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 » THE LEAP

Shopify Adds Features to Its Toolkit to Help Small Businesses Grow

The online sales platform is responding to changes in how merchants want to sell, like via NFTs, and how consumers want to shop.

GOOD COMPANY » LAUNCH PAD

How Startups Are Modernizing the Corporate Gifting Industry

Fast-growing, next-generation companies are putting a new spin on corporate gifts with experiential adventures, better quality products, and design-your-own gift options.

GOOD COMPANY » THE LEAP

Klarna Bets on Live Video Chats to Connect Shoppers With Businesses

The CMO of the buzzy payment platform on how its new virtual shopping tool serves the growing demand for personalized e-commerce experiences with a human touch.

GOOD COMPANY » LAUNCH PAD

How the Work-From-Home Revolution Will Change How Americans Live, Spend and Shop

The demand for close-to-home commerce will drive the growth of local shopping districts, small businesses, online pickup and delivery hubs, and new residential developments.

GOOD COMPANY » THE LEAP

How Albertsons’ Supermarkets Improved Its Digital Business to Feed the Growing Appetite for Online Shopping

The chief digital officer of one of the country’s largest grocery operators shares lessons learned during the company’s digital transformation.

GOOD COMPANY » THE LEAP

How Online Mattress Pioneer Saatva Plans to Take Its Sales to the Next Level

Saatva set out a decade ago to disrupt the luxury mattress space and became a $400 million-plus company. It now wants to disrupt the luxury mattress store.

GOOD COMPANY » THE LEAP

Shipt Leans Into Personalized Same-Day Delivery Trends

The delivery startup now owned by Target expanded its store reach by 40% and is looking to add local favorites to its roster to serve consumers’ post-pandemic demands.

GOOD COMPANY » LAUNCH PAD

Headspace Health, Talkspace and Noom Target Employee Support Programs to Drive Growth

Pandemic-triggered mental health issues and worker burnout have dramatically increased demand for employer-backed behavioral health programs, said executives from the telehealth startups.

GOOD COMPANY » THE LEAP

5 Licensing Lessons from The Multimillion-Dollar Smiley Company CEO

Nicolas Loufrani, who gave the iconic Smiley Face brand—now feting its 50th anniversary with designer collections in major department stores—a second life, shares insider tips to winning at licensing.

GOOD COMPANY » THE LEAP

Yelp Adds Keyword Boosting Tool to Help Businesses Target Ads

The online review site’s new feature lets restaurants, service providers and other businesses direct their ad dollars at consumers who are the most likely to make a purchase.