Back in 2010, we pointed out something kind of silly and unfair that happened at one reader’s local Walmart: there was an old computer game on the shelf. This happened to be a multiplayer game, which required access to servers to play. Those servers were shut down in 2009, making the game completely useless if purchased in 2010, or in 2013, and it’s just as useless now. [More]
Retail Services
Court Allows Utah To Ban Price-Fixing Of Contact Lenses
By 6.15.15
Contact lens companies have been working together to create price floors for their products, prohibiting retailers from offering competitive discounts and removing consumers’ ability to shop around for savings. Legislators in Utah recently passed a bill that would outlaw this practice but in May a federal appeals court temporarily blocked it from being enacted. But on Friday, the court vacated that injunction, allowing the new law to move forward. [More]
CVS Buying Target’s Pharmacy Business For $1.9 Billion
By 6.15.15
If you’re a Target shopper who picks up your prescription refills at the same time you get your groceries, towels, toilet paper, and whatever else you buy at the big-box retailer, your Target’s in-store pharmacy could soon be run by CVS. [More]
Suspect In Mall Pretzel Stand Robbery Hides Out In Same Mall’s Chili’s
By 6.12.15
Last night, something scary happened at the Macomb mall in Michigan: a man passed a pretzel stand employee a note demanding cash and stating that he had a gun. The employee handed over cash, and the robber left on foot. Police and mall security didn’t have to look very far, it turns out… they spotted the suspect at a standalone Chili’s restaurant that shares a parking lot with the mall. [More]
Tuxedo Rentals Are Down Because Of Fewer, Less Formal Weddings
By 6.12.15
The number of weddings relative to the U.S. population is the lowest it’s been since World War I, and tuxedo-rental shops like Men’s Wearhouse are seeing a decrease in their business. They blame demographic patterns, changes in wedding fashion, and changes in the formalwear rental business as a whole for the decrease, and see the trend continuing for now. [More]
Sen. Elizabeth Warren Has Some Choice Words For Chase CEO Jamie Dimon
By 6.12.15
Earlier this week, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie “It sounds like Diamond” Dimon, was quoted as saying that Sen. Elizabeth Warren, an outspoken advocate of financial reform who helped create the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau before becoming a lawmaker, was clueless about how banks actually work. The Massachusetts senator says that Mr. Dimon doth protest too much. [More]
Wedding Gown Store Closes, Owner Disappears
By 6.12.15
Where is the owner of a bridal salon in Endicott, New York? That’s a good question, and the brides who haven’t yet received the gowns that they paid for would like to know the answer. The store abruptly closed earlier this week, and the owner hasn’t been heard from. [More]
Reminder: Don’t Fall For The Walmart Mystery Shopper Scam
By 6.11.15
Almost exactly four years ago, we first warned you about the Walmart Mystery Shopper Scam, in which con artists offer their potential victims employment as undercover quality assurance inspectors who get paid to shop. Yet scammers continue to try running this ruse, so we figured it was a good time for a reminder. [More]
More Free Iced Tea To Celebrate Nonsense Holiday At Wendy’s And Walmart
By 6.10.15
We learned about some other ways you can celebrate National Iced Tea Day: participating Wendy’s restaurants are giving away small Blueberry Pineapple iced teas in certain states for most of the day. You can also print out a coupon for a free Snapple iced tea that can only be redeemed at Walmart. [Saving Advice] [More]
This Smart Oven Is Smarter Than You Are, Streams Video Of Your Dinner
By 6.9.15
We remain cynical but open-minded about the idea of smart appliances. What we’ve seen so far isn’t all that impressive: from the potential for kitchen appliances to launch cyberattacks to an incredibly stupid WiFi-enabled drip coffeemaker, we aren’t really sold on the idea yet. News of a new oven available for pre-order that is able to sense what you’re cooking and automatically determine how to cook it has us intrigued. [More]
Amazon Now Selling Ad Space On Shipping Boxes
By 6.9.15
Amazon has been using its boxes to advertise its own products and services for years, but now the e-commerce giant is realizing that there might be some money to be made by shipping customers’ packages in cartons branded by paying advertisers. [More]
Sears Leadership Still Convinced That Rewards Program Will Save The Company
By 6.8.15
Shop Your Way Rewards is not a difficult program to join. The process consists of giving your e-mail address to a cashier at Sears or Kmart, and…that’s pretty much it. It doesn’t cost anything. Yet the leadership of Sears Holdings Corporation remains fixed on the program and the idea of having “members” rather than customers, and we still can’t figure out why. [More]
Raiders Of The Lost Walmart Find Ancient And Mysterious Feature Phone
By 6.8.15
The Raiders of the Lost Walmart are a brave band of explorers who comb the darkest corners of the world’s discount stores to find the ancient gadgets with inappropriately high prices. We call these finds “retail antiquities,” and share the explorers’ field notes with the world. [More]
Best Buy Can’t Stop People From Using My E-mail Address
By 6.5.15
More than 10 years ago, when Gmail was first born, Jeff signed up early enough that he was able to snag [nickname]@gmail.com as his address. As years passed, this seems like less of a coup: it seems that people who shop at Best Buy love using this address as a throwaway. [More]
Walmart Cracking Down On Theft Because It Doesn’t Want To Lose Billions Of Dollars A Year
By 6.5.15
When something is costing billions of dollars a year in lost revenue, you’re probably going to start paying attention and try to stop the leakage. That’s why Walmart is addressing a big problem at its 4,555 stores in the U.S. — shoplifting and other forms of “unknown shrinkage” that is causing the company to lose about $3 billion per year. [More]
Bat Bites Person At New Mexico Walmart, Tests Positive For Rabies
By 6.5.15
You can find just about anything at a Walmart Supercenter – even rabid bats, apparently. Or at least that was the case at an Albuquerque store earlier this week. [More]
Petco Stops Use Of Kennel Dryers, Fires Groomers Caring For Dog Who Died
By 6.4.15
Last week, a woman in Virginia left her healthy 2-year-old golden retriever at a Petco store for a routine bath and grooming. The store called her and asked to meet at a nearby veterinary clinic, where she learned that her dog was dead. Petco has now taken full responsibility for this incident, and says that the grooming salon workers involved have been fired. [More]
Costco Sold Nearly 400,000 Cars Last Year Just To Keep Members Happy
By 6.4.15
Toilet paper, giant jars of mayonnaise, enough shampoo to last a year: These are all items one might imagine being on a list for a quick trip to Costco. One thing we generally don’t expect: a new car. But that’s exactly what consumers are picking up at the warehouse store. [More]
