Typically, it’s less expensive to purchase a bundle of fast food items than individual items to make a meal. Or at least that’s the thought behind value meals, hence the word “value.” But one Chicago man says that’s just not the case at several restaurants in the city, and now he’s suing the franchisee that runs them.
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Retail Services
Class-Action Lawsuit Claims Chicago McDonald’s Value Meals Aren’t A Value
By 12.20.16
Rite-Aid Selling 865 Stores To Fred’s For $950 Million
By 12.20.16
What to do, what to do, when you’re merging and want to be the biggest without being too big? Divest, of course. And that’s where Rite-Aid finds itself today: in order to sell itself to Walgreens and allow their onetime-competitor to become the biggest drugstore chain in the country, it’s ready to shed several hundred stores to build a new third-place competitor. [More]
Six Major Retailers Agree To End On-Call Scheduling Amid Multi-State Probe
By 12.20.16
Aeropostale, PacSun, and Walt Disney Co. are among six major retailers who have announced they will stop using on-call scheduling in their U.S. stores. [More]
American Apparel To Liquidate Nine Stores Ahead Of January Auction
By 12.20.16
Two weeks after American Apparel confirmed it could lay off 3,500 workers as part of its second bankruptcy go-around in two years, the company received approval to liquidate nine stores by the end of the month. [More]
The Big List Of Consumer Reports Gift Guides
By 12.19.16 — Updated: 12.20.16
’Tis the season, when you’ve realized you have a long list of friends and loved ones to shop for, but absolutely zero ideas about what to get them. We can help. [More]
Where Does Santa Shop For Santa Garb? Not The North Pole
By 12.19.16
Whenever Santa Claus needs something, he either orders his elves to make it, or orders from Amazon. Yet Santa’s many helpers who toil in malls, parties, parades, and other photo opportunities don’t have a studio full of elf tailors on hand. They go online, because of course there are multiple online stores catering to aspiring Santas. [More]
Senator: Regulators Should Investigate E-Cigarette Explosions, Issue Recalls
By 12.19.16
Despite their popularity, e-cigarettes are a “ticking time bomb” that should be more closely investigated by federal regulators and recalled if necessary, according to New York Senator Chuck Schumer. [More]
New Lands’ End CEO Will Pack Suitcases, Move To Wisconsin
By 12.19.16
After less than two years with mismatched CEO Federica Marchionne in charge, Lands’ End gave the former high fashion executive the (sensible, waterproof) boot back in September. [More]
Pilots Warn Amazon Shoppers That Holiday Packages May Be Delayed
By 12.19.16
Although a federal judge recently granted a temporary restraining order keeping pilots who fly Amazon shipments from striking, the union that represents them isn’t giving up on airing the workers’ grievances, Instead, they’re taking the issue straight to consumers, warning that Amazon won’t be able to meet the holiday demand. [More]
Labor Group: High-Pressure Sales Goals Led T-Mobile Workers To Add Services Customers Didn’t Want
By 12.19.16
Selling consumers services they don’t need is nothing new; recent examples include Wells Fargo’s fake account fiasco and Office Depot’s computer virus scanning program. Now, a labor group has filed a complaint with federal regulators accusing wireless carrier T-Mobile of using similarly aggressive sales goals, driving employees to enroll users in services they don’t actually want or never asked for. [More]
Pharmacists Will Hand Over Drug Combinations That Could Kill You About Half The Time
By 12.19.16
Most chain pharmacies want you to feel safe ordering from them, and so their ads tout the skill, expertise, and personal touch of their tools and personnel. They promise available pharmacists who have computers who alert them to danger, and who can then tell you things like, “Hey, you shouldn’t take these together; it will kill you” if there’s a problem. [More]
Yet Another McDonald’s Location Offering Endless Fries
By 12.19.16
Nothing stirs the hearts and stomachs of the fast food-loving masses quite like all-you-can eat specials, especially when they involve endless French fries. Just in time for the holidays, one Missouri McDonald’s is offering customers the gift of unlimited fries. [More]
Video Shows UPS Worker Dumping Packages Over A Garden Wall
By 12.19.16
Where there’s a will, there’s a way, or so they say. But when it comes to overcoming a delivery obstacle, that way shouldn’t involve simply dumping packages marked “fragile” on the ground. [More]
Starbucks Devises Fruitcake Frappuccino, Mercifully Only Sells It For 4 Days
By 12.16.16 — Updated: 12.19.16
We are now living in a dystopian holiday hellscape, where every special holiday food short of fruitcake has been commodified into a limited-time offer at a fast food restaurant and/or a flavor of candy. Until now, when Starbucks has brought us the Fruitcake Frappuccino. [More]
Minnesota Cities Claim Walmart Is Using Local Police As Unpaid Security Guards
By 12.16.16
Across the country, local governments are speaking out about how their police departments are subsidizing security at their local Walmart stores, with officers dispatched there more often than competing discount and grocery stores. Now state legislators from two cities in Minnesota say that they’re working on possible solutions to the issue. [More]
Unhappy With A Gift? One Burger King Will Let You Trade It In For A Whopper
By 12.16.16
Sure, getting holiday presents can be fun and exciting… until you open that wrapping paper only to discover an ugly Christmas sweater three sizes too big for you, or the same book you got (and still haven’t read) last year. So Burger King has a suggestion: why not trade them in for a burger you may not want that much more, but won’t have to store anywhere? [More]
Walmart Adds Sweepstakes To Savings Program For Unbanked Customers
By 12.16.16
In other countries, prize-linked savings accounts are a popular vehicle used to encourage low-income people to build nest eggs. The premise is simple: saving money enters customers into a lottery, with relatively modest prizes. Since the accounts became legal in the U.S. in 2014, some banks have launched their own versions, and now Walmart and its prepaid debit cards are joining the party. [More]
Pizzas, Pot & Fields Of Gold: 7 Important Firsts In Online Retail History
By 12.16.16
How long have you been shopping online? People have been using electronic networks to buy and sell things for 40 years, and the first commercial transactions over the web took place over 20 years ago. Compared to bricks-and-mortar retail, where it took more than a century to evolve from catalogs, boutiques, and haberdasheries to big box stores, online retail has seen a significant amount of innovation in a very short amount of time. [More]
