Birchbox is a site that sells high-end makeup, and $10 sample box subscriptions that entice customers to try new types of high-end makeup. Walmart is a discount mega-retailer that sells lots of makeup, but hardly any of it is high end. Yet Birchbox could join the Walmart family if a rumored deal goes through. [More]
Retail Services
Scammer Posing As Starbucks Corporate Convinces Store Workers To Wire $2,600
By 8.9.17
A fraudster in South Carolina combined the tradition of pranking fast food restaurants with a new variation of the CEO scam last week, convincing employees at a Starbucks to give them all of the money in the store. [More]
Walmart Testing Self-Scanning And Checkout By Smartphone: Yes, Again
By 8.9.17
If you’d rather not face another long checkout line at Walmart, the mega-retailer may soon have a solution for you: It has resumed tests of an app that would let customers scan items as they shop, using either a handheld scanner or a smartphone app. [More]
Grocery Stores Jumping Into Meal Kit Market
By 8.9.17
Your mission? Make a delicious home-cooked meal for dinner. Here are your options: Walk around your massive local grocery store picking up each ingredient piece by piece, or walk into the store, grab a box full of pre-selected, pre-proportioned ingredients and walk out. Which would you choose? Grocery stores around the country are hoping it’s a variation of the latter, as they gear up to compete with online meal kit services. [More]
Why Are New Malls Being Built During A Retail Apocalypse?
By 8.8.17
With a record number of recent retail bankruptcies, and national waves of store closings, how is it that there are more malls being built or expanded? Construction on shopping centers and even on enclosed malls is at its highest level since the summer of 2008. Are real estate developers in denial? [More]
Lawsuit Claims Dunkin’ Donuts Blueberry Bakery Items Don’t Contain Actual Blueberries
By 8.8.17
A year after lovers of fruit-flavored donuts sued Krispy Kreme alleging the company’s blueberry donuts didn’t contain any real blueberries, another donut chain is facing a similar lawsuit: Customers in Chicago have filed a class-action seeking lawsuit against Dunkin’ Donuts, claiming the company’s bakery items lack any actual blueberries. [More]
Amazon Tells Third-Party Booksellers To Speed Up Deliveries
By 8.8.17
That paperback book you ordered from Amazon for your upcoming beach vacation might just arrive faster than you thought. But it’ll come at a new cost for the third-party seller providing the title: Amazon is once again tightening the reins on sellers who don’t use the company’s fulfillment services, reducing their required delivery window. [More]
4 Things LuLaRoe Sellers Say About The Stress & Cost Of Their Job
By 8.7.17
LuLaRoe, best known as the company behind the lycra leggings that at least six of your high school friends are trying to sell through Facebook, markets itself to freelance “consultants” as a possible pathway to financial independence and stability. But once again, LuLaRoe sellers are coming out of the woodwork to allege that this job is putting stress on their well-being, financially and physically. [More]
Here’s How Some Brands Are Fighting Back Against Amazon
By 8.7.17
From groceries and household supplies to electronics and clothing, Amazon has steadily been expanding its product categories in an effort to appeal to as many customers as it can. But some brands don’t want the e-commerce giant horning in on their business, so they’re fighting back. [More]
Two Men Simply Walk Out Of Walmart After Scooping Up 5 TVs
By 8.7.17
Two men in Pennsylvania were able to slip into the stock area of a Walmart store at lunchtime last Tuesday, walking out with five large flat-panel televisions. How? They didn’t disguise themselves as store employees, and were caught on camera, but no one stopped them. Now police are looking for help identifying them. [More]
Which States Have Tax-Free Holidays, And When Do They Happen?
By 8.4.17
As families prepare to send their little ones back to school, they’re heading to malls, big box stores, and other retailers to fill their backpacks and closets. While many companies offer deals and programs targeting back-to-school season — we’re looking at you Target — many states are also offering their own deals in the way of sales tax-free weekends. [More]
If You Don’t Have Your Alfred Angelo Dress Yet, You’re Not Getting It: Here’s What To Do
By 8.3.17
Last month, wedding and special occasion dress maker Alfred Angelo filed for bankruptcy and abruptly closed all of its stores, with some customers’ dresses still inside. The company’s bankruptcy trustee has now announced that if customers haven’t yet received their dresses, they never will. [More]
Women Accused Of Stealing $69K Worth Of Cosmetics From 32 Walgreens, CVS Stores
By 8.3.17
How many CVS and Walgreens locations do you have to steal lipstick, eyeshadow, concealer, and other beauty products from in order to get to $69,000? According to the Miami Dade Police Department the answer is 32. [More]
FedEx Ditching Most Holiday Shipping Surcharges This Year
By 8.3.17
It’s only August, but already the holiday shipping wars are heating up: After UPS announced recently that it would be tacking on new surcharges during the busiest time of the year, FedEx says it won’t be adding extra fees on most packages shipped near the holidays. [More]
No, You Don’t Need To Buy A $20K 88-Inch TV
By 8.3.17
Here’s the thing: If you have $20,000 to spare, you could buy Samsung’s new 88-inch, 4K Ultra HD TV. But you really don’t have to. [More]
Dunkin’ Donuts Dropping The “Donut” In California Test
By 8.3.17
It’s just common knowledge that shortening your name makes you so much cooler; Alexander to Alex or Robert to Bob or Christopher to Topher. Okay, might not always be true, but Dunkin’ Donuts appears to be embracing its nickname in hopes that it will bring in more customers to buy drinks, sandwiches, and pretty much anything other than donuts: The chain will go by just Dunkin’ at some California stores. [More]
Amazon Changes Return Policies For Third-Party Sellers, Who Worry About Fraud
By 8.2.17
One of the ways that Amazon has been able to offer such a wide selection of items has been through its Marketplace, or third-party sellers. These businesses or individuals would ship from their own bookshelves, garages, or warehouses, handling order fulfillment and letting Amazon expand its inventory without building any new warehouses. Now a new policy makes it clear that sellers who handle their own orders are at a disadvantage. [More]
Uniqlo Wants To Sell Shirts In Airport Vending Machines
By 8.2.17
Splashed by a cab in the rain at the airport? Hit by a bit of projectile vomit unleashed by your offspring? Uniqlo will sell you a shirt out of a vending machine at the airport. [More]
