Online shoppers might joke that their habit only hurts their wallets, but it turns out, it could actually be hurting someone else: The number of mail carriers attacked by dogs is the highest it’s been in three decades. [More]
Retail Services
Man Locked Overnight In CVS Won’t Be Charged For Helping Himself To Snacks
By 4.6.17
If you found yourself inadvertently locked inside a CVS overnight, you could try out a bunch of cosmetics, wrap yourself in bandages and play “mummy,” or — like one Michigan man — help yourself to some food from the snack aisle. [More]
Jewelry Store Worker Ordered To Pay $34.5K For Posting Fake Yelp Review Of Rival
By 4.6.17
While it might be tempting to trash a competing business online, faking a Yelp review can be costly, as one Massachusetts jewelry store employee recently found out. [More]
Sunoco Sells 1,110 Convenience Stores To 7-Eleven
By 4.6.17
It’s a perfect corporate match: Sunoco wants to focus on fuel and get out of the convenience store business, while 7-Eleven’s parent company wants to expand in the United States. In a $3.3 billion deal, Sunoco will hand over 1,110 stores, and 7-Eleven will buy fuel for them from Sunoco for the next 15 years. [More]
Rue21 May Be Next Retailer To File For Bankruptcy
By 4.6.17
The retail wheel of misfortune has been particularly unkind to teen-targeted shops that occupy many of the nation’s malls and shopping centers. WetSeal, Aeropostale, Pacific Sun, and Quicksilver have all recently filed for bankruptcy, and a new report says Rue21 may be the next to fall. [More]
Taco Bell Continues Assault On Definition Of ‘Taco,’ Now Using Fried Egg As Shell
By 4.6.17 — Updated: 4.7.17
Taco Bell’s apparent longterm goal of proving that any item in your pantry can be turned into a taco shell continues. After folding Doritos, waffles, biscuits, croissants, and fried chicken into shell-like shapes, the fast food chain is now bending the definition of “taco” by putting some stuff inside a fried egg and calling it a Naked Breakfast Taco. [More]
Here’s The List Of Payless Stores That Will Be Closing
By and 4.5.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Now that Payless has filed for bankruptcy, the shoe chain will be closing the doors of 400 stores around the country. To help shoppers deal with the shutdowns, Payless has provided a list of not only which stores are closing but where shoppers can find stores nearby that will remain open. [More]
Why Are So Few People Using Apple Pay?
By 4.5.17
Shortly after Apple Pay launched a study found that people try the payment service once, but don’t continue using it. Two years later, Apple still hasn’t convinced a large majority of iPhone users to pay with their device instead of what’s in their wallet. [More]
Panera Sold To Owner Of Krispy Kreme, Peet’s & Caribou For $7.5 Billion
By 4.5.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Payless Files For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, Will Close 400 Stores
By 4.4.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
It seems like every mall has at least one Payless ShoeSource, but the chain is about to become a little less ubiquitous: It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy today, as expected, and announced plans to close 400 of its 4,000 stores. [More]
Dollar Express Chain Sells Out To Competitor Dollar General After 1.5 Years
By 4.4.17
Remember back in 2014, when two different retailers fought for the affections of Family Dollar? Dollar Express, the new retail chain born because federal regulators required the chains to sell off stores to preserve competition, has been acquired by competitor Dollar General. [More]
Amazon Stops Fight With Feds Over Kids’ In-App Purchases; Parents May Finally Get Refunds
By 4.4.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Almost a year after Amazon was found liable for unfairly billing parents for kids’ in-app purchases, consumers are one step closer to getting refunds for those unauthorized charges after the Federal Trade Commission and the e-commerce giant decided to stop fighting over the process. [More]
Gillette Lowers Prices By 20%, Hopes Customers Come Back
By 4.4.17
The razor brand Gillette wants its market share back. The company, part of the Procter & Gamble consumer goods conglomerate, isn’t fighting years of falling sales by adding blades and features to its razors for once. It’s cutting prices by as much as 20%. [More]
Staples Looking For A New Owner After Failure Of Office Depot Merger
By 4.4.17
Nearly a year after the Staples-Office Depot lovefest ended in a broken engagement following federal regulators’ anti-trust lawsuit, Staples is ready to move on, apparently with a private equity firm. [More]
Ben & Jerry’s Is Giving Away Free Ice Cream Today
By 4.4.17
If you missed free cone day at Dairy Queen last month, don’t fret, you still have time to score a free scoop from Ben & Jerry’s today. [More]
Ralph Lauren Closing Flagship Polo Store, Cutting Jobs To Save Money
By 4.4.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
In Ralph Lauren’s latest effort to save some cash amid slumping sales and better compete with fast fashion, the company says it will be closing some stores — including its flagship Polo location in New York City — cutting jobs, and restructuring its e-commerce operations. [More]
Recalled Products From IKEA, McDonald’s Made 2016 A Bad Year For Injured Children
By 4.4.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
There was no shortage of massive, wide-reaching recalls that affected children in 2016: the 29 million top-heavy IKEA dressers that could tip over, McDonald’s 29 million Happy Meal fitness trackers that caused rashes and burns, and three million Tommee Tippee’s spill proof cups that grew mold. Each of these campaigns — and many others — contributed to the largest increase in recalls, injuries, and incidents involving children’s products in nearly a decade. [More]
