Though many of the big box stores now open for Black Friday at some point on Thanksgiving, some retailers and mall owners have fought back against this trend. For the second year in a row, one of the nation’s largest mall operators has declared that its properties’ doors will remain shut this Thanksgiving. [More]
shopping
Amazon Launches Shopping Portal For Teens, Complete With Spending Allowances
By 10.11.17
Remember the first time your parents trusted you with their credit card after firmly explaining it was solely for emergencies? If you’re like some of us, you might also recall justifying to yourself that paying for Dave Matthews Band tickets constituted an emergency. Your folks likely disagreed, even if they were down with the DMB. So you can probably see why Amazon’s new teen-specific shopping portal lets parents cap how much their kids can spend. [More]
Costco Ramping Up Amazon Rivalry With New Push Into Grocery Delivery
By 10.6.17
Until recently, Costco didn’t have to worry too much about Amazon, but then the online retail giant began to figure out how to sell and ship the fresh groceries and pantry items that make up Costco’s core business. In an attempt to keep itself from going the way of so many other bricks-and-mortar stores, the warehouse club is grabbing a jumbo-size battle hammer and jumping into the grocery delivery fray. [More]
IKEA Acquires TaskRabbit, Saving Relationships Nationwide
By 9.28.17
If you want to break up with your significant other, just spend an afternoon at IKEA, where all your previous petty disagreements will be awkwardly resurrected amid the snaking displays of furniture that neither of you really want but are better than living on milk crates. Thankfully, IKEA just purchased TaskRabbit, the company that will allow you to stay in your relationship by sending someone to shop at IKEA — and maybe even put your mid-priced furnishings together. [More]
While Traditional Retailers Falter, Why Are Off-Price Stores Still Doing Okay?
By 9.25.17
Store closings and retail bankruptcies aren’t bad news for the entire retail industry. While the current turmoil in the business of department stores, toy stores, and clothing stores is bad for those is bad for those chains, it’s great for off-price retailers like TJX, Ross Stores, and Burlington. [More]
Nordstrom Concept Store Doesn’t Stock Actual Clothing But It Does Offer Booze
By 9.11.17
While you can easily shop for clothes online from the comfort of your couch with a glass of your favorite beverage to hand — would you be willing to leave the house if you could get both wine and professional styling advice? Nordstrom hopes so: The retailer is launching a tiny store that doesn’t stock any actual products, but will offer shoppers boozy beverages to sip while they try stuff on. [More]
Target Slashing Prices On Thousands Of Items As Amazon Heats Up Grocery Wars
By 9.8.17
As Amazon heats up the grocery store wars with new discounts at Whole Foods — which has been bringing in more shoppers since the companies became one — Target is fighting back by promising to cut prices on thousands of items. [More]
Uber, Mall Team Up To Offer Dedicated Pickup Spots, Human Customer Service Reps
By 8.31.17
In a move designed to lure shoppers back to brick-and-mortar stores, mall giant Westfield is patterning up with Uber to offer dedicated drop-off and pick-up spots in 33 shopping centers — and some will feature real live humans to help with customer service. [More]
Amazon Warehouse To Rise From The Ashes Of Former Ohio Mall
By 8.25.17
For years, retailers, analysts, and others have theorized that Amazon — and the conveniences of online shopping — have killed the mall. In a development that seems to bring the idea full circle, Amazon will operate a new warehouse on the gravesite of one the country’s largest former malls. [More]
Can Retailers Use Stealth Calorie Cuts To Get Shoppers To Eat Healthier?
By 8.23.17
While there is a large segment of the population always looking for healthier, lower-calorie food options, there are some shoppers who like the things they buy just the way they are — and who react negatively when their favorite foods are tweaked. Is there a way to get these folks consuming fewer calories? [More]
Walmart, Google Partner Up On Voice-Activated Shopping To Take On Amazon
By 8.23.17
There’s a new kid moving onto Alexa’s block: Walmart and Google have decided to pair up to offer a slew of items through voice shopping by way of Google Assistant. [More]
Target’s Efforts To Bring Customers Back Are Starting To Pay Off
By 8.16.17
For the last year or so, Target, America’s other national big-box discount store, has been struggling. Its leaders blamed falling sales on shoppers renovating their houses, on lower traffic to pharmacies after they were sold to CVS, and on customers’ general disinterest in shopping. In the last year, Target refocused on fundamentals instead of retail innovations, and that has paid off in more customer traffic and improved sales. [More]
Why Are New Malls Being Built During A Retail Apocalypse?
By 8.8.17
With a record number of recent retail bankruptcies, and national waves of store closings, how is it that there are more malls being built or expanded? Construction on shopping centers and even on enclosed malls is at its highest level since the summer of 2008. Are real estate developers in denial? [More]
Amazon Spark: Like Instagram, But Dedicated To Convincing You To Buy Stuff
By 7.19.17
Have you ever found yourself scrolling through your Instagram feed and thinking, “Gee, all these photos of my friends’ meals and their feet are great; but I really wish every single photo was an ad for a product?” It just so happens that Amazon has something just like that. [More]
How Does Amazon’s Echo ‘Look’ Stack Up Against Cher’s Closet From ‘Clueless’?
By 7.6.17
If you’re anything like the Consumerist staff, Amazon’s new Echo Look device — a voice-activated digital assistant equipped with a camera to help users make tough fashion choices — may have immediately brought to mind a scene from the 1996 Alicia Silverstone flick, Clueless. Sure, her PC’s outfit comparison program may seem dated now, but back then it was the height of fictional fashion technology. [More]
Mall Owners Try Makeovers To Attract Customers Back
By 7.5.17
Americans still go to malls, but they aren’t shopping as much as they used to. Mall landlords have been able to replace vacancies left by failing stores with everything from restaurants to supermarkets to rock climbing gyms. While these new tenants might be paying higher rents, this transition is coming at a significant cost to mall owners. [More]
America Has Too Many Malls, Not Enough E-Commerce Warehouses
By 6.23.17
There are many to blame for the demise of malls, but there’s one important factor that’s easy to fforget: There are just too dang many of them. The U.S. has more retail square footage per person than other industrialized countries, and we keep adding newer and bigger malls without humanely putting enough of the old ones out of their misery. At the same time, online retailers like Amazon are scrambling to find or build warehouse space to keep up with customer demand. [More]
Armed Robber Forces Family To Take Him Shopping At Target
By 6.22.17
A North Carolina family went on a very scary shopping trip on Tuesday, after Durham police say a man knocked on their door to ask for money, and then forced them at gunpoint to take him shopping at Target. [More]
