For years we’ve talked about “showrooming” — the practice of going to a bricks-and-mortar retailer just to look at a product you intend to buy online, and now Amazon has apparently supplanted traditional search engines as the place for most Americans to begin their product hunt.
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Majority Of Shoppers Using Amazon To Search For Products, Even If They Buy Elsewhere
By 9.27.16
New Jersey Walmart Wants You To Get Exercise By Parking Further Away
By 9.26.16
We’ve all been there: driving up and down the lanes of the local big box store’s parking lot seeking out the closest spot to the entrance. Now one Walmart store wants you to stop that, you know, in the name of being healthy. [More]
Aeropostale Increases Number Of Stores That Will Stay Open To 400
By 9.16.16
Earlier this week, a bankruptcy judge approved a $243 million bid from a group of mall landlords, liquidators, and a licensing company that would save 229 of Aeropostale’s 720 stores from closing their doors forever. Things are looking even better than expected now for the teen retailer, as its new owners say they’ll be able to keep open 171 more stores than originally planned. [More]
IKEA Betting Click-And-Collect Stores Will Appeal To Online Shoppers
By 9.13.16
If the thought of wandering through a giant maze of housewares and furniture and inevitably fighting with your significant other/roommate over which dish rack to buy strikes fear into the very depths of your online shopper’s soul, IKEA’s recent shift in strategy is aimed at attracting shoppers like you. [More]
Bankruptcy Judge Approves Sale Of Aeropostale That Could Keep 229 Stores Open
By 9.13.16
It looks like the bid Aeropostale received at the end of August that could end up saving at least 229 stores and 7,000 or so jobs is one step closer to the real thing for the struggling teen retailer, after a bankruptcy judge gave the offer his approval. [More]
Report: Amazon To Open 100 Pop-Up Stores In Next Year
By 9.9.16
Two years after Amazon opened two real-life seasonal pop-up stores in San Francisco and Sacramento, the company is reportedly working on a plan to open 100 more of the limited-run stores. [More]
Mattress Store Apologizes For Ad Parodying Twin Towers Falling On 9/11
By 9.9.16
A San Antonio mattress store is apologizing after posting a video on Facebook advertising a “Twin Towers Sale” that parodies the World Trade Center towers collapsing. [More]
11-Year-Old Finds Bag Of Meth Inside Video Game He Bought At GameStop
By 9.2.16
Unexpected freebies that come with a purchase are one thing, but bags filled with meth stashed in a video game case, well, that’s a case for law enforcement. [More]
Gap Shoppers Buying Online May Wait Longer For Orders After Warehouse Fire In NY
By 9.2.16
A rough year for Gap Inc and some of its brands — Gap, Old Navy, and Banana Republic — just got rougher: A fire that tore through a major distribution warehouse for the retailer earlier this week means that customers in a busy region are going to have to wait longer than usual to get their hands on the stuff they paid for. [More]
Even Loyal Costco Customers Aren’t Shopping Quite As Much
By 9.1.16
Costco members tend to be a fiercely loyal bunch. They love to sing the warehouse club’s praises and, most importantly, they love to shop there. But even Costco can’t buck the trend of physical stores finding customers are spending more time and money elsewhere these days, it seems. [More]
Walmart Starting Holiday Layaway Early Again So It Can Sell More ‘Star Wars’ Stuff
By 9.1.16
You want Star Wars merchandise this holiday season? Walmart has Star Wars stuff, which is the entire reason the retailer is kicking off its holiday layaway program a full two weeks early for the second year in a row. [More]
American Girl Dolls Will Soon Be Available At Toys ‘R’ Us Stores
By 8.31.16
When I was but a young Consumerist, the only way to get your hands on an American Girl doll — once parents had been successfully harangued into purchasing the pricey toy — was by mail order. Since then, Pleasant Company, now a subsidiary of Mattel, has 20 stores around the country dedicated to selling the dolls as well as a website. Times are changing yet again: starting next month, the dolls will also be available at Toys ‘R’ Us stores. [More]
Sears Bringing Paint Back To Store Shelves Nationwide
By 8.30.16
Now that home improvement materials are selling like hot cakes, Sears is hoping it can capitalize on the DIY trend by selling paint for the first time in four years. [More]
Abercrombie & Fitch Not Focused On Sexy Abs Now, Just Wants You To Be Your “Best Self”
By 8.30.16
We’ve come a long way from the days of glistening abs stretching across every Abercrombie & Fitch billboard and shopping bag, and “cool” executives who’d rather not deal with any uncool customers: as the company continues its campaign toward wholesomeness, the new focus is on making shoppers feel good about themselves. [More]
Video Claims To Show Price Discrepancies Of Up To 78% At L.A. Zara Store
By 8.30.16
Last week, a Zara customer filed a lawsuit against the company accusing it of misleading customers by posting some prices in euros and others in U.S. dollars, and of making up its own exchange rates to charge more for those items with price tags in dollars. The plaintiff’s lawyers now say they have even more proof of this pricing switcheroo. [More]
J. Crew & Nordstrom Enter Into Symbiotic Clothes-Selling Relationship
By 8.29.16 — Updated: 11.4.16
When you’re a clothing line that also has a retail store, you tend to keep your apparel to your own stores. But when you’re a clothing line that could use some new blood, you might make a deal with a retailer that is also in need of an image boost. [More]
Sears Trying New “Fashion-Forward” In-Store Concept
By 8.24.16
Sears may be closing stores faster than we can keep up, but the once-great retailer is apparently not ready to throw up its hands and give up. The department store chain has embarked on yet another tactic it hopes will finally be able to drum up some sales, righting the sinking ship. The plan this time? Showcase foreign apparel brands with a store-within-a-store concept.
Walmart, Home Depot Relying More On Physical Stores To Complete Online Orders
By 8.23.16
Walmart’s recent $3 billion acquisition of e-commerce company Jet.com may have been the retailer’s way of spurring its online business, but the largest retailer in the world has already been mingling its physical stores with its online presence. Much like fellow big box store, Home Depot, Walmart has increasingly used its vast network of stores to fulfill online purchases. [More]
