When food items with ingredients in common that were sold at multiple retailers are recalled because of the same food-borne pathogen, that’s a sign that the source may be that ingredient that they have in common. Three recent recalls from Amy’s, Wegmans, and Costco show that it may be wise for people who are young, old, sick, or pregnant to stay away from organic spinach. [More]
Retail Services
Watch Workers Replace A Retention Pond With A Trader Joe’s
By 3.20.15
The dilemma at a shopping center in Schaumburg, Illinois was a true modern one: Trader Joe’s wanted to build a store there, but there was no vacant space in which to build a store. The resourceful owners decided to make more space by covering an artificial pond with the store and its parking lot. [More]
Suspected Walmart Shoplifter Kicks Through Ceiling, Tunnels Out Via Air Ducts
By 3.20.15
We never imagined that the world’s greatest criminal masterminds would bother to shop-lift from Walmart. Yet a suspected shoplifter at a store in Alabama made an escape from the store worthy of a terrible spy movie. He was captured on surveillance camera climbing up into the ceiling, navigating air ducts, and then kicking his way down through the ceiling near the store exit. [More]
Walmart Stops Contesting $7,000 Fine For Worker Killed By Black Friday Shoppers In 2008
By 3.20.15
After six years and millions of dollars, Walmart plans to stop fighting a $7,000 fine imposed by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration related to the death of an employee during Black Friday. [More]
FAA Clears Amazon To Start Testing Delivery Drone Flights
By 3.20.15
Amazon is getting one step closer to the company’s dream of delivering packages by air, as the Federal Aviation Administration has given the company the go-ahead to start testing drones outside. [More]
Consumerist Friday Flickr Finds
By 3.20.15
Here are eight of the best photos that readers added to the Consumerist Flickr Pool in the last week, picked for usability in a Consumerist post or for just plain neatness. [More]
Report: Target Raising Minimum Wage For All Workers To $9 Per Hour
By 3.19.15
In a move that matches rivals like Walmart and TJX Cos stores T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods, Target announced that it will be raising the minimum wage for all workers to $9 in April, according to a new report. [More]
Amazon Expands One-Hour Delivery Service To Baltimore, Miami
By 3.19.15
It seems that so far, Amazon likes its new one-hour delivery service, which first debuted in New York City in late 2014. So much so that it’s expanding Prime Now service for household products to Baltimore and Miami. [More]
Target Poised To Settle Class-Action Suit Related To Massive 2013 Hack For $10M
By 3.19.15
More than a year after Target announced that it had been victim to a massive data breach during the 2013 holiday season, the company is poised to pay $10 million to settle a class-action suit stemming from the incident. [More]
Why Is LEGO Offering Beauty Tips To Little Girls?
By 3.18.15
Two years ago, a LEGO Friends salon playset took one of the top dishonors in the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood’s annual “worst products” list. The organization called the set “so jam-packed with condescending stereotypes it would even make Barbie blush.” That spirit lives on in a LEGO Friends magazine spread that made parents angry and–if we’re to believe company representatives–is making LEGO rethink their marketing of the Friends sets. Sort of. [More]
Target Introduces Extended One-Year Return Policy
By 3.18.15
While 90 days might seem like enough time to decide whether or not those sheets really match your bedroom decor, Target seems to think you might want to think on it a bit longer than that: The company announced today that it will offer customers a one-year return window for select items.
[More]
Sears Promises Early Payment To Vendors, Ties Up Cash Flow
By 3.18.15
While Sears struggles to get customers into its stores and lost $1.7 billion last year, the retailer is also encountering problems in keeping its shelves stocked with merchandise. The company’s vendors are reportedly nervous to ship to the retailer given its poor financial results and touchy cash flow situation. Vendors are asking Sears to pay their bills sooner in exchange for a discount. This ties up tens of millions of extra dollars’ worth of capital up at a time. [More]
Man Claims He Wasn’t Cooking Meth In Walmart Bathroom, He Just Had The Ingredients
By 3.18.15
A man arrested in connection with a backpack containing what police called an active methamphetamine that was found in the bathroom of an Indiana Walmart apparently doesn’t want officials to get the wrong idea. He admits that yes, the bag was his and yes, there were ingredients in it to make meth. But he wasn’t trying to cook it in the bathroom, he claims. [More]
Shoplifter Arrested After Shoving Steak Down His Pants
By 3.17.15
A 53-year-old man in Arkansas was arrested last week for shoplifting. His crime was one that has long fascinated us here at Consumerist: he is accused of trying to steal steaks from a Food Giant grocery store by shoving them down his pants. While this might seem like a logical and delicious enough crime, it’s also kind of a noticeable one. Also, no one will want to eat the meat. [More]
Why Do Makeup Brands Keep Naming Red Lipsticks ‘Underage’?
By 3.16.15
The controversy over the name of a red lipstick started yesterday when writer Parker Molloy went to Sephora and noticed some odd product names. We sympathize with the people in charge of naming makeup colors, but maybe it’s a little inappropriate to call a bright red lipstick “Underage.” [More]
Outlet Malls No Longer Relegated To The Middle Of Nowhere
By 3.16.15
Outlet malls used to be outposts far from major cities where shoppers and tourists could trek for a shopping adventure. As outlets of department stores and brands alike have become more popular with price-conscious shoppers, outlet malls have grown in popularity, and also slowly crept closer to population centers. There’s even an outlet mall within the city of New Orleans now. [More]
Police: Active Meth Lab Discovered In Backpack Abandoned In Walmart Bathroom
By 3.13.15
While running a successful meth lab isn’t easy even under the best circumstances — and this is coming entirely from watching Breaking Bad, obviously — keeping an active operation going in a Walmart bathroom doesn’t seem like a guarantee for success. To that end, police say they’ve discovered an active meth lab, hidden inside a backpack, abandoned in an Indiana Walmart’s bathroom. [More]
Walmart’s “Women-Owned” Campaign Officially Launches In Stores & Online
By 3.12.15
Last June Walmart said it would work to bring awareness to women-led companies by sticking “women-owned” labels on a range of products in its stores. While the retailer initially planned to start the campaign last fall, it finally appears to be getting around to it this month. [More]
