Retailers really love the concept of “Black Friday.” They love it so much that they’re trying to expand it in all directions. Instead of the day after Thanksgiving and the kickoff to the Christmas shopping season, Black Friday is now a year-round event that is an inclusive alternative to “Christmas in July.” Now it’s a spring event, too. [More]
retail
Sprint Opening For Business Inside 1,435 RadioShack Stores Today
By 4.10.15
Things move fast when you’re in the newlywed phase, and Sprint is no exception: Only a few weeks after Standard General acquired 1,740 RadioShack stores at a bankruptcy auction, Sprint will be opening stores inside 1,435 RadioShack locations today. Soon, those stores will bear new co-branded Sprint-RadioShack signage. [More]
Toys ‘R’ Us Can’t Beat Discounters On Price, Invites Everyone Over For Play Dates
By 3.24.15
Toys ‘R’ Us has a problem: they’re a specialty store that people love, but they must compete with mega-discounters like Walmart and online vendors like Amazon on price. When they can’t do that and still make money, how are they to survive? The company’s new idea: get kids in the door by creating an experience, not just a place to buy toys. [More]
No, IKEA Is Not Selling A Rainbow Pillowcase Called “PUTIN”
By 3.23.15
The Internet, while a vast and varied resource rich in information on innumerable topics, is also a rascally son of a boomerang and will often regurgitate fiction as fact. To that end: Though a photo circulating Twitter yesterday appeared to show a rainbow-striped pillowcase called the “PUTIN” on sale at an IKEA store, the company says it doesn’t sell that particular item anymore and oh yeah, it was never named after the president of Russia. [More]
Target Introduces Extended One-Year Return Policy
By 3.18.15
While 90 days might seem like enough time to decide whether or not those sheets really match your bedroom decor, Target seems to think you might want to think on it a bit longer than that: The company announced today that it will offer customers a one-year return window for select items.
[More]
Why People Can Resell Old Lululemon Running Shorts For $800
By 3.13.15
Tradesy is an online consignment market, where people can sell designer and luxury goods that they no longer want. The top brands that sell on the site are pretty much what you’d expect: Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Hermès, and Tiffany. Yet brand #3 in their top five is one that you might not expect: Lululemon, an athletic wear company. Are people really that crazy over yoga pants? [More]
Apple Continues To Surprise No One, Officially Removes Rival Fitness Trackers From Stores
By 3.12.15
In a signal that the Apple Watch’s arrival is nigh, Apple’s retail stores across the country are apparently ditching other fitness and health wearables. [More]
L.L. Bean Plans To Triple Its Retail Locations By 2020
By 3.11.15
Shh… can you hear that? If you listen very, very closely, it’s the grumbling of lumbersexuals and other hipsters across the land, groaning over the fact that their L.L. Bean duck boots are hopelessly backordered. And winter is almost over! Have no fear, in the future it could be easier to ensure your feet are properly clad in rubber-toed boots before you take a photo of them somewhere interesting, as the retailer is aiming to open a slew of new stores in the next five years. [More]
Google’s First Branded Retail Store Opens In London
By 3.11.15
Move over Apple and Microsoft, there’s another tech company taking its products to the retail floor with its own branded store: Google. [More]
Target Confirms 3,100 Jobs Being Cut, Left Unfilled At Minneapolis Headquarters
By 3.10.15
When Target announced it would shut down its Canadian operation, 17,600 people lost their jobs. Now, as the company prepares to embark on a $2 billion cost-cutting effort over the next two years, it has eliminated an additional 3,100 positions, this time at its Minneapolis headquarters. [More]
Amazon Reportedly Adds “Ship To Cuba” Option In Preparation For Restored Diplomatic Ties
By 3.3.15
If it wasn’t enough that Americans traveling to Cuba might now be able to bring back Cuban rum and cigars from their travels, those in Cuba may soon be able to order goods from Amazon, or at least get things shipped to them. [More]
Costco Announces New Credit Card Partnership With Citi, Visa
By 3.2.15
It seems Costco is not one to sit around pining for old flames very long, as the shopping club announced today that it’s rebounding from the end of its relationship with American Express with a new partnership with Citigroup and Visa. [More]
Target Reduces Free Shipping Requirement To $25, Now Cheaper Than Walmart & Amazon
By 2.23.15
Consumers no longer have to drop $50 to qualify for free shipping on Target.com. In an attempt to stay competitive with other online retailers, the big box store reduced the minimum requirements for free shipping to $25. [More]
Abercrombie & Fitch Puts Shirts On Male Models, Tries To Reinvent Itself
By 1.14.15
A fascinating and weird era in retail history is now over: the male models at Abercrombie & Fitch have put on some shirts. The brand is reinventing itself for the present era, ditching logo-laden clothing, shirtless dudes, their no-fat-chicks policies, and CEO Mike Jeffries. Will that be enough to make the brand relevant as other teen-focused retailers are putting down their gates for good? [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]
Best Buy Is Actually Managing This Whole ‘Turnaround’ Thing
By 11.20.14
We haven’t featured very many reader complaints about Best Buy on this site in the last year or so. Is that because people aren’t shopping at Best Buy at all anymore? Surprisingly, no. Best Buy is doing great, thank you very much, having convinced enough customers to quit showrooming and actually buy things there. [More]
Employee’s Daughter Asks Kmart To Give Mom Some Time Off On Thanksgiving
By 11.14.14
Should stores be open on Thanksgiving Day? Some businesses, such as hotels, gas stations, airlines, and even restaurants must be open to keep civilization running and make sure other people can get to their destinations and enjoy their holidays. Yet many non-essential businesses are open. Like Kmart. The child of one Kmart employee is unhappy about this, and wants the store to consider maybe giving her mom, a 21-year employee, the day off. [More]
Report: Amazon Will Open A Real-Life Store In Manhattan
By 10.9.14
Back in the 1920s, catalog retail giant Sears opened massive spaces in major cities that served as combination retail stores and regional distribution centers for catalog goods. These centers closed in the ’80s and ’90s, but now online retail giant Amazon.com is following the same pattern in a tiny way, opening a combination retail store and pick-up center in New York City, across the street from the Empire State Building. [More]
