The House Financial Service Committee approved the Financial CHOICE Act 2.0 today, signaling the first concrete move to roll back consumer protections and gut the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. [More]
retail
‘Financial CHOICE Act 2.0’ Rolling Back Consumer Protections Moves Forward
By 5.4.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
6 Things We Learned About Walmart’s Love-Hate Relationship With Online Sales
By 5.4.17
Despite decades of being the biggest name in bricks-and-mortar retail, Walmart has yet to repeat that success online. The company recently went on an e-commerce buying spree — snapping up Jet.com, ModCloth, MooseJaw, ShoeBuy, and possibly Bonobos — but will that be enough to compete with Amazon? [More]
Don’t Jump Into The Giant Fish Tank At Bass Pro Shops Just Because You Can
By 5.1.17
Much like fountains, aquariums, zoos and other places where the public can come into contact with lots of water, the fish tank at your local sporting goods shop is not intended to be your personal swimming hole, even if it’s large enough for you to jump into. [More]
Reebok Takes On Nordstrom With $425 ‘Sweat-Stained Shirt’
By 4.27.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
Earlier this week, Nordstrom came under fire for its latest entry in the “crimes against jeans” files. While Twitter mercilessly mocked the department store for its $425 jeans with “caked-on-muddy coating,” at least one other retailer was apparently waiting in the wings with its own joke: Reebok debuted a pre-sweat-stained t-shirt, for you guessed it, $425. [More]
Deserted Malls Find New Use As Retail Call Centers
By 4.25.17
In order to keep bringing in the cash amid store closings, some malls have gotten a bit creative with their thousands of square feet of space, from leasing to doctor’s offices and supermarkets to using empty space as party venues. Some retailers are filling these empty mall spaces, but with call centers, not merchandise. [More]
Teen Has Sold $1M Worth Of Custom Socks Even Before Graduating High School
By 4.25.17
In the wise words of the late musician Aaliyah, when it comes to launching a successful apparel business, “age ain’t nothin’ but a number.” Just ask the teenager who has already sold $1 million worth of his custom-designed socks — before he’s even finished high school or moved out of his parents’ home. [More]
J. Crew Eliminating 250 Jobs In Effort To Cut Costs
By 4.25.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
A few weeks after shaking things up with the abrupt exit of its creative director, more changes are afoot at J.Crew: The company announced today that it would be cutting about 250 jobs as it tries to cut costs amid struggling sales. [More]
Walmart Tries Its Hand At Stunt Foods With Whatever A ‘Crotilla’ Is Supposed To Be
By 4.25.17
Fast food companies have never been shy when it comes to shocking customers and drumming up business with odd food mash-ups like fish stick pizza, fried chicken or fried egg shell tacos, Cheetos chicken fries, the list goes on, and on, and on. But now it appears that Walmart is looking to get a piece of the stunt food pie with the debut of a tortilla-croissant bakery item. [More]
JCPenney Pretties Up, Adds More In-Store Sephora Locations
By 4.24.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
In a move to boost foot traffic (and hopefully sales) while getting some help with the rent, JCPenney and Sephora are expanding their partnership, adding and enlarging dozens more store-within-the-store locations of the beauty products retailer. [More]
Scammers Buy Stuff With Your Card, Then Trick You Into ‘Returning’ Items To Them
By 4.24.17 — Updated: 4.26.17
Because there is apparently no limit to the amount of effort someone will put in to being dishonest, scammers are constantly evolving their tricks. For example, it’s no longer enough for someone to just steal your credit card number to go on a shopping spree. Now they have to involve you, by tricking you into actually shipping the fraudulent purchase on to them. [More]
Amazon Now Working On Self-Driving Vehicles For Deliveries
By 4.24.17
Between drones, leased planes, and its own fleet of Flex drivers, Amazon has a decent foothold in the transportation-and-delivery market. But now the company apparently has an eye on the future, and it involves driverless vehicles. [More]
Why Do Larger Clothes For Women Often Fit So Badly?
By 4.24.17
Anyone who’s ever bought clothing they’ve seen a model or a mannequin wearing has probably had that moment, when you get the item in your non-mannequin size, put it on, and… it just doesn’t fit well, now that it’s on a real person. Why does this happen? [More]
Discount Retailer Stein Mart Selling Ivanka Trump Clothing Relabeled Under New Name
By 4.24.17
A number of higher-end retailers, including Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus, recently stopped selling Ivanka Trump’s clothing and apparel line, citing slow sales. Now some Ivanka items are showing up on the less-glamorous racks of discount retailer Stein Mart, but without the Ivanka name. [More]
Sears Closing 50 Auto Centers, 92 Kmart Pharmacies
By 4.24.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
Like a sinking ship that keeps jettisoning cargo in the hope of staying afloat, Sears Holdings will soon be ridding itself of 50 Sears Auto Centers and 92 Kmart Pharmacies. [More]
Target Encourages Store-Wide Mayhem With Mario Kart Shopping Carts
By 4.21.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
In what seems like a great cross-promotion for the Nintendo Switch, but which stands a decent chance of ending in utter bedlam at hundreds of Target stores nationwide, the retailer has decided to dress up shopping carts as Mario Karts. [More]
Bebe To Close All 180 Stores; Future Plans Uncertain
By 4.21.17
The rumors that women’s clothing retailer bebe might exit the mall and go online-only were apparently true, as the company has announced plans to shutter all 180 of its stores this spring. [More]
Man Stole $11,000 In Stuff From Home Depot, Then Returned It All For Refunds
By 4.18.17
Most practitioners of the “hot exchange” — the retail grift where a fraudster steals an item then “returns” it to the store for a refund — are happy to chisel away a criminal living, earning $50 here, $100 there. But one Texas man was thinking big when he stole — and then returned — more than $11,000 from Home Depot stores. [More]
Bass Pro Shops Is Still Buying Cabela’s, But For Less Money
By 4.18.17
Since the $5.5 billion deal where Bass Pro Shops agreed to acquire Cabela’s was announced last October, a few things related to the deal have changed. Now the companies have announced that the deal is going forward, but at a price cut of $4 per share of Cabela’s, and the addition of a middleman in the sale of its credit card operations to Capital One. [More]
