How desperate are department stores to get shoppers in the door and spending money? Chains including Lord & Taylor, Macy’s, and Bloomingdales are taking the unusual step of actually discounting their cosmetics, trying to get back prestige cosmetics sales that have drifted to cosmetics-only stores like Sephora and Ulta. [More]
Retail Services
If The Deal Never Ends, Is It Really A Deal?
By 7.10.17
The thing about getting a good deal on something? It only feels special if it’s limited in some way — whether that means only a certain set of customers has access to it, or it’s only available for a window in time. To that end, some LensCrafters customers claim proffered discounts on prescription eyewear are bogus, accusing the chain of faking a regular/original price and then offering a so-called discount. [More]
JCPenney To Revamp Loyalty Program, Make It Easier To Earn Rewards
By 7.10.17
If you’re a frequent shopper at JCPenney, listen up: The retailer is poised to debut a new, revamped loyalty program making it easier for customers to earn free stuff more quickly and more often, as the retailer seeks to pad its bottomline amid store closures. [More]
Stopping Dark Stores: The Fight To Prevent Thriving Retailers From Being Taxed Like Vacant Lots
By 7.10.17
There’s a neat trick that big-box stores like Lowe’s have pulled off in some states. They claim that for tax purposes, their open, thriving businesses should be valued the same as empty property, so that they pay way less. In one state, though, a lawmaker being called back for a special session of the legislature is hoping he can end the practice locally. [More]
What Happens When Walmart Decides To Close A Store?
By 7.10.17
At the beginning of 2016, Walmart did something unusual. The mega-retailer closed 269 stores, 154 of which were in the United States. While Walmart also opened hundreds of stores around the world last year, keeping its net store count the same, its pullout was devastating for rural communities where smaller retailers had closed their doors when Walmart came to town. [More]
Amazon’s Voice-Activated Devices Are Going To Be Super Cheap On Prime Day
By 7.10.17
Listen, it’s up to you whether or not you want to partake in the annual panic-shopping event that is Amazon Prime Day. But if you do, Amazon is offering some pretty big discounts across the board on its Alexa-powered digital devices. [More]
Here’s What You Need To Know About Hard Rock, Loews Hotels Hack Attacks
By 7.10.17
If you’ve stayed at a Hard Rock Hotel & Casino or Loews Hotel you’ll want to keep an eye on your financial statements after the two lodging companies revealed they’re the latest victims of a hack attack. [More]
Abercrombie & Fitch Removing “For Sale” Sign From Its Bared, Chiseled Chest
By 7.10.17
Two months after Abercrombie & Fitch slapped a “for sale” sign on its tanned, muscled self, the retailer has decided not to sell itself after all. [More]
43 More Sears And Kmart Stores Are Closing: Is Yours On The List?
By 7.7.17
Sears Holdings, parent company of Sears and Kmart, announced today that it plans to close down another 43 stores. As with previous rounds of closings, Kmart stores dominate the list, with 35 stores in 21 states set to turn their blue lights out forever. [More]
McDonald’s Serving Bacon Cheese Fries At Some Restaurants
By 7.7.17
McDonald’s customers in the San Francisco area may be able to score actual garlic fries, but fast food fans in four other states are getting a sneak preview of McDonald’s answer to Wendy’s Baconator fries. [More]
Home Depot Worker Says He Was Fired For Trying To Stop Possible Kidnapping
By 7.6.17
An Oregon Home Depot employee says he was fired after he attempted to intervene in what he was told was a kidnapping attempt in the store’s parking lot. [More]
Signs Vs. Reality: These Panties At JCPenney Are Not 3 For $6.99
By 7.6.17
Have you ever picked up items on sale, only to have them ring up for a lot more than you expected at the checkout counter? Here’s a real-world example from a JCPenney store of how that happens. [More]
How Does Amazon’s Echo ‘Look’ Stack Up Against Cher’s Closet From ‘Clueless’?
By 7.6.17
If you’re anything like the Consumerist staff, Amazon’s new Echo Look device — a voice-activated digital assistant equipped with a camera to help users make tough fashion choices — may have immediately brought to mind a scene from the 1996 Alicia Silverstone flick, Clueless. Sure, her PC’s outfit comparison program may seem dated now, but back then it was the height of fictional fashion technology. [More]
Plus-Size Online Retailer Eloquii To Open Bricks-And-Mortar Stores
By 7.6.17
The current retail trend is for companies to shutter bricks-and-mortar stores and shift their focus to online sales. But plus-size apparel retailer Eloquii is going in the other direction and opening a handful of physical locations. [More]
A Ready-To-Go Hotel Room Kit & 5 More Things You Can Buy In The Trump Taj Mahal Liquidation
By 7.6.17
In the market for crystal chandeliers, slot machines, or the kind of art one only sees adorning the walls of a hotel? You’re in luck: The failed Taj Mahal Casino once owned by President Trump is under new ownership, which means it’s getting a makeover — and everything inside the place must go. [More]
Baskin Robbins Attempting Tricky Task Of Delivering Unmelted Ice Cream To Your Door
By 7.6.17
It’s sometimes hard enough getting ice cream home from the supermarket without melting, so imagine the challenge of delivering freshly made sundaes and shakes to customers’ doors. Baskin Robbins, which has been testing ice cream delivery in L.A. and Chicago, now says it’s expanding that service to more than 600 stores around the country. [More]
Could Dish & Amazon Partner To Become Your Next Wireless Provider?
By 7.6.17
With AT&T buying DirecTV, and Comcast now offering wireless service, seems like Dish Network is being left out. But the nation’s number-two satellite provider has reportedly been chatting with Amazon about the possibility of creating a new wireless network. [More]
QVC Buys Home Shopping Network For Low, Low Price Of $2.1B
By 7.6.17
It appears that QVC looked in its closet one day, couldn’t find anything to wear, and just decided to go buy something new. But instead of just picking out an outfit, it scooped up rival Home Shopping Network for a cool $2.1 billion. [More]
