Four months after Apple launched an investigation into the alleged fire of an iPhone 7 device in Australia, the tech giant is opening a similar inquiry stateside after video posted this week shows an Arizona teen’s iPhone 7 Plus smoldering in its case. [More]
Retail Services
The New American Apparel Brand Will Include Clothing Not Actually Made In America
By 2.24.17
Like a phoenix made of bodysuits and brightly colored leg warmers*, American Apparel will rise from the ashes of its second bankruptcy, reformed as a brand with new Canadian owners who say they will make some American Apparel outside of America. [More]
Sears Lays Off 130 Corporate Employees, Still Hoping To Escape Death Spiral
By 2.23.17
Sears Holdings, the parent company of Sears and Kmart, had a pretty bad year in 2016. The duo of once-mighty retailers is now locked in a death spiral, selling its real estate, its own iconic brands, and closing stores to stay afloat. And now Sears Holdings is laying off 130 corporate employees. [More]
Senators Pitch Last-Minute Attempt To Exempt Pizza Places From New Menu Labeling Law
By 2.23.17
On May 5, 2017, new federal regulations finalized three years ago will go into effect that require chain restaurants with 20 or more outlets to post calorie counts on their menus, as well as on food items sold in vending machines and snack bars. Before that happens, lawmakers in the Senate have introduced a bill to make a few revisions. What would those revisions mean for consumers faced with making mealtime decisions? [More]
Flu Spreads, Leaves Small Workplaces Short-Handed
By 2.23.17
If your favorite small store or other small business is short-handed this winter, you might have to blame a worse-than-average flu season. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, flu cases nationwide and in 35 out of 50 states are moderate to high, and absences are hitting businesses hard. [More]
Taco Bell Ditching Naked Chicken Chalupa In March
By 2.23.17 — Updated: 2.24.17
Taco Bell dropped its fried chicken shell Chalupa on customers nationally less than a month ago and the fast food giant is already preparing to remove the Naked Chicken Chalupa from its menu in March. [More]
The Right To Zombify The Limited Sells For $26.8M
By 2.22.17
The Limited closed its retail stores and its online presence earlier this year, but don’t worry: A well-known brand never stays dead for long. Sycamore Partners, a private equity firm that owns other familiar, once-troubled retail brands like Belk, Coldwater Creek, Hot Topic, Jones New York, Talbots, and Torrid, purchased the brand’s intellectual property and online presence. [More]
Buying Up Dying Malls Can Be A Viable Business
By 2.22.17 — Updated: 2.27.17
We hear so often about the fading of brick-and-mortar retail that it might seem hard to believe that there are companies out there in the market to buy more malls. Yet there are buyers for distressed malls, even when the owners are about to walk away. There are companies that specialize in this kind of thing, and they aren’t tearing them all down or turning them into apartments. [More]
Adidas Accuses Puma Of Swiping Its Stripes For New Soccer Cleats
By 2.22.17
Perhaps more than any other piece of apparel, sneaker brands are often closely associated with their well-known logos. Nike’s got the swoosh, Adidas has its three stripes, and Puma has, well… a puma. However, Adidas now claims that Puma’s latest soccer cleats cross the trademark infringement line by allegedly copying the Adidas stripes. [More]
HomeGoods Parent Company Opening New Home Goods Store That Won’t Be Called HomeGoods
By 2.22.17
TJX Companies — better known as the parent company of TJMaxx and Marshall’s — already has a well-known furnishings and decor store called HomeGoods, but the company apparently believes there’s room for a new, entirely separate set of stores that also sell stuff you might want for your home. [More]
One Closing Macy’s Is Selling Off Its Terrifying Animatronic Holiday Decorations
By 2.22.17
Has your home been missing something, but you just can’t put your finger on it? Would a giant, animatronic elf, a pair of ballet dancers, or donkeys do the trick? If so, then Macy’s has a deal for you: The struggling retailer is selling seasonal displays that were once used at its soon-to-be-closed downtown Minneapolis store. [More]
West Elm Will Offer Refunds To Owners Of Defective “Peggy” Furniture
By 2.22.17
Last week, West Elm’s “Peggy” couch leapt out of the pages of mid-price furniture catalogs and into the realm of viral cyber-stardom when unhappy Peggy owners realized they were far from alone in having a couch that seemed to start falling apart the day they first sat on it. Now West Elm tells Consumerist that refunds will be sent out to folks who purchased a defective Peggy. [More]
Keurig To Pay $5.8M Over Failure To Report Defective Coffee Brewers
By 2.22.17
Under federal law, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers are required to immediately report information regarding possible safety defects to the Consumer Product Safety Commission within 24 hours of obtaining reasonable supporting evidence. Keurig allegedly didn’t follow that rule when it came to the Dec. 2014 recall of 7 million MINI Plus Brewing Systems, and now the company must pay $5.8 million. [More]
Survey: People Don’t Really Want Fancy Technology To Help Them Shop
By 2.22.17
While retailers are falling all over themselves trying to incorporate the latest and greatest retail technology — anything from smart mirrors in fitting rooms to robots that answer questions you’d ask store employees — frankly, shoppers just don’t seem to give a damn. [More]
McDonald’s Dropping Price On Sodas & McCafe Drinks In Effort To Lure In Customers
By 2.22.17
Your McDonald’s bill is about to get a bit cheaper, that is if you’re just purchasing beverages: The Golden Arches will reduce the cost of soda and coffee items starting in April. [More]
SodaStream Recalls 51K Bottles That Could Explode Under Pressure
By 2.22.17
When making a carbonated beverage at home you might expect there to be a little bit of pressure during the process, but probably not enough to make a bottle explode. Yet that’s what tens of thousands of recently recalled SodaStream bottles could do. [More]
Sears Tries Combining DieHard Brand With Auto Centers
By 2.21.17
Last year, Sears Holdings announced that it would begin looking for new ways to extract money from its best-known store brands: Kenmore, Craftsman, and DieHard. So far, its efforts have included Kenmore televisions, DieHard tires, and selling the entire Craftsman brand. Now it’s lending the DieHard name to a new version of its Auto Center. [More]
