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., Monday, Dec. 12, 2022. Small retailers say this year looks much different than the last "normal" pre-pandemic holiday shopping season of 2019. They're facing decades-high inflation forcing them to raise prices and making shoppers rein in the freewheeling spending seen in 2021 when they were flush with pandemic aid and eager to spend. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)