Sometimes taking your concerns with a company to the top level really does get the job done. Case in point: a Maryland man shared his disappointment that a local Macy’s didn’t equip the men’s bathroom with changing tables to the retailer’s CEO. One week later, the store’s bathrooms were renovated.
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Letter To Macy’s CEO Gets Changing Tables Installed In Men’s Restrooms
By 12.30.15
Icahn Reportedly Wins Pep Boys Bidding Battle For $1B; Bridgestone Leaves Race
By 12.30.15
And just like that, it appears the auto parts retailer love triangle has ended: Bridgestone, the one-time preferred suitor of Pep Boy, reportedly bowed out of the months-long bidding war with Icahn Enterprises. [More]
Someone Pranked Maine Residents With Sign Promising New IKEA Store That Will Never Open
By 12.29.15
While there are plenty of people interested in spreading cheer and goodwill during the holiday season, there are also those intent on making a lot of folks really, really sad. Such was the case in Portland, ME, where a prankster duped passers-by into believing that an empty lot would soon be the site of a new IKEA store. [More]
Hoverboard Catches Fire At Texas Mall, Federal Safety Officials Record 22 Explosions In 17 States
By 12.29.15
Even as the holidays wind down, so-called “hoverboards” continue to be a hot ticket at retailers and shopping malls around the country. One such busy mall happened to be in Texas where a self-balancing scooter caught fire, marking it just one of dozens of fires reported to federal safety officials in recent months. [More]
Auto Parts Retailer Love Triangle Reaches $1B With Icahn Once Again Topping Bridgestone In Bid For Pep Boys
By 12.29.15
The auto parts retailer love triangle continues to take new twists and turns as the year comes to an end, with Icahn Enterprises once again upping the ante – to the tune of $1 billion – in its bid to steal Pep Boys away from suitor Bridgestone. [More]
Yet Another “Hoverboard” Catches Fire While Charging, Singes Carpet In New Jersey Home
By 12.28.15
As expected, so-called “hoverboards” – that don’t actually hover at all – were a hot commodity under the Christmas tree. But for one New Jersey family, the holiday gift quickly turned from exciting new device to dangerous fire-starter after it burst into flames while charging. [More]
Target Jumps On Gift Card Exchange Bandwagon; Offers Customers Less Than Cards Are Worth
By 12.28.15
With the bulk of the holiday celebrations having come and gone, you might be sitting around the dried-out Christmas tree counting up all those random gift cards you received. While you appreciate the generosity of your friends and family, you just don’t have any desire to make a purchase with said cards. To that end, a number of retailers are willing to offer you a trade; joining the ranks of Walmart, GameStop, and Coinstar this year is Target. [More]
Report: Target Is Considering Its Own Mobile Wallet App
By 12.18.15
It seems everywhere you turn these days, another company is offering a new way to pay with a smartphone: there’s Apple Pay, Android Pay, Samsung Pay, as well as Walmart’s newly announced mobile payment system, and now Target might be hopping on the bandwagon with its own mobile wallet. Any bets on whether it’ll be called “Target Pay”? [More]
CPSC Intensifies Investigation Into Exploding “Hoverboards,” USPS Restricts Shipments
By 12.17.15
One of the holiday’s hottest gifts has gotten a bit too hot, literally. Following claims that so-called “hoverboard” scooters have caught fire while charging, retailers have pulled the popular devices to ensure they’re safe. In the meantime, the country’s top product safety regulator says his agency is working “non-stop” to find the root cause for the fire hazards linked to the self-balancing scooters. [More]
More “Layaway Angels” Pay For $306K In Gifts At Four Walmart Stores
By 12.16.15
Just hours after “Santa B.,” a so-called layaway angel, shelled out $79,000 to pay for toys and other gifts at a Pennsylvania Walmart, another generous person was paying off $106,000 in balances on layaway orders at two Walmart stores just a state away in Ohio. [More]
‘Tis The Season: Secret ‘Santa B’ Pays For $79K In Layaway Gifts At Pennsylvania Walmart
By 12.15.15
Each year, so-called “layaway angels” visit retailers covering the remaining balances of orders that strangers had planned to pay for over time. This year is no different, as one generous person shelled out $79,000 to pay for toys and other gifts on layaway at a Pennsylvania Walmart. [More]
Kohl’s To Stay Open 170 Hours Straight For Last-Minute Holiday Shoppers
By 12.15.15
Kohl’s once again wants to make sure you’re able to mark every last item off your holiday shopping list by keeping most of its stores open for more than seven straight days leading up to Christmas. [More]
Men’s Wearhouse CEO Says He Knows How To Fix Jos. A. Bank
By 12.11.15
Men’s Wearhouse is about a year and a half into its ownership of Jos. A. Bank, and it’s safe to say things aren’t going so well: after layoffs in March 2015, and ending three-for-one suit deals, sales are down, way down. But Men’s Wearhouse says it’s got a plan to turn things around, and isn’t giving up on the suit-slingers at Jos. A. Bank just yet. [More]
Pep Boys Concedes That Icahn’s Offer May Be “Superior” To Bridgestone, Will Explore The Deal Further
By 12.8.15
When Dollar General entered an unsolicited billion dollar bid for Family Dollar last year, the smaller company said thanks but no thanks. The latest merger-love triangle appears to be taking a different path: auto parts retailer Pep Boys seems to be mulling the idea of ditching its already agreed upon deal with Bridgestone in favor of more money from Auto Plus owner Icahn Enterprises. [More]
Auto Parts Love Triangle: Icahn Offers $837M For Pep Boys, One-Upping Bridgestone’s $835M Bid
By 12.7.15
Love triangles are generally a plot device used in movies and television shows to keep viewers’ eyes glued to the screen, screaming for their preferred suitor to win out. Recently, though, the messy affairs have infiltrated the mergers and acquisitions realm with the months-long dollar store war – Dollar General and Dollar Tree fighting over Family Dollar. Today, that trend continued with the company behind Auto Plus offering to buy the already betrothed Pep Boys retail operations out from under Bridgestone. [More]
Long Live Inflight Shopping: United Airlines Brings Back SkyMall For A Limited Time
By 12.7.15
There has been an inflatable movie screen-sized hole in our hearts ever since SkyMall announced in January that it had filed for bankruptcy protection, essentially ending 25 years of inflight shopping entertainment. But that void for all things you-never-knew-you-needed-until-you-had-nothing-better-to-do-than-flip-through-the-pages-of-the-kooky-retail-magazine will soon be full: SkyMall will once again by flying high on United Airlines. [More]
Toys ‘R’ Us Closing 110,000-Square-Foot NYC Flagship Store At End Of The Year
By 12.2.15
This will be the last holiday shopping season for the Toys ‘R’ Us flagship location in Manhattan, as the retailer plans to leave its 110,000-square-foot mega-store at the end of the month. [More]
Target Agrees To Pay Banks $39.4M For Expenses Resulting From 2013 Data Breach
By 12.2.15
Target continues to put the disastrous 2013 holiday-season data breach behind it, agreeing today to pay $39.4 million to banks claiming they lost money during the hack. [More]
