Mark Albright, the long-time retail reporter for the Tampa Bay Times, has retired after 39 years at the paper.
Albright started working for the paper, long known as the St. Petersburg Times, in February 1973. He is a Kent State graduate.
After covering slow-moving local government and politics for 13 years, Albright shifted his attention to why we buy.
He’s covered the ever-changing business of retailing — from flea markets to Neiman Marcus — since 1986. He’s interviewed most every prominent merchant in the country. He’s profiled Wal-Mart greeters and spent days following department store buyers making their rounds in New York’s garment district.
His work is quoted in retailing textbooks. He buys his own clothes and groceries. He’s tight with a buck, but has been known to splurge. When things get slow at the office, he goes shopping.
On his last day of work, Albright was working on a story right up until walking out the door.
