Have you ever seen these crazy Walmarts ginormous data center in Missouri? Airplanes and the Google Maps Streetview car have. Dubbed, “Area 71,” the facility is built on bedrock so it can withstand numerous kind of disasters. Four years ago, their Bentonville, Arkansas HQ was said to have 460+ terabytes of storage. This is an auxilary facility in Missouri, located 15 miles from their HQ. It’s gotta have something in the peta or exabytes. Wonder what they use all that for? More pix inside. Leave your crackpot conspiracy theories in the comments. [More]
retail
Toys R Us Invites You To Save -$10
By 11.23.09
We love when Toys R Us does this. Ah, yes. “While supplies last.” Hurry, people. Hurry.
Nordstrom Continues To Oppose Christmas Creep
By 11.19.09
When I was growing up we always put up our Christmas stuff the day after Thanksgiving. Nordstrom agrees. Once again, they are taking a stand against Christmas Creep.
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Ulta District Manager Apologizes For "No Writing Anything Down" Policy
By 11.16.09
Last week, Daynah wrote about how she was forced to stop writing anything down during a recent shopping trip to the cosmetics store Ulta. At the time, Daynah grudgingly gave in because she really wanted to make a purchase (she tests products for consumers). But once she left the store, she took the fight back to Ulta.
Ulta Manager: "Take Your Pen To Your Car, You're Not Allowed To Write Anything Down"
By 11.9.09
In a world where smartphones can shoot video, snap photos, record audio, scan barcodes, and let you make price comparisons via text message, it’s almost funny to run into a paranoid manager like the one at an Ulta makeup store in Seattle. Well, funny except for that petty tyrant part where she tells you that you’ll have to take your old-school pen and papers out to the car and come back empty handed before she’ll sell you any makeup.
Best Buy Says Ian Can Keep His Free Xbox
By 11.9.09
Last month Best Buy gave Ian a free Xbox 360 due to a snafu while handling his extended warranty.
Government Helped CIT Limp Along Long Enough To Keep From Ruining Christmas
By 11.3.09
According to SpendMatters, one big reason the government burned through $2.3 billion in TARP funds for CIT even though it was buckling under debt was to try to avoid ruining everybody’s Christmas this year.
Microsoft Stores To Sell Bloatware-Free PCs
By 10.30.09
If you hate buying a new PC that’s riddled with bloatware, you may want to pay a Microsoft Store a visit on your next computer shopping trip. They plan on selling PCs free of any third-party trial applications, reports OhGizmo.
Walt Disney Planning On Turning Stores Into Shopping Theme Parks
By 10.14.09
Starting the middle of next year, Walt Disney will be rolling out a new version of its mall store format that is intended to suck in your child like a fairy princess crack pipe. “The goal is to make children clamor to visit the stores and stay longer,” writes Brooks Barnes in the New York Times, by using things like embedded chips in the packaging to trigger responses from the store’s furnishings, a rotating library of scents that fill the store, and karaoke.
Linens 'N Things Resurrected (In Canada)
By 10.13.09
In today’s marketplace, going out of business doesn’t mean you go away forever. Your storefronts may disappear, but you’ll just pop up again online—like CompUSA and Circuit City—or you’ll come back on someone else’s shelves as a brand, like Linens ‘N Things.
Toys R Us Manager Says Store Will Be Open On Thanksgiving This Year
By 10.9.09
Retail isn’t a great field to be in if you enjoy having nights, weekends and holidays off. A disgruntled Toys R Us manager wrote us to say Thanksgiving, one of his three guaranteed holidays per year, will vanish in order to give the store a jump on its Black Friday competitors.
Why Even Bad Online Reviews Can Increase Sales
By 9.30.09
We’re generally quite critical of companies that try to squelch negative online reviews, astroturf them, or just bribe customers for positive ones. Not only is this behavior bad for consumers, but the experience of one company shows that it’s bad for businesses, too.
Rumor: Game Crazy To Close 200 Locations
By 9.29.09
Joystiq reported last night that Game Crazy “plans to close 200 of its approximately 680 locations at the end of October.” There’s no official list of which stores are closing yet, so feel free to ask your local Game Crazy employees and see if you can scare them.
Microsoft Seeks Arrogant Would-Be Hipsters To Staff New Stores
By 9.22.09
When Apple needs to come up with a hot new product, it turns to CEO Steve Jobs, who is said to micromanage everything from the color of the product’s box to how overpriced it should be. And, when Microsoft needs to go after the next big thing, the company turns to … Steve Jobs. At least that seems to be the idea behind Microsoft’s latest plan, which involves poaching managers from Apple’s retail stores.
Lawsuit: Abercrombie Said Muslim's Headscarf Violated "Look Policy"
By 9.18.09
Looks like Abercrombie & Fitch just can’t catch a break lately — at least when they discriminate against employees who don’t fit the company’s image because they’ve committed the outrageous offense of, oh, having been born with only one arm. Or, in the latest incident, having a religion that just happens to include its own rules on proper attire. In this case, the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission is suing A&F for discrimination after it refused to hire a Muslim woman who wouldn’t remove her headscarf. “Abercrombie and Fitch should make exceptions to its policy when needed and we don’t believe it would be an undue burden on the company,” said Michelle Robertson, an EEOC lawyer.
Walmart's New Competitor-Crushing Initiative
By 9.12.09
Walmart is looking to grow. Yes, grow. Their latest initiative, “Project Impact,” aims to make stores easier and quicker to navigate, improve customer service, and to move in on competitors’ territory as much as possible.
