gifts that didn’t fit, or didn’t hit quite right.

Holiday spending using cash or cards through Sunday has topped last year’s haul, according to data released this week by Visa’s Consulting & Analytics division and Mastercard SpendingPulse.

But growing unease over the U.S. economy and higher prices in part due to President Donald Trump’s tariffs have altered the behavior of some Americans. More are hitting thrift stores or other discounters in place of malls, according to data from Placer.ai. The firm tracks people’s movements based on cellphone usage.

And they’re sticking more closely to shopping lists and doing more research before buying. That may explain why returns so far are down compared with last year, according to data from Adobe Analytics.

Here are three trends that defined the holiday shopping season so far:

A weaker holiday season for traditional gift giving

Americans are still spending on gifts, yet increasingly that shopping is taking place at thrift and discount stores, according to data from Placer.ai.

That’s likely forcing traditional retailers such as department stores to fight harder for customers, Placer.ai said.

Clothing and electronics that traditionally dominate holiday sales did have a surge but struggled to grow, according to Placer.ai. Both goods are dominated by imports and thus, vulnerable to tariffs.

For example, traffic doubled in department stores during the week before Christmas, from Dec. 15 through Sunday, compared with the average shopping week this year. But traffic in the week before Christmas this year fell 13.2% compared with 2024.

Traffic surged 61% at traditional sellers of only clothing in the week before the holiday compared with the rest of the year. But again, compared with the runup to Christmas last year, sales slid 9%.

Some of that lost traffic may have migrated to the so-called off-price stores— chains like TJ Maxx. That sector had a sharp seasonal traffic bump of 85.1% and a gain of 1.2% in the week before the holiday.

But it was thrift stores that were red hot, with traffic jumping nearly 11% in the week before Christmas compared with last year.

“Whether hunting for a designer deal or uncovering a one-of-a-kind vintage piece, consumers increasingly favored discovery-driven experiences over the standardized assortments of traditional retail,” Shira Petrack, head of content at Placer.ai, said in a blog post Friday.

Thrift stores broaden their appeal

In the past it may have seemed gauche to gift your mother a gently used sweater or a pair of pants from a local thrift store, but seemingly not so amid all of the economic uncertainty and rising prices, according to Placer.ai.

Through the second half of 2025, thrift stores have seen at least a 10% increases in traffic compared with last year. That suggests that environmental concerns as well as economic issues are luring more Americans to second-hand stores, Placer.ai said. Visits to thrift stores generally do not take off during the holidays, yet in the most recent Black Friday weekend, sales jumped 5.5%, Placer.ai. reported.

In November, as customer traffic in traditional apparel stores fell more than 3%, traffic in thrift stores soared 12.7%, according to Placer.ai.

The thrift migration has altered the demographics of second-hand stores. The average household income of thrift customers hit $75,000 during October and November of this year, a slight uptick from $74,900 last year, $74,600 in 2023 well above the average income of 74,100 in 2022, based on demographic data from STI:PopStats combined with Placer.ai data.

U.S. sales at thrift chain Savers Value Village’s rose 10.5% in the three months ended Sept. 27 and the momentum continued through October, store executives said in late October.

“High household income cohort continues to become a larger portion of our consumer mix,” CEO Mark Walsh told analysts. “It’s trade down for sure, and our younger cohort also continues to grow in numbers. ”

Fewer returns, so far

For the first six weeks of the holiday season, return rates have dipped from the same period a year ago, according to Adobe Analytics.

That suggests that shoppers are doing more research before adding something to their shopping list, and they’re being more disciplined in sticking to the lists they create, according to Vivek Pandya, lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights.

“I think it’s very indicative of consumers and how conscientiously they’ve purchased,” Pandya said. “Many of them are being very specific with how they spend their budget.”

From Nov. 1 to Dec. 12, returns fell 2.5% compared with last year, Adobe reported. In the seven days following Cyber Week — the five shopping days between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, returns fell 0.1%.

From the Nov. 1 through Dec. 12, online sales rose 6% to $187.3 billion, on track to surpass its outlook for the season, Adobe reported.

Between Dec. 26 to Dec. 31, returns are expected to rise by 25% to 35% compared with returns between Nov. 1 through Dec. 12, Adobe said, and it expects returns to remain elevated through the first two weeks of January, up 8% to 15%.

This is the first year that Adobe has tracked returns.

Still, the last week of December sees the greatest concentration of returns: one out of every eight returns in the 2024 holiday season took place between Dec. 26 and Dec 31, a trend expected to persist this year, Adobe said.