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fashion
Why The Fashion Industry Can't Make Clothes That Fit Actual People
Another week, another article about brick-and-mortar stores phasing out their plus-sized clothing lines. (Edit: And here's another!) For those who missed it, Tatiana the Anonymous Model over at Jezebel posted an interesting essay on the economics of women's fashion, comparing pattern development issues designers face when developing both petite and plus sizes. More » -
bankruptcy
Eddie Bauer Jumps In The Bankruptcy Pool
Eddie Bauer is the latest retailer to file for bankruptcy, and it says it hopes to be sold outright rather than try to reorganize, refinance, or liquidate. The AP says the clothing company had "$476.1 million in assets and $426.7 million in debt at the time of the filing Wednesday with the United States Bankruptcy Court of the District of Delaware," and that by declaring Chapter 11 now it hopes to reassure suppliers and stave off impending cash flow problems.
"Eddie Bauer files for bankruptcy protection" [Yahoo Finance] (Thanks to Justin!)
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ask the consumerists
Circuit City Sends Rebate Check One Year After Purchase
Jan bought a keyboard from Circuit City last year. Since then, the company filed Chapter 11, the stores liquidated and closed, and another company bought the name. But last week, Jan finally-FINALLY-received her rebate check. Now she wants to know: is cashing this thing a good idea? More » -
confusing
Punishing Customers For Buying More: Now Worldwide
Theoretically, if you buy more of something, you should pay less per item, or per unit. That's the entire point of buying things in bulk. Right? Not necessarily. To confuse the logical part of your brain this fine morning, here's a collection of instances where customers pay more when they buy more. More » -
sales
Sorry, 2009's Clothing Discounts Will Be Less Insane
Clothing retailers are holding off on their crazy, desperate discounts a bit, and plan to discount less aggressively this summer. Why? Women's Wear Daily reports that it's not so much that the economy's improving (it really isn't) or unemployment has stopped rising (it hasn't) but Americans need stuff. Retailers anticipate that they will need to mark down, but not at the desperate levels that have characterized the last six months or so. More » -
credit cards
Credit Card Processors Launch A New Strategy To Defeat Theft
This fall, credit card processors will being rolling out a new approach to preventing data theft, based on the assumption that it's impossible to thwart every attack. Instead of keeping 100% of criminals out, they'll segment and encrypt the data into such small chunks that it will no longer be a cost-effective crime. More » -
Need A Suit? S&K Menswear Closing All 105 Stores
The decline in the "work clothing" market continues to take its toll. S&K Menswear are closing all 105 of their retail stores. The liquidation will be handled by Gordon Brothers, so don't expect any actual deals. Going-out-of-business sales started on Thursday, May 21.
Oddly, the S&K web site shows no hint of impending doom. The company had filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February, but was unable to recover. S&K gift cards will be accepted during the liquidation.
S&K Menswear Closing All 105 Stores [DDI Magazine] (Thanks, John!)
(Photo: chrisjones)
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Circuit City is dead. Long live Circuit City! Circuitcity.com is already about to relaunch. They'll let everyone know via Twitter when they open. No word whether they will actually be distinguishable from TigerDirect.
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fashion
Size 16 Goes Online-Only In Ann Taylor Stores
Ann Taylor will no longer carry size 16 items in their retail stores. "But they're keeping it online," our tipster Dena observed. "In other words, 'Hey, wide load! Stay out of our stores! Oh, but keep giving us your cash.'" More » -
above and beyond
Reader Has Amazing Best Buy Experience
Our reader The_Lone_Gunman just had a great experience with the Best Buy in Irving, Texas. Snark fails us at a time like this, so we'll just humbly print his email. More » -
zombie retail
The Sort-Of Comeback Of CompUSA
We previously reported that CompUSA refuses to die, and has reappeared. What I never expected to see was an article in BusinessWeek touting the reborn CompUSA's success. More » -
zombie retail
Linens 'N Things Returns From The Dead In Online Form
Linens 'N Things is back. It's an Internet-only entity for now, and sells higher-end items than the original incarnation. We're talking $1600 linens and marble cheese-serving things here. More »
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circuit city
Circuit City Has Left Us, But Its Uniforms Live On
The Circuit City death watch is long over, but now there's a way to preserve those memories forever—maybe even to outfit an entire troupe of Circuit City re-enactors. Reader chainofcommand02 was shopping in a grocery outlet store when he discovered several cases of Circuit City polo shirts. Yours, for only $1.00. More » -
cease & desist
Abercrombie & Fitch Threatens To Sue Merchants In Hollister, California For Trademark Infringement
Taking a page out of Monster Cable's playbook, Abercrombie & Fitch has threatened to sue merchants in Hollister, California who sell clothes bearing their town's name. A&F claims that local merchants putting "Hollister" on their clothes will confuse notoriously inept surfers who can't distinguish between a town and A&F's Hollister Co. line. So what happens if the locals defy the upscale bully? According to David Cupps, Abercrombie's general counsel and harasser-in-chief, "If they try, they would get a call and much more." More » -
sears
Sears Loses Lawnmower, Shrugs
Tracy needed a new lawn mower, and ordered one online from Sears. Later that day, an email arrived announcing that the lawnmower was ready for pickup. For whatever reason, Tracy wasn't able to make the 17-mile trip out to the store until more than a week later. The mower was....well, nobody quite knows what happened to the mower. More » -
stupid shipping gang
This Think Geek Sticker Clearly Wouldn't Fit In The Other Box
We may have to invent a new tag just to accurately describe how absurd Think Geek's shipment to Micah in Ontario was. It was bad enough that the shipping was over $30, but that's a consequence of stupid shipping options from the US to Canada. What really elevates this story to the top of the stupid shipping mountain is how they packed a sticker. But hey, at least the sticker didn't get broken in transit. Update: Think Geek responds in the comments below (which is awesome because we felt kind of bad talking about a site we like so much).
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wine
NY Corks Selling Wine In Supermarkets Plan
Do you enjoy one-stop shopping? Do you love to pick up your groceries, Valium, cat litter, and a nice Cab Sauv all from the same place without the sheer slog of taking out your credit card a whole four times? Well, tough luck, because New York Governor Paterson has nixed his plan to sell wine at supermarkets. Why? More » -
buy.com
Is Buy.com Friendlier To The Environment Than Brick And Mortar Stores?
A study by the Green Design Institute at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh states that when comparing getting a flash drive from Buy.com versus a physical retailer, Buy.com ends up being about 30% less damaging to the environment. To reach their conclusion, the researchers compared transportation, packaging, warehousing, and energy usage both by the consumer and the retailer. More »
















