The brilliant, absurd Walmart.horse might be gone, but its spirit lives on in the form of some Texas men who decided it was good day for a horse ride through their local Walmart. [More]
retail
Report Claims Amazon’s List Prices Mislead Shoppers About Discounts
By 3.20.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
One aspect of shopping on Amazon is that the online retail giant appears to offer significant discounts on many of the items it sells. However, a new report alleges that these markdowns not as generous as they appear, and that many of them are effectively nonexistent. [More]
Saks Fifth Avenue Customer Email Addresses Posted Publicly
By 3.20.17
The email addresses for thousands of Saks Fifth Avenue customers were sitting on the retailer’s website, unencrypted, for an unknown period of time. [More]
Report: Hudson’s Bay In Talks To Buy Neiman Marcus
By 3.14.17
A month after Saks Fifth Avenue and Gilt parent company Hudson’s Bay was reported to be sniffing around Macy’s, the high-end retail giant is now apparently moving on to more luxurious pastures, with news that it is considering a purchase of newly available Neiman Marcus. [More]
Whole Food Recalls Cheeses Linked To Two Listeria-Related Deaths
By 3.14.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Whole Foods has expanded a recent recall of Vulto Creamery cheese products potentially contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes after health officials linked two deaths and four illnesses to the cheese made from unpasteurized raw milk. [More]
Twitter Disapproves Of Your $95 Mom Jeans With Clear Plastic Knee Windows
By 3.13.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Have your kneecaps been Vitamin D deprived lately? Do you like the look of jeans with torn knees but also crave the knee sweat of plastic pants? Then we’ve got the fashion statement for you: High-waisted — literally “Mom jeans” — with clear plastic panels that make it look like your knees are on sale in a toy store. [More]
Gander Mountain Files For Bankruptcy, Plans To Close 32 Stores
By 3.13.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
The sporting goods retail apocalypse continues, and as predicted a month ago, the latest victim is Gander Mountain. The chain of hunting, fishing, and camping superstores, which does substantial business in firearms, filed for bankruptcy at the end of last week. The business will go up for auction, with company leaders hoping to close the sale by May 15. [More]
Gordmans Files For Bankruptcy, Will Liquidate
By 3.13.17 — Updated: 3.31.17
A week after reports suggested that midwest retailer Gordmans was preparing to file for bankruptcy, the off-price retailer has done so and revealed plans to liquidate assets. [More]
Regulators Investigating Hoverboard Fire That Killed 3-Year-Old Girl
By 3.13.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Nearly eight months after the Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled more than 500,000 “hoverboard” scooters from eight manufacturers over fire hazards posed by the devices’ lithium-ion battery backs, the agency has opened an investigation into a fire that killed a 3-year-old girl in Pennsylvania on Friday. [More]
Amazon Launches Spanish-Language Version Of U.S. Site
By 3.10.17
Amazon is no stranger to selling in multiple languages, with sites in more than a dozen countries, but until now the U.S. version Amazon has never included an option to make it more accessible to Spanish-speaking users. [More]
Kohl’s Appears To Break Own Policy By Not Refunding $1,500 Credit Card Overpayment
By 3.10.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
When you overpay your credit card, should you be able to get a refund? One Arizona family accidentally paid their Kohl’s credit card bill twice, but the retailer refused to refund their $1,500, even though Kohl’s policies and federal regulations require it. [More]
Chipotle Closing All 15 ShopHouse Asian Kitchen Locations
By 3.9.17
Five months after Chipotle said it would stop investing in the growth and development of its Asian-inspired ShopHouse Kitchen chain, the company announced plans to close all 15 locations, essentially abandoning the brand. [More]
Staples Still Doing Well After Failed Office Depot Merger; 70 North American Staples Stores To Close
By 3.9.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
While we consumers think of Staples as the brick-and-mortar retailer that we go to when we need a printer cartridge, that’s not how the company thinks of itself. After a disappointing quarter of sales while the company is still trying to get over the breakup of its engagement to Office Depot, its leaders told investors that they plan to focus on services, including delivery to offices and to homes. [More]
As Sales Sink, Urban Outfitters CEO Declares Retail “Bubble Has Burst”
By 3.8.17
The last few years haven’t exactly been great for long-time mall retailers, with chains like Wet Seal, BCBG, Aeropostale, and The Limited filing for bankruptcy, while Abercrombie & Fitch and Barnes & Noble struggle to remain relevant. Now that two additional mall mainstays — Express and Urban Outfitters — one CEO is saying that retailers have no one to blame but themselves. [More]
Walmart To Combat Amazon With In-Store Screens That Let You Buy Things Online
By 3.8.17
Because Amazon is shipping to customers from a vast network of warehouses around the country, shoppers are less likely to come across out-of-stock items. Walmart, conversely, is infamous for its empty shelves, but the retailer is testing a new program that would allow customers to immediately place an online order for an item that isn’t in stock. [More]
Report: RadioShack In The Process Of Closing Around 200 Stores
By 3.7.17
As rumors continue to swirl that RadioShack’s parent company is preparing to file for bankruptcy, a new report backs that up, and says that the chain is in the process of closing around 200 stores. From the response we’ve gotten from readers asking about the status of their local stores, we aren’t surprised. [More]
hhgregg Files For Bankruptcy, Already Has A Buyer Lined Up
By 3.7.17
In news that will come as a surprise to just about no one, hhgregg has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The appliance, electronics, and furniture retailer had previously announced it was, closing 40% of its stores, but it apparently concluded that the best strategy was a quick Chapter 11 and sale. [More]
Midwest Off-Price Retailer Gordmans May Be In Financial Trouble
By 3.7.17
So far this year, several national retailers have filed for bankruptcy and closed some, if not all, of their doors. But it’s not just mega chains like Kmart, Macy’s, and The Limited that are hurting, regional chains are also feeling the pressure. To that end: off-price department store chain Gordmans is reportedly preparing to file for bankruptcy. [More]
