The closure of 154 Walmart stores earlier this year wasn’t good news for anyone, except for perhaps some small-town storeowners and well organized resellers. One group that’s really benefiting, even though they’d probably rather not, is OUR Walmart, a group that is not a union, but works to share information between employees and organizes protests and strikes. As store closings continued, OUR Walmart noticed their Internet traffic is up. [More]
OUR Walmart Says That More Workers Are Interested After Store Closings, Union Split
By February 26, 2016
Town Officials Not Pleased With Man Who Patched Neighborhood Potholes Himself
By February 26, 2016
The problem isn’t necessarily that a man in Massachusetts went out and patched some holes in his street himself, at his own expense. The town prefers to use hot asphalt instead of the patching material he used. The core problem is that he happens be the sales manager for the company that sells that patching material. [More]
Man Who Resurrected Hydrox Can Now Bring Jordan Marsh, Bullock’s, May Company Brands Back To Life
By February 26, 2016
Two years ago we profiled Ellia Kassoff, the mad genius who seems intent on bringing back every brand that you ever said “remember when…” about. He has already resurrected Hydrox, the original sandwich cookie, but he’s also been battling Macy’s for several years over a slew of trademarks for stores Macy’s acquired and shut down. Today, Kassoff says he’s reached a deal with the department store giant that will allow him to try to breathe new life into several long-dead retail brands. [More]
New Contact Lens Solution Warnings Mean Fewer Users Getting Peroxide In Their Eyes
By February 26, 2016
If anyone ever tries to convince you that life isn’t constantly getting better, remember this: only an average of three people each year since 2012 have stuck contact lenses soaked in hydrogen peroxide in their eyes and caused injuries bad enough to report to the Food and Drug Administration. 61 people did from 2010 to 2011. The reason for this medical miracle? Red plastic. [More]
Major Airlines’ Regional Partner, Republic Airways, Files For Bankruptcy Over Pilot Shortage
By February 26, 2016
Two years ago, regional airlines warned that new regulations, higher costs of school, and lower salaries had led to a shortage of pilots for the companies that typically handle the smaller, regional routes for larger airlines. Now, one short-haul carrier says that lack of pilots is the reason it’s filed for bankruptcy. [More]
Amazon Makes New Streaming Show Available Without Prime, With Ads
By February 26, 2016
Amazon’s streaming video programming is just another way for the company to entice customers to sign up for Prime memberships, right? Who can resist free 2-day shipping and Alpha House? Yet the company’s new reality show, a fashion design competition called The Fashion Fund, is available to stream for free with ads as long as you have an Amazon account. Oh, and by the way, you can buy the finalists’ collections on Amazon. [More]
Yes, There Really Is A Dentist’s Office In A Kmart In Miami
By February 26, 2016
We learned about Kmart Dental in Florida from reader Jason, who sent us a link and noted that it “has got to be the oddest thing inside of a Kmart anywhere.” We don’t know whether it holds any strangeness records, but a dentist’s office inside a discount store is pretty unusual. We wondered how they ended up there, and whether Kmart dental offices were a common thing that we had just never heard of, so we called them up and asked. [More]
Florida Man Barred From Selling Unapproved “Natural Herpes Medicine”
By February 26, 2016
Five years ago, the Food and Drug Administration first warned a Florida man to stop peddling a supposed cure for herpes until he proved it worked and was safe. He subsequently tweaked the marketing to make it less cure-like, but federal prosecutors say he still went too far in promising his supplement could treat the sexually transmitted disease. [More]
Herbalife Working On Settlement To Resolve FTC Investigation Into Business Practices
By February 26, 2016
Nearly two years ago nutritional company Herbalife revealed that it was under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission for its often controversial business practices, or what some people claim is a pyramid scheme. Now, it looks like the company is ready to put the federal probe behind it. [More]
What’s Huge, Floats & Has 32,000 Bottles Of Beer, 6,100 Bottles Of Wine & 5,400 Bananas On Board?
By February 26, 2016
I’ve never been on a cruise, but if I were to find myself stuck on a massive ship with thousands of other people and no exit other than leaping into the sea, I’d hope there would be enough food and drink to keep everyone entertained, lest it devolve into apocalyptic anarchy-at-sea. Thankfully, the cruise operators make sure to pack a lot of booze and snacks along for the trip. [More]
Net Neutrality Is A Year Old Today. What’s Changed, What Hasn’t, And Where Does It Stand?
By February 26, 2016
Happy birthday, net neutrality! A year ago today, after a long and contentious process, the FCC formally adopted the Open Internet Rule, reclassifying broadband internet as a Title II communications service and creating bright-line rules to protect consumers’ and businesses’ access to the internet. [More]
Evenflo Recalls 56,000 Carseats Because Kids Shouldn’t Be Able To Unhook Themselves
By February 26, 2016
The safety harness in a child’s carseat is meant to prevent injury in the event of a crash. Those safety devices don’t do much good if the tiny occupant has already undone the restraints. Which is why Evenflo has recalled more than 56,000 carseats. [More]
You Will No Longer Need To Go To Seattle To Resolve A Starbucks Card Dispute
By February 26, 2016
As things stand now, if you have a legal dispute with Starbucks about your Starbucks Card, the coffee company could force you to travel to Seattle to resolve the matter — not in court, but through the shadowy, unfair process of binding arbitration. However, Starbucks is about to adopt new policies to be more flexible about the location, and give you 30 days to opt out of signing your rights away. [More]
Mercedes-Benz Says “So Long” To Some Assembly Line Robots, “Hello” To Actual Humans
By February 26, 2016
We’ve likely all seen the photos, videos, and stories of robots preparing for their inevitable uprising by taking on jobs in factories and plants — from fulfilling orders at Amazon to building furniture at IKEA. But there’s now one place you won’t see as many of the high-tech employees: the Mercedes-Benz production line. [More]
Macy’s Will Have Fewer Promotions With Coupons, Lower Clearance Prices
By February 26, 2016
There’s a subset of department store customers who love playing coupon games, clipping bonus coupons from flyers and newspapers to get an extra percentage off items that are already on sale. Macy’s, long a great place to shop if you love to stack coupons on top of clearance sales, will stop that practice in favor of simply marking their clearance items down more in the first place. [More]
AT&T Sues Louisville To Make City Less Attractive To Google Fiber
By February 26, 2016
Google hasn’t even decided whether or not it will bring its high-speed Fiber broadband and TV service to Louisville. The Kentucky city is currently listed as merely a “potential” Fiber market. But that hasn’t stopped AT&T from suing Louisville administrators in an effort to make sure that Google will have a tougher time if it chooses to launch there. [More]
Tesla Can Continue Selling Cars Straight To Consumers In Indiana For At Least A Year
By February 26, 2016
Electric car-seeking Indiana residents can still buy their new Tesla without having to go out of state, at least for the time being. State senators have tabled a bill that would have banned the carmaker from selling vehicles under its current, often controversial, straight-to-consumer business model. [More]
