chase
Just about everyone's been smacked with an overdraft fee before, but Michael writes us about his partner who is drowning in a flood of such exploitative charges.
More »
private jets
Did you know that
private jets are actually quite practical? We didn't. The
Wall Street Journal says that private jet manufacturers are angry at the
backlash against private jets and are speaking out to "counter business aircraft misinformation."
More »
harvard school of business
Business is about doing shit for one supposedly inscrutable reason: to make money. Even if what you're doing loses money, as long as you said you did it to make money, you're cool.
extended stay
Okay, we got the bathroom humor of Kellog's
All-Bran commercial last year. We're not sure if this commercial for Extended Stay Hotels, which shows guests so relaxed that they pass gas—or what the French call
un petit éclatement—is quite as effective. Maybe they should change the tagline at the end to, "Our windows can be opened."
More »
business
Say you want to staff your call center with friendly, high energy, intelligent people who want to help customers and who enjoy their job. How do you find them? Well, apparently you hire people, train them, then offer them $1,000 to quit.
More »
retail
Macy's sales are down and the retailer says they will begin restructuring, according to the
Chicago Tribune:
More »
new beginnings
TigerDirect has gone through with its plan to purchase CompUSA, including its website, inventory, and "16 of the best CompUSA retail stores," according to an email sent by CEO Gilbert Fiorentino to TigerDirect employees. The tipster writes, "This also includes Tiger absorbing a fair amount of their stock, though most of what's in the stores IS going to get cleared out."
More »
media
Today, in an attempt to anger fans of both regulation
and deregulation, the FCC approved two new rules. The first one
restricts cable companies to owning no more than 30% of a market; the second one "gives owners of newspapers more leeway to buy radio and television stations in the largest cities." One nice thing about the first rule is that Comcast can't buy any more cable companies. One bad thing about the second one is that it will likely mean that Rupert Murdoch will win "permanent waivers to control two television stations in New York, as well as The New York Post and The Wall Street Journal."
More »
bad decisions
The sad news is that 1 in 3 lottery winners are in serious financial trouble or even bankrupt within 5 years. Why? The suddenly wealthy often never learn to manage their money.
More »
traveling
Travelodge, which runs more than 300 budget business
hotels in the UK, is training its staff on how to respond to the
70% surge in the past year of naked men sleepwalking through their hotels: "One tip in the company's newly released 'sleepwalkers guide' tells staff to keep towels handy at the front desk in case a customer's dignity needs preserving." The sleepwalkers have been reported asking questions like, "Where's the bathroom?," "Do you have a newspaper?" and "Can I check out, I'm late for work?"
More »
good news
Thank goodness! There may be hope for Home Depot! From the NYT:
More »
dell
Christopher Lawton over at The Post Gazette (via the Wall Street Journal) has an excellent article up about why Dell is just flailing as a company now, after being the darling of the 90's.
More »