Recently, Walmart decided to wage war against Publix and other supermarkets in Florida by deciding to honor buy-one-get-one free deals from competing stores in the state, even if the Walmart base price for the product is already cheaper. Problem is, not everyone at the nation’s largest retailer is aware of this latest development. [More]
Retail Services
Amazon Quietly Ups The Free Shipping Minimum Purchase To $35
By 10.22.13
For as long as we can remember, Amazon.com’s minimum purchase requirement to qualify for its free super saver shipping was $25, a pretty easy threshhold for many shoppers to reach with perhaps a couple of books or a really nice salad spinner. It’ll be a bit tougher now, however, as Amazon has quietly increased the free shipping amount to $35. [More]
Walmart.com Ships 50 Small Boxes Of Crayons In 50 Large Cardboard Boxes
By 10.22.13
Members of the Stupid Shipping Gang have invaded Walmart.com, where an order of 50 boxes of Crayola crayons shipped not in one or two larger cardboard boxes, but each in its own cardboard box. [More]
18 Photos That Prove The Impending Demise Of Sears
By 10.21.13
As we’ve often discussed on this site, Sears doesn’t seem to want to sell merchandise to customers anymore. They’re apparently more interested in selling the real estate that their stores sit on. We know many talented and dedicated Sears employees, but the big picture remains grim. Want concrete proof that will make you sad? You could visit your local store, or just look at these pictures. [More]
6-Foot Alligator Stops At Walmart For A Few Things, Freaks Everyone Out
By 10.21.13
It must be hard out there to be an alligator: You’re on your way home from a tough day at the swamp, yawning with exhaustion and you see a Walmart. “Great!” your gator brain things. “I do need to pick up a few things for dinner and some light bulbs.” But it’s not that easy when you’re a six-foot reptile that tends to scare the pants off any humans you meet. [More]
Walmart Worker Claims He Was Fired For Trying To Stop Assault In Parking Lot
By 10.18.13
UPDATE: Consumerist spoke over the phone with a Walmart spokeswoman who says that after taking a step back and taking another look at the situation, the company has offered the worker his job back. [More]
This Home Depot Has A Strangely Beautiful “Nightmare Before Christmas”
By 10.18.13
Reader Brendan was visiting his local Home Depot when he saw something strange and beautiful outside. There was an ominously-lit display of pumpkins and other fall cheer, and then a beautifully lit selection of Christmas trees behind it. Is the store trying to celebrate multiple holidays at once, or is this more of a Nightmare Before Christmas holiday mashup? [More]
Scammers Distract Cashiers, Install Skimmers On Nordstrom Cash Registers
By 10.17.13
Keyloggers are devices that plug in between a keyboard and computer, and they have perfectly legitimate uses. For example, let’s say that you suspect one of your employees is writing “Sherlock” fan fiction instead of doing data entry: you can see what they’re actually typing and find out. The keyloggers found at a Nordstrom store in Florida were put to a use that isn’t legitimate at all: stealing credit card numbers. [More]
Is Gift Wholesaler Cody Foster & Co. Responsible For Wholesale Ripoffs Of Indie Crafters?
By 10.17.13 — Updated: 10.18.13
You’ve probably never heard of Cody Foster & Company, even if you own items that came from them. They’re a wholesaler with no public-facing catalog. You have to be a small gift shop or large-ish chain like Anthropologie to even see their site. You can buy directly from the independent crafters and designers who claim that the company took their designs, mass-produced them in China, and sold them to retailers with no compensation to the original artists. [More]
Police: Man Filmed Girls’ Butts With Hidden Camera On Walmart Cart
By 10.17.13
A Pennsylvania man who has been charged with possession of child pornography allegedly had a very, very creepy habit during his shopping trips to the local Walmart: following underage girls around the store with a hidden camera fixed on their rear ends. Authorities found the videos on his computer as part of a separate online investigation. [More]
Mannequins Take Jobs Away From Hard-Working American Sign-Spinners
By 10.17.13
Sign-spinning isn’t a prestigious or particularly interesting job, but you do get to people-watch and earn an honest living. And standing on a street corner twirling a sign to get people’s attention is the kind of real-life job that can’t ever be outsourced or done by some kind of machine. Right? Nope. Meet the sign-twirling mannequin industry. [More]
Target Is Latest Retailer To Think “Being Like Apple” Will Stop Showrooming
By 10.17.13
Retailers continue to make changes to their stores based on the notion that, like Apple’s retail sleek and busy retail locations, if they can just get customers to futz around with products in the store long enough, they’ll eventually buy something right then and there, rather than buying it cheaper online. Target is the latest to give this idea a shot in its electronics department. [More]
Amazon Employee Suing Company Over Daily, Unpaid 20-Minute Security Searches
By 10.16.13 — Updated: 1.26.15
It’s understandable that giant retailers like Amazon wouldn’t want employees bringing anything home from work they shouldn’t. But much like a lawsuit Apple workers brought against that company for on-the-clock security searches, an employee of Amazon is bringing a class-action lawsuit against it alleging that workers have to go through daily, unpaid security procedures that cost them time and money. [More]
Bank Of America Employee Charged With Taking At Least $1M In Bribes To Rig Short Sales
By 10.16.13
Between homeowners eager to get out from underwater mortgages and real estate speculators looking to scoop up below-market properties, there are a lot of people out there eager to grease the wheels to make a short sale happen. And federal authorities say one now-former Bank of America employee accepted at least $1 million in bribes to improperly approve short sales and falsify bank records. [More]
Home Depot Denies Rumor Of PlayStation 4 Kiosks
By 10.16.13
Considering that gaming consoles do a lot more than just let you play games and that bricks and mortar retailers are increasingly looking to rent out floorspace to cut costs and maybe improve foot traffic, it doesn’t seem beyond the realm of possibility that Sony would be setting up PlayStation 4 demo kiosks in Home Depot. But it just isn’t so, says the home improvement chain. [More]
When A Real EBT Outage Hits, Customers Freak Out And Don’t Get To Buy Food
By 10.16.13
This weekend’s 17-state EBT glitch was a disturbing lesson in human nature, with customers at one Louisiana Walmart cleaning off shelves when their cards showed no limit, and abandoning entire carts when their transactions didn’t go through. Reader N. works at a retailer somewhere in the Midwest, and reports that a much smaller government benefits system outage on Monday had very distressing results at her store. [More]
Pecan Pie Pringles Appear In Stores, We’re Not Sure Why
By 10.15.13
Last year, Pringles brought us a weird trio of holiday potato chip flavors: pumpkin pie, peppermint white chocolate, and cinnamon and sugar. Now the “dessert Pringle” theme continues, with another pie-flavored chip offering: pecan. [More]
Get Your 8-Year-Old Garmin GPS For Only $200 At Kmart
By 10.15.13
The Garmin StreetPilot C330 got slightly above-average reviews from CNET readers when it was first introduced in 2005. If you want to drive around all old-school, you can pick one up on Amazon or eBay for under $50. And if you want to kick it really old-school, you can spend $200 on one at Kmart. [More]
