After decades of being the face of online-only retail, Amazon is increasingly inching into the bricks-and-mortar world: pop-up stores; planned supermarkets without checkouts; a reported interest in buying Whole Foods — and now the possible acquisition of BJ’s Wholesale Club. [More]
Retail Services
College Professor Says Walmart Called Him A Toilet Cleaner On Fishing License
By 4.17.17
A college professor in Montana is accusing Walmart of libel, after he says the store deliberately listed his profession as “CLEAN TOILETS” on a state-issued fishing license. [More]
Rue21 Closing 400 Stores, Focusing On Online Sales
By 4.17.17
Teen retailer Rue21, which has been the subject of recent bankruptcy rumors, has decided to shutter 400 stores and put more of its attention to online sales. [More]
Bad News For Neiman Marcus: Rich People Are Bargain-Hunting Online, Using Purses For Multiple Years
By 4.17.17
Why is the high-end department store Neiman Marcus reportedly restructuring its debt and maybe even seeking a buyer? It turns out that catering to very rich people isn’t a guaranteed way to keep money coming in, since even rich people are turning to online bargain-hunting. [More]
Walmart Looks To Improve Its Wardrobe With Possible Purchase Of Men’s Retailer Bonobos
By 4.17.17
You know that part of every “ugly duckling” movie where the protagonist goes through a head-to-toe makeover in a matter of minutes? That describes the last four months for Walmart, which has revamped its wardrobe with the purchases of ShoeBuy, ModCloth, and even MooseJaw. And it’s apparently not done with apparel, with a possible purchase of online men’s retailer Bonobos in the offing. [More]
Retail Continues To Suffer As Sales Decline For Second Month In A Row
By 4.14.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
For the first time in nearly two years, retail sales declined two months in a row, highlighting once again the current challenges facing a retail industry that has suffered a number of bankruptcies and store closures so far in 2017. [More]
McDonald’s Manager Arrested For Refunding $3,800 Worth Of Big Macs … To Herself
By 4.14.17
Each day, fast food managers around the world refund money to unhappy customers, but one burger-brained McDonald’s manager realized she could issue a fake refund for a Big Mac and pocket the money… Then she did it nearly 1,100 times. [More]
Reminder: Liquidation Sales Offer Terrible Deals, Bad Return Policies
By 4.14.17
They draw you in with brightly colored signs at street corners, promising discounts of “up to” some very promising number. A record number of retail bankruptcies and store closings mean that there have been a record number of store closing sales so far this year. Yet if you’re looking for actual deals, you should stay away from liquidation and store closing sales. Here’s why. [More]
JCPenney Postpones Store Closings Because People Are Shopping There Again
By 4.13.17
Two months after JCPenney announced it would shutter 138 stores across the country amid falling sales, the company says it is delaying those closings as customers have apparently started shopping with the retailer again. [More]
Walmart Greeter Says He Was Fired After Turkey Wandered Into Store
By 4.13.17
Have you heard the one about the turkey that wandered into a Wisconsin Walmart? Oh, it’s not a joke, it really happened last month, and now the greeter for the store says he’s been fired over the incident. [More]
Viking Range To Pay $4.65M To Resolve Allegations It Didn’t Properly Report Defect
By 4.13.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Two years ago, Viking Range recalled 52,000 oven ranges that were somehow able to turn themselves on. Now the company behind the ranges has agreed to pay $4.65 million to resolve allegations it failed to properly report the issue to federal regulators in a timely manner. [More]
Target Recalls 560,000 “Hatch & Grow” Easter Toys Over Ingestion Hazard
By 4.13.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
If you bought a Hatch & Grow Easter egg or Dino toy from Target for your child’s basket this weekend, you might want to make alternative plans: Target has recalled 560,000 of the toys as they pose an ingestion hazard that can only be remedied with surgery. [More]
Anova Ticks Off Customers By Requiring Accounts To Cook Food Using The App
By 4.12.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Being able to control devices in your kitchen via your phone is convenient, at least that was the case for owners of the Anova Precision Cooker. But many of those consumers say a recent update to the sous vide cooker’s app requires them to create an account and share personal information with the company in order to use all of the features of the device. [More]
Amazon Was Thinking About Buying Whole Foods: No, Really.
By 4.12.17
What do you get when you combine a flailing health food chain and an e-commerce giant that’s desperate to get into the grocery business? We could have found out, since Amazon was reportedly thinking about buying Whole Foods. [More]
Toymakers Want A Piece Of Your Kid’s Easter Basket
By 4.12.17
Who says Easter baskets are only supposed to contain chocolate bunnies and and sugar-encrusted marshmallow bunny-like things? The toy industry is actively pushing for parents to include dolls and games in with all the sweet stuff — and parents are apparently listening. [More]
McDonald’s Tries To Poach Sonic Fans With New Minute Maid ‘Slushies’
By 4.12.17
McDonald’s is coming for you Sonic, or at least that appears to be the case with the fast food giant’s latest menu addition: slushies. [More]
You Might Be Shopping At An H&M Store And Not Even Know It
By 4.12.17
Just like you might not know that your ranch dressing, lip balm, and drain cleaner are all owned by the same company, you could soon be buying clothes from multiple stores, all owned by fast fashion mega-retailer H&M. [More]
146,000 Garbage Disposals Recalled Over Flying Metal Pieces
By 4.12.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
If you’ve got a garbage disposal in your kitchen, you’ll probably want to check it against this list of disposals — from brands like Kenmore, Moen, and Frigidaire — that have been recalled over concerns that they may send metal pieces flying out of your sink. [More]
