While Walmart increasingly turns its focus online to bring in customers, Target is doing the opposite, doubling down on efforts to get customers inside its physical stores. To that end, the company will open dozens of new stores and remodel another 1,000 in coming years. [More]
Retail Services
MasterCard Ending Signature Requirements
By 10.19.17
For as long as we can remember, paying with a credit card required you to sign your name on the dotted line. While this system has changed over the years — mandating your John Hancock only for purchases over a certain amount — MasterCard is perhaps planning the biggest change of them all: The payment company will eliminate signature payments altogether. [More]
Would You Buy Luxury Clothes From Walmart?
By 10.19.17
On the surface, Walmart and luxury department store Lord & Taylor don’t have a lot in common outside of selling clothing. But that could soon be changing. [More]
Blue Apron Laying Off Hundreds Of Employees In “Realignment” Effort
By 10.19.17
As e-commerce giant Amazon and major grocery chains across the country crowd into the meal kit service arena, it seems Blue Apron may be feeling the heat: The meal kit company announced Wednesday that it’s laying off 6% of its workforce as part of a companywide “realignment” effort. [More]
Amazon Takes Over Most Of The Macy’s Building In Seattle
By 10.18.17
What’s even more symbolic than Amazon building a warehouse on the site of what was once the world’s largest enclosed mall? In its hometown of Seattle, Amazon is gobbling up as much office space as it can, and now that includes the top six floors of the Macy’s building downtown. [More]
Romano’s Macaroni Grill Files For Bankruptcy
By 10.18.17
The long list of restaurant chains filing for bankruptcy amid slower sales added another name today: Romano’s Macaroni Grill. [More]
Recalled IKEA Dresser Linked To Another Child’s Death
By 10.18.17 — Updated: 10.19.17
More than a year after IKEA and the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the recall of about 29 million topple-prone Malm and other style dressers, another child’s death has been linked to the dangerous furniture. [More]
Home Depot Replaces Family’s Stolen Halloween Decorations
By 10.18.17
For the past several weeks, families across the country have been decorating their homes in preparation for the upcoming Halloween holiday. One New Mexico family found all that hard work destroyed recently when ne’er-do-wells stole their trimmings. But to their surprise an unlikely hero emerged to save the day… er, holiday. [More]
Kohl’s Launches Amazon Mini-Stores, Return Counters
By 10.18.17
Amazon wants a bigger retail presence in physical stores and for its customers to have an easier time returning things, and Kohl’s wants to shrink its physical stores and rent out some extra space. That sounds like a match, which is probably why Kohl’s and Amazon have teamed up to open their first 10 “Amazon Experience” mini-stores and return counters in Kohl’s stores in Los Angeles and Chicago this week. [More]
Amazon Sells Big Landlords On Package Hubs For Apartment-Dwellers
By 10.17.17
Online retail is very attractive to apartment-dwelling urbanites who may not have a car and whose nearby stores probably charge higher prices than the malls out in the suburbs. But this customer base has always posed a problem for Amazon and its ilk: Where do you leave the packages? [More]
Sears’ Former Second-Largest Shareholder Resigns From Board
By 10.17.17
When you own more than 25% of Sears, it gets you a seat on the retailers’ board of directors and gives you the opportunity to help steer the company in the right direction. So what does it say about Sears Holdings that its former second-largest investor has decided to liquidate the mutual fund that includes Sears, and vacate its seat at the table? [More]
Why Did This Store Falsely Claim There Was A $10 Fee For Apple Pay Or Samsung Pay?
By 10.17.17
In spite of what this sign at an Indiana retailer said, there is no $10 surcharge for using mobile payment apps like Apple Pay or Samsung Pay to make a purchase. But the fact that someone at this store believed this to be the case is a good example of how myths and misinformation can affect consumers. [More]
McDonald’s Suggests Putting Your Phone In A Locker Rather Than Talking Through Meal
By 10.17.17
Walk into just about any restaurant — it doesn’t matter the price or quality of food — and you’ll see many diners constantly fidgeting with their phones, if not ignoring their table mates altogether while they tap away on their screens. McDonald’s may be the last place on Earth you’d expect to care about this decrease in human interaction, but some Golden Arches franchises are trying to get customers talking to each other again. [More]
Most Philadelphia Stores Claim Double-Digit Sales Declines Due To Soda Tax
By 10.17.17
With the Chicago-area soda tax falling apart after only a few months, could the same soon happen to a similar sweetened beverage tax in Philadelphia? A new survey from the city’s Controller claims that the majority of retail businesses in the city have been harmed by the tax. [More]
After Closing 100 Locations, Ruby Tuesday Is Going Private In $146M Deal
By 10.16.17
Earlier this year, Ruby Tuesday revealed that it was exploring strategic alternatives — corporate speak for a sale — after experiencing continued declining sales and closing nearly 100 underperforming stores. Now, the company has settled on its alternative, a $146 million sale to private equity firm NRD Capital. [More]
Supreme Court Will Decide If American Express Can Stop Stores From Encouraging Customers To Use Less-Expensive Cards
By 10.16.17
If you have multiple credit cards in your wallet, you probably decide which one to use based on factors like each card’s interest rate, current balance, and rewards programs. Merchants want to make that choice easier by offering discounts or other incentives for using cards that cost the retailer less to process, but American Express forbids its merchants from offering such deals, but it will soon be up to the Supreme Court to decide whether or not that’s legal. [More]
Pizza Hut Alerts Customers Of Possible Theft Of Credit Card & Other Info
By 10.16.17
Tens of thousands of Pizza Hut customers received something unexpected this weekend. No, not a pizza, but notice that their credit card information may have been impacted during a security breach at the pizza company… two weeks ago. [More]
Amazon Reportedly Working With Vendors To Create Its Own Sportswear Line
By 10.16.17
Following a report earlier this year that Amazon was perhaps working on launching its own line of workout apparel, it sounds like Amazon is making more moves toward peddling sportswear: A new report says the company is talking to vendors and suppliers that make workout gear for some of the most popular brands. [More]
