Sometimes it’s just easier to bypass the hustle and bustle of the local mall and do all your holiday shopping from the comfort of your own home. One big problem with that: the sometimes costly shipping fees. Best Buy is hoping free shipping turns into more online sales this year. [More]
holidays
Staples Kicks Off Brown Thursday Announcements: Will Close On Thanksgiving
By 10.1.15
Over the last few years, a growing trend for retailers has been to open up on Thanksgiving Day, sometimes at an obscenely early hour. Maybe that isn’t working out so well for them after all: Staples, one retailer that has opened on Gray Thursday for the last few years, has decided to close up and let its workers spend the holiday at home. [More]
Macy’s Herald Square Welcomes The Start Of Fall By Putting Up Christmas Decorations
By 9.23.15
Twinkling lights have been hung on boughs of evergreen with care, sparkling ornaments are shining merrily in their Christmas trees and Santa’s sleigh waits, gleaming and ready, behind a velvet rope. All before the first official day of fall, at Macy’s Herald Square in New York City. [More]
What Inappropriate Or Perfect Mother’s Day Merchandising Have You Seen This Year?
By 5.5.15
Stores usually mean well. They just want us to expand the definition of what we think of as an appropriate gift for Mother’s Day. Instead of the traditional flowers, jewelry, and gift cards, they want us to consider buying our mothers a tablet computer. Or clothing. Or laundry detergent. Wait, laundry detergent? Isn’t giving your mother cleaning supplies completely against the point of the holiday? [More]
Americans Plan To Spend Slightly More On Moms This Year
By 4.28.15
Mother’s Day is our nation’s greatest guilt holiday: mothers brought us into the world, raised us, or even both, and we can at least buy them brunch and a handful of tulips, right? Of course! Stuff isn’t a proxy for love, but the National Retail Federation tells us that Americans plan to spend an average of $172.63 each on Mother’ Day festivities this year. [More]
Did Amazon’s Two-Day Shipping Suffer Over The Holidays? Survey Says Yes
By 2.11.15
One of the perks of paying $99/year to be an Amazon Prime member is the free two-day standard shipping on millions of items sold on the e-tailers’ site. But according to a new survey, being a Prime member didn’t always prove to be beneficial when it came to on-time deliveries last holiday season. [More]
26 Kids Who Decided Santa Claus Is Not To Be Tolerated, Proceed To Freak The Heck Out
By 12.25.14 — Updated: 12.5.16
We asked, and oh boy, did we receive: For our third annual installment of holiday-induced panic on a wee scale, you, our dear readers, submitted 26 photos of your children freaking the heck out upon meeting the man in red, one Santa Cornelius Claus. Does Santa have a middle name for real? We might never know, but what we do know is that before children come to love the guy, they often want nothing better than to be as far from that jolly fellow as possible. [More]
Black Bear Has Absolutely No Problem Knocking Santa Claus Out
By 12.18.14
Hide your snowmen, hide your reindeer and get Santa Claus somewhere safe: Mother Nature might not agree with your taste in lawn ornaments and as such, has zero problems whatsoever with totally mucking up your holiday display. [More]
Kmart Apologizes For Layaway Debacle, Says Some Cancellations Were “Inadvertent”
By 12.17.14
UPDATE: Sears Holding Company has now posted a new entry on its blog with instructions for customers affected by the layaway fiasco. [More]
Toys ‘R’ Us Will Stay Open For 39 Hours Straight Leading Up To Christmas Eve
By 12.16.14
It’s no 100-hour marathon like Kohl’s is holding this year leading up to Christmas, and it’s not the four straight days of staying open its stores have pulled in the past, but Toys “R” Us is extending its holiday hours for last-minute shoppers again this year. [More]
Another Layaway Angel Swoops In, Pays $50K Worth Of Bills At Pennsylvania Walmart
By 12.16.14
In a season where there can be Grinches around every corner and bah-humbuggers just waiting to get ya, it’s always fun to hear about those layaway angels who go around paying off other shoppers’ bills all in one fell swoop. We’ve landed a big one today, folks — someone’s just paid off $50,000 in layaway items in Pennsylvania. [More]
Today Is The Biggest Shipping Day Of The Year
By 12.15.14
Today is it: traditionally, December 15 is the highest-volume shipping and mailing day of the entire year. The U.S. Postal Service will process 640 million cards, letters, postcards, periodicals, catalogs, and packages today alone. FedEx is doing its part, processing 22.6 million packages today. UPS says that its busiest day will be next Monday, as people try to get last-minute Christmas gifts to their destinations. [More]
Tell Us About The Best Gift You’ve Ever Received
By 12.12.14
It was Christmas morning/eve. It was the best night of Hanukkah. There was that one gift, the thing you received from your mom/dad/sister/brother/spouse/whoever, that stood out from all the rest as the best thing you could have ever gotten. [More]
Couple Tired Of Holiday Package Thefts Fills Box With Excrement, Sets Up Camera
By 12.11.14
A warning to those among you who might be tempted to swipe a package from the piles covering doorsteps right now, at the height of the holiday shopping season: You might not open it to find anything you’ll like, and that includes a box filled with poop. [More]
Michigan Cops Playing Sneaky Santa Pull Over People To Give Them Gifts Instead Of Tickets
By 12.10.14
What’s the worst thing you can see in the rearview mirror? Police lights flashing as a cop tells you to pull over (that or an avalanche/tornado/mob of goblins chasing you). So for Michigan drivers who stopped for the long arm of the law realized they were getting a treat instead of a ticket from sneaky Santa police, Christmas came extra early. [More]
Scary Santa Strikes Again: Send Us Photos Of Your Kids Freaking Out With Costumed Mall Characters
By 12.9.14
Maybe you were kid-free in 2012, and last year your wee one was just a perfect angel when it came time to visit Santa Claus at the mall for that traditional photo opportunity. But if your kid freaked out at the sight of St. Nick or had a meltdown when faced with a costumed Frozen character, this year is gonna be yours. [More]
New Entrants For Santa’s “Naughty” List Emerge After Neighbor Catches Teens Stealing UPS Packages
By 12.8.14
Tis the season: While American shoppers have been buying presents for loved ones in a quest to secure a spot on Santa Claus’ “Nice” list, there’s also the “Naughty” side of the population, set on snatching those gifts like the patron saint of holiday swiping, the Grinch himself. [More]
Some Workers Step Up, Love Working On Thanksgiving
By 11.26.14
While many commentators (this site included) have complained about the ascent of Brown Thursday and how the shopping frenzy has gradually devoured the holiday once known as Thanksgiving, perhaps we’re being unfair. There are workers who enjoy spending Thanksgiving Day on the job, and who volunteer for duty. [More]
