In the past several days, rapidly changing responses to COVID-19, a virus caused by a member of the coronavirus family, have led many retailers to temporarily shutter stores, and consumers to relegate their shopping to only the essentials. With signs of a pullback even before the virus hit so close to home — a pre-coronavirus decline in February sales growth reflects already dimming consumer sentiment — two basic questions emerge. How deep will the dip in consumer mood be, and how long it will last? And a third looming in the background: Will the outbreak, which has been global, spark a recession?
