While the trend of not opening on Thanksgiving Day and making sure everyone knows it spreads across the retailscape, some stores are sticking with the previous trend of opening on the holiday. One example: Macy’s, which apparently has been so successful with the practice that it’s reportedly moving its Thanksgiving Day opening time back an hour, to 5 PM. [More]
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Indiegogo And Brookstone To Team Up To Make Even More Cool, Useless Gadgets
By 11.16.15
In decades past, if you wanted to find gadgets that solve problems you never realized existed until just now, you had to leave your house and go to a Brookstone store, or send away for a catalog. Today, you can surf gadgets that are so fresh that they don’t really exist yet on crowdfunding sites, and Brookstone is teaming up with crowdfunding platform Indiegogo to give inventors logistical support, and perhaps improve Brookstone’s pipeline of fresh new ideas. [More]
Report: Amazon Wants To Buy Some RadioShack Stores, Too
By 2.3.15
RadioShack built its brand by creating a vast nationwide network of stores across the country: they still have 4,300 of them, which has been a significant burden for the company as it has struggled to stay relevant and make money. As the Shack prepares to declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy, those stores are a tempting asset for other retailers looking to expand their retail footprints, like mobile carrier Sprint…and now Amazon. [More]
Match Made In Mall Heaven: Spencer May Be Buying Brookstone
By 3.27.14
Earlier this year, we told you about the questionable future of mall mainstay Brookstone, which has been mulling over the need to file for bankruptcy protection in order to keep selling massage chairs and gadgets that break a week after you buy them. That fate still looms for Brookstone, but its salvation may ultimately come from another mall mainstay that gives me flashbacks to endless hours spent perusing Iron Maiden posters and flipping through the pages of Truly Tasteless Jokes books. [More]
Mall Mainstay Brookstone May Go Bankrupt Because You’re Not Buying Enough Massage Chairs & iPod Robots
By 2.13.14
Brookstone, better known as the store in the mall where you try out all those cool gadgets and massage chairs you’ll never buy, is reportedly considering filing for bankruptcy protection, but don’t expect any awesome liquidation sales in the foreseeable future. [More]
The Point Of A Monogrammed Bathrobe Is That Someone Has To Monogram It
By 12.23.11
The point of ordering a monogrammed bathrobe for someone as a gift is that you want to give a monogrammed bathrobe as a gift. Jennifer planned to give such a gift this Christmas, and ordered the robe from Brookstone at the beginning of the month. It arrived without the monogram, and thus without the point. The best Brookstone has been able to offer her is a $20 gift card. She is not pleased. [More]
Brookstone Replaces Broken Electronic Thingy, Delights Skeptical Customer
By 2.14.10
Reader Deejmer had a lovely experience at Brookstone that he couldn’t help but share. He writes that he received a wireless speaker as a gift and grew to love it. When the device died, he couldn’t produce the receipt, but his local store was happy to exchange it out for him. Yay! [More]
Brookstone Clerk Tries To Sneak Warranty Into Sale
By 4.16.09
Clearly Brookstone doesn’t spend enough time training its employees to be dishonest, because this airport Brookstone clerk did a terrible job at trying to sneak a $4 warranty onto Nadav’s father’s purchase. She even admitted to the act when confronted.
Which Store Has The Worst Return Policy?
By 10.12.08
As part of their multi-pronged effort to fight the financial Godzilla besieging the world economy, the European Commission today proposed a 14-day no-questions-asked return period for any online purchases made within the European Union. The “two-week cooling-off period” is designed to give consumers a chance to shop across borders for the best prices without worrying about return policies. The practically adorable European decision to respond to a financial crisis with consumer protections made us want to look inwards at some of the onerous return policies Americans face.
