Urban Outfitters and its sibling store, Anthropologie, have never been paragons of honor and good taste. Someone’s always accusing the company of ripping off an independent designer here, promoting underage drinking, drug abuse, and eating disorders there, and the occasional $400 racist trope candlestick. This week, however, they managed to anger some of the most elite and badass fighting men in the world by slapping a mock Army Rangers scroll on an $84 vest. [More]
Retail Services
Amazon To Give Discounts On Kindle Versions Of Books You Already Own
By 9.3.13
Are there books sitting on your bookshelf that you purchased a while back but haven’t gotten around to reading because it’s so much more convenient to fire up your Kindle, iPad or other device and read an e-book? Then Amazon is set to launch a new program you might be interested in. [More]
Did Rue 21 Kick This Teen Out Of Store For Being Too Fat?
By 9.3.13
There are gracious ways to tell someone that your store doesn’t sell clothes that fit them. Throwing a teenage customer out of the store by saying, “You’re too big to be in this store. I need you to leave” is not one of them. That’s what an Oregon teen claims happened to her at a Rue 21 store at her local mall. [More]
Would A Shopping Cart Mirror Showing Your Fat Face Make You Buy More Vegetables?
By 8.30.13 — Updated: 5.15.14
Could you look yourself in the eye, then load your grocery cart up with root beer and ice cream bars? No, literally. Stakeholders ranging from from physicians to grocers want Americans to buy (and eat) more fresh produce and less junk food, but how can they do that without a complete overhaul of the food system? With gentle nudges. [More]
What To Binge-Watch If You’re Staying In This Holiday Weekend
August 30, 2013
Sad that the summer holiday season is ending? Or maybe you’re burned out and cash-poor from going out too frequently? If you’re stuck inside this weekend, you might as well close the curtains, crack open some snacks and binge-watch entire seasons of shows like Orange Is the New Black, The Fall, and Vikings. The folks at AVclub.com have curated a list of 26 shows you could cram into a weekend (not at once, unless you are able to watch several TVs simultaneously without losing your grip on reality), along with info on where to stream each show. [AVclub.com]
Woman Shocked To Find Funeral Home Put Her Son’s Ashes In Walmart Bag Inside Urn
By 8.30.13
While we might not be aware of where our mortal remains reside after we’re gone, one young man’s mother is upset that a funeral home confined his ashes to a plastic Walmart shopping bag. She discovered the bag job a year after he passed away, and calls it a “disrespectful” move on the part of funeral home. [More]
Raiders Of The Lost Walmart Remain Lost In 2011
By 8.29.13
The Raiders of the Lost Walmart search the retail landscape without ceasing for the finest and least valuable retail antiquities. What items have they found recently that you should absolutely not ever buy? [More]
Lawsuit: Woman Died Because Walmart Didn’t Double-Bag Her Groceries
By 8.29.13
In April of 2010, a Nebraska woman picked up two 46-ounce cans and a two-pound bag of rice at Walmart. The cashier put all of these items in a single bag. The bag broke, causing an injury which became infected. The infection led to the woman’s death. Now her family is suing Walmart, as well as the companies that made and distributed the faulty plastic bag, for wrongful death. [More]
Loyalty Programs Add Fancy Levels For Big-Spending Customers
By 8.28.13
When you’re running a retail business, the customers who spend the most in your store are valuable and magical creatures. Loyalty cards let you return that love to your customers. Sort of. Some companies are taking rewards cards a step further, rewarding their most loyal customers (probably the ones with the most money) with special perks. [More]
U.S. Lawsuit Against Bank Of America Given Go-Ahead For Trial
By 8.28.13
It’s been nearly a year since the U.S. government sued Bank of America over Countrywide’s sale of billions of dollars worth of toxic loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Predictably, BofA has attempted to have the case dismissed, but a federal judge has given the green light for the suit to finally head to trial next month. [More]
Walmart To Offer Employees’ Domestic Partners Health Insurance In 2014
By 8.27.13 — Updated: 8.28.13
This week, Walmart employees will receive a postcard in the mail with news that could be irrelevant or that could be life-changing. At the beginning of next year, the company will join most of the rest of the Fortune 500 in offering health, vision, and dental insurance benefits to the domestic partners of employees who are eligible. [More]
Best Buy Shoppers And Employees Save 9-Year-Old Girl From Violent Attacker
By 8.27.13
It isn’t just every parent’s nightmare: it’s the nightmare of every human being with a functioning soul. Police in Florida say that a stranger attacked a 9-year-old girl in the ladies’ rest room of a Best Buy store on Friday night while her mother was paying for her purchases. Another customer heard her screams, and witnesses say that employees and other bystanders rushed in to save the child. [More]
Costco Finally Stops Selling Yummy-Looking Detergent Pods In Clear Candy Jars
By 8.27.13
Several weeks ago, we told you about Costco’s questionable choice of putting its poisonous laundry detergent pods in a clear plastic container that looks an awful lot like the plastic jars it uses for things like animal crackers, nuts, and candies, especially in light of the numerous instances of young children licking, eating, or playing with these toxic toys. Now it looks like the wholesaler has come to its senses. [More]
Don’t Expect Smaller, Urban Costco Stores Anytime Soon
By 8.26.13
While Walmart has been trying out its (relatively) smaller Walmart Express stores for the last few years, and Target began launching its own miniaturized CityTarget stores in 2012, the CEO of Costco says his city-living customers are willing to make the haul out to the ‘burbs for savings. [More]
Raiders Of The Lost Walmart Discover Most Ancient Flash Drive To Date
By 8.26.13
Do you remember when data storage that you could stick in your pocket consisted of “flash cards” the size of a pack of cards that held less than a gigabyte? Yeah, actually, I don’t remember that far back either. The store that reader and intrepid Raider of the Lost Walmart Knah recently explored does, though. They don’t just remember…they still have these ancient drives on the shelves. [More]
Sorry: Sears Won’t Be Giving Members $6,000 In Points For Purchasing $45 Worth Of Stuff
By 8.22.13
Typos can be quite harmless at best (No, this is not he best post over, it’s the best post ever, etc), and disastrous at the worst. Right in the middle there’s just plain embarrassing, an area Sears is inhabiting today after sending an email to its Shop Your Way rewards members touting an offer of $6,000 worth of points just for purchasing $45 worth of kids’ products. The deal is a lot less exciting than all that. [More]
Don’t Forget To Bring Your Clipless Coupons To Costco
By 8.22.13
Frank is confused. Sort of. He finds the “clipless” coupons that Costco brags about on the cover of their latest coupon book appealing, but wonders how this whole “clipless” thing works. While you don’t have to cut the coupons out, you do have to bring the entire book with you to Costco if you want to use the coupon. Or pick up a new copy at the door. So why require coupons at all? [More]
Only 125 Days Left To Shop For The Holidays, So Of Course Retailers Are Already Debuting Deals
By 8.22.13
Santa Claus is probably still curled up in his summer hibernation like the great snowy northern bear I imagine him to be in the warm months, yet the 125 days left before the holidays hit is but a tiny blip in time for retailers. Which means of course it’s time to start rolling out those winter-time deals lest shoppers think there are none to be had. Or will be none to be had? In any case, it’s deal time already, folks. [More]
