Alina Seluk

iRobot was founded in 1990 by researchers from MIT, and its devices have been used by the military and scientists tracking oil spills.

But its claim to fame is the Roomba, the smart floor vacuum.

In recent years, the home robot market got very competitive with lots of foreign rivals, often at cheaper prices.

Last year, regulatory scrutiny killed iRobot's merger with Amazon.

Now it faces new tariffs for products.

They tend to come from Vietnam.

And iRobot has been losing money.

It owes nearly $100 million to its main supplier based in Shenzhen.

And that firm has agreed to take over iRobot, assuring that devices will keep operating as normal.

Alina Seluk, NPR News.

The National Retail Federation forecasts that sales will top $1 trillion for the first time spent on gifts, food and decorations.

That would be growth of about 4% compared to last year, which is similar to what we saw last holiday season.

Other forecasts are less exuberant.

Deloitte, for example, predicts growth of about 3%.

Still, this promises a shopping season that's far from the flop many feared earlier in the year when President Trump began to launch tariffs on almost all imports.

In part, that's because tariffs rolled out in fits and starts with delays, giving retailers time to stock up.

without setting skyrocketing prices.

Also worth noting that much of the spending is being propped up by wealthier shoppers.

Alina Seluk, NPR News.

November saw the long government shutdown, which dampened how consumers feel about the economy.