Retailers are narrowing their choices; “ We don’t need three types of red ”

Coach cuts handbag styles in half. Bed Bath & Beyond is reducing its selection of can opener by two-thirds. Kohl’s is cutting its towel offerings by almost a fifth.

Retailers have multiplied the choices in recent decades as the internet created a so-called endless aisle that freed them from the space constraints of physical stores, according to analysts and industry executives. They tried to capitalize on the shift to personalization with the desire to please everyone and add variety to get people to buy items they don’t have …