Laura Gurfein

Title: Shopping Director

Location: Brooklyn, NY

Expertise: Online Shopping, Sales and Deals, Celebrity Trends, Fashion and Beauty, Home Goods

Laura Gurfein is the current shopping director for PEOPLE, overseeing coverage of the best sales and deals across the internet, buzzy new product launches, celebrity fashion trends, in-depth product tests and reviews, and more. She started her editorial career covering New York City sample sales, store openings and closing, and notable city figures for Racked New York in 2013. Other previous roles include managing editor at Racked and lead researcher and producer at HQ Trivia. She joined Meredith in 2019 before it was acquired by Dotdash in 2021.

Laura has more than a decade of experience covering shopping news.
She’s spent thousands of hours finding the best products, deals, and prices for shoppers across all categories, whether it’s Jennifer Garner’s running sneakers or her favorite kitchen accessories from Stasher and KitchenAid, and sharing them with readers.
Laura has two journalism degrees from the University of Maryland and New York University.

Laura is an accomplished digital media professional who’s written and edited for PEOPLE, Entertainment Weekly, InStyle, Real Simple, Travel + Leisure, Food & Wine, Racked, Refinery 29, Southern Living, Better Homes & Gardens, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, and more. After graduating from New York University with a master’s in journalism in 2013, she began her editorial career covering sample sales, store openings and closing, boutique fitness trends, and more at Racked New York. At Meredith and Dotdash Meredith, she’s edited more than 3,000 shopping stories.

After working in a cross-brand role at Meredith, Laura joined PEOPLE as an editorial director overseeing shopping news and deals in February 2022, and she currently oversees all shopping content, including PEOPLE Tested. She plans coverage and strategy for major holidays and sales events — including Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Labor Day, Memorial Day, Presidents Day, after Christmas, Amazon Prime Day, the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale, and more — as well as product reviews, including what's tested in our lab and in the real world. Her PEOPLE Shopping team writes daily stories about the best deals and sales, product launches and reviews, and celebrity fashion trends inspired by Jennifer Garner, Jennifer Lopez, Selena Gomez, Mindy Kaling, and others.

Prior to covering shopping and lifestyle, Laura worked at Capital News Service, the University of Maryland’s national wire service, covering education in the state of Maryland and national topics like the launch of the Affordable Care Act. During her tenure, she interviewed political figures such as former Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, and former representative Christopher Van Hollen, Jr.

Other work:

Here's How to Spot the Difference Between Real and Fake Designer Bags — Racked
Book Corner: Slyvia Plath, Party Girl? — Harper’s Bazaar
I Found a Secret Use for My New Silicone Oven Mitts — Food & Wine
Shay Mitchell’s Hair Secret Is Sitting in Aisle Four — Racked
Teachers Put Youngsters in Touch with 9/11 — Capital News Service

Laura has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, College Park and a master’s degree in magazine journalism from the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University.

PEOPLE, a Dotdash Meredith Brand, delivers the most trustworthy celebrity news and captivating human interest stories, connecting you to the pulse of American culture. Since our first issue hit stands in 1974, we have been striving to tell compelling stories about the people behind the issues, as opposed to just the issues themselves. We are your everyday escape, taking you inside the lives of intriguing stars, newsmakers, up-and-comers and ordinary people doing extraordinary things. We serve and delight you by providing ideas about beauty, food and style through the lens of the people influencing the trends. And we are a force for good by telling stories of hope, optimism and kindness that drive conversation and inspire action. Learn more about us and our editorial guidelines.

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