Joan Verdon

CONTRIBUTOR

About Joan

Joan Verdon has been covering business and retail news for the past 25 years. She has covered trends in tech, manufacturing, real estate and retail, first for The Record of North Jersey and USA Today, and now for CO—. She is a senior contributor, retail, for Forbes.com. Her passion is reporting on how Americans buy and sell. She has covered the birth of billion-dollar companies and the evolution of 100-year-old brands. Previously, she has been an education, general assignment and investigative reporter for The Grand Rapids Press and Buffalo Courier-Express. She spent a year working on Capitol Hill as an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow.

Latest—
GOOD COMPANY » LAUNCH PAD

The Zero-Waste Movement Is Creating Opportunities for Businesses Large and Small

With a growing number of consumers looking for alternatives to single-use disposables and plastic packaging, businesses from mass retailers to Main Street merchants are heeding their call.

GOOD COMPANY » THE LEAP

How Sally Beauty Maximized Worker Productivity and Modernized Its Store Operations

The 5,000-store beauty supply retailer brought its payroll and store management systems into the digital age, yielding lessons for businesses large and small.

GOOD COMPANY » THE LEAP

Klarna Aims to Be Part of Small Businesses’ Post-Pandemic Recovery

The BNPL startup is promoting small retailers with marketing support to fee waivers.

GOOD COMPANY » THE LEAP

Slack Adds New Features to Become Indispensable in a Post-COVID Workplace

The messaging platform is adding new ways to connect employees, as well as vendors and clients, as it seeks to become the digital headquarters for businesses large and small in the hybrid workplace.

GOOD COMPANY » LAUNCH PAD

How Stores Can Prepare for an Unusual Holiday Season

Early shopping, out-of-stock products and increased customer expectations will present challenges for retailers. Here’s how SMBs can leverage their edge.

GOOD COMPANY » THE LEAP

Yelp Expands Its Ad Targeting and Messaging Features for Small Businesses

The changes are designed to give businesses more control over their Yelp pages and more opportunities to reach high-value customers.

GOOD COMPANY » LAUNCH PAD

Startups Capitalize on a Work-From-Home Future

Businesses offering tools to connect off-site employees find themselves with the right product at the right time.

GOOD COMPANY » THE LEAP

Groupon Enhances Its Marketplace for Both Small Businesses and Consumers

The deals platform sees lots of opportunity in the $1 trillion-plus local economy.

GOOD COMPANY » LAUNCH PAD

Top Trends Shaping the Post-Pandemic Consumer

Consumers today have more ways to shop, more money to spend and want stores to share their values.

GOOD COMPANY » THE LEAP

Pinterest Adds Tools to Help Small Businesses Get Discovered

The visual search engine is looking to turn images on its platform into shoppable moments.