When Sears chairman, Eddie Lampert, took over Kmart, he was determined to revive the long dead “blue light special.” Excited about bringing back the old favorite, Lampert’s chief marketing officer called the new campaign a “marketplace of discoveries.”
Retail Services
Morning Deals
By 4.7.08
Circuit City: SIRIUS One Satellite Radio Bundle for $4.99Woot: Kodak EasyShare Z1275 12MP/720p Digital Camera w/5x Optical Zoom for $99.99Walgreens: Free 1 hr film developing on Wednesday, April 9Highlights From DealhackOneCall: Polk Audio Monitor Speakers from $150/Pair ShippedTiger Direct: Lenovo…
Bear Stearns Bag Found At Knickknack Shop
By 4.4.08
I spotted a tote bag for Bear Stearns, the investment bank that recently nearly collapsed and JP Morgan Chase purchased, on sale outside a used goods store here in Brookyln. No doubt it was pawned off by one of the many recently liquidated Bear Stearns employees in the New York area (hey, that Tivo doesn’t pay for itself). I didn’t check the price tag, but it was probably more than $10, which is more than can be said for a share of Bear Stearns stock. Note the new Chase bank sign reflected into the store window.
Walmart Shoppers Feeling The Pain When Buying Groceries
By 4.4.08
Reuters wandered around a few Walmarts in Illinois and California and asked shoppers how they were feeling about the groceries they were buying:
By 4.4.08
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2,600 Motorola employees got an early termination notice today, bringing the total number of Motoworkers disemployed in the past 15 months to 10,000. [Chicago Tribune via DSLReports]
Round 17: Wal-Mart vs TJMaxx
By 4.4.08
This is Round 17 in our Worst Company in America contest, Wal-Mart vs TJMaxx.
Everyone has their own special reason for hating Wal-Mart. Forcing manufacturers to make shoddier versions of their products is pretty bad. Selling sandals that gave patrons feet chemical burns was pretty bad too. What’s yours?
TJMaxx’s lax wireless security lead to the theft millions upon millions of customer’s debit and credit card numbers being stolen, the greatest bank robbery in the history of the freakin’ world.
Need 30 mg? Walmart Charges You For Three 10 mg $4.00 Prescriptions
By 4.4.08
WalMart advertises that generic prescriptions are just $4.00 for up to a 30 day supply. What they don’t tell you is that it must be what they consider a “commonly prescribed dosage,” so if your doctor decides you need a different dosage they count it as separate prescriptions. For example, if a pill comes in 10mg, 20mg or 40mg strengths and your doctor wants you to take 30mgs. WalMart counts that as 3 – 10mg prescriptions and charges you $12.00 for a 30 day supply.
Morning Deals
By 4.4.08
Wal-Mart: Guitar Hero III with Wired Guitar Controller for Xbox 360 in-stock for $71.72Girl Scouts: Deals on official Brownie clothing, starting at $.99United Nations: Play a quick game to learn about malaria and send a free mosquito net to AfricaHighlights From DealhackBuy.com: Samsung 1080P…
Target Fires Security Guard For Stopping Shoplifter
By 4.4.08
Usually our shoplifter stories focus on being detained illegally or held at knifepoint by a rabid senior greeter who demands receipts*, but Target in Milwaukee toes the line when it comes to dealing with suspected theft. That’s why they fired a retired cop (warning: video) who stopped a teenager he saw stealing liquor for the second time in a month. He told her he’d seen her take rum a few weeks before and asked her what was in her bag this time. She showed him. He called her father. Target fired him because the store policy is that only certain managers can intercept shoplifters. We admire his attention to detail and desire to help, but we’re glad to see a Big Box retailer following its own policy.
Morning Deals
By 4.3.08
Highlights From Dealhack
Highlights From Bargainist
11 More Confessions Of A Circuit City Firedog Tech
By 4.3.08
Yet another valiant former Firedog writes in to share insider info that will help you successfully navigate the rough waters of big box computer repair. The most important takeaway—Don’t let them “preinstall” anything on your new computer. According to our tipster, it’s both expensive and pointless. Lots of good stuff inside.
Shopping Strategy Of Millionaires: Buy Used Or High Quality
By 4.2.08
Ordinarily I find “money tricks of millionaires” lists to be sort of annoying and unhelpful, but this one, found on the Dumb Little Man productivity blog, and based on a book called ‘The Millionaire Mind’ by Dr. Thomas J. Stanley, is an exception. It offers one bit of practical advice that I think everyone should at least consider.
At Sprint, Nothing's SIMple
By 4.2.08
Allison and her husband wanted to reduce the amount of minutes they’re signed up for on their Sprint-Nextel cellphone plan. While that was a hassle in of itself and Allison ended up getting a phone with another company, the fun really begins once “”Insert SIM” started flashing on her husband’s phone (which is on the Nextel network, which uses SIM cards). Sprint seemed convinced that the SIM card had been reported as lost or stolen and couldn’t be activated. This was very bad as it was her husband’s business line. What followed were a series of 45+ minute call time waits, disconnected customer service calls, fruitless visits to the store, conflicting and confusing information given by different customer service reps and tech support personnel. During the fracas, her husband lost one customer who hadn’t been able to reach him during the outage. Over 100 days into the reign of new Sprint CEO Dan Hesse and shennanigans like the following story are still happening. Oh Danny-boy, are one of the “nukes” you have planned for revamping Sprint aimed at customer service?
Costco Sells You A 60GB iPod In A 160GB Box, Apologizes, Gives Refund
By 4.2.08
This is a copy of a letter that I just sent to Costco, I X’d out the serial numbers
By 4.2.08
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Citibank’s online banking site was down all day yesterday for some readers. Some folks were told a server went down, others were told it was a system upgrade. The site is supposed to be back up today.
Morning Deals
By 4.2.08
Threadless: Some shirts for $5Backcountry.com: Up to 45% off The North Face itemsSouthwest Airlines: $29 one-way ticketsHighlights From DealhackKodak.com: Save 50% off All Kodak Photo InkJet PapersAmazon: Save up to 40% off Criterion Collection Movie DVDsEddie Bauer: Spring Clearance Sale: Save up…
Walmart Drops Lawsuit Against Brain Damaged Worker
By 4.1.08 — Updated: 10.25.12
The world’s largest retailer said Tuesday in a letter to the family of Deborah Shank it will not seek to collect money the Shanks won in an injury lawsuit against a trucking company for the accident.
