This year, there have been a record number of retail bankruptcies, but there’s also been a change in the industry. While some of the largest recent retail bankruptcies were preludes to liquidation, lenders and landlords are now working to keep as many stores open as possible after bankruptcy. [More]
vendors
American Apparel Tries Crowdsourcing To Find Expensive Products People Will Buy
Three months after going private and emerging from a contentious fight over its Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, American Apparel is looking to put the pieces back together, and it’s starting with a crowdsourcing campaign to solicit ideas for products made in the U.S. [More]
Amazon Launches Marketplace Dedicated To Handcrafted, “Factory-Free” Products
Back in May, we reported that Amazon was dipping its toes into yet another marketplace venture, this one centered on handcrafted goods. At the time, the e-commerce behemoth was prepping for a showdown with the top site in the craft world, Etsy, by attempting to lure away its vendors. Fast-forward four months, and the launch of “Handmade at Amazon” is upon us. [More]
Amazon Trying To Lure Etsy Sellers To New “Handmade” Marketplace
Amazon is apparently not content with just allowing third-party vendors to sell mass-produced items through the website. The online retail giant is reportedly prepping a new marketplace for customized, unique products, setting up a potential showdown with Etsy. [More]
Sears Promises Early Payment To Vendors, Ties Up Cash Flow
While Sears struggles to get customers into its stores and lost $1.7 billion last year, the retailer is also encountering problems in keeping its shelves stocked with merchandise. The company’s vendors are reportedly nervous to ship to the retailer given its poor financial results and touchy cash flow situation. Vendors are asking Sears to pay their bills sooner in exchange for a discount. This ties up tens of millions of extra dollars’ worth of capital up at a time. [More]
Boston Bridal Show Was Massive Scam That Duped Over 6,000 Victims
This weekend was supposed to be the Boston 411 Spring Home & Bridal Show, but it was cancelled at the last minute. Now police are saying that the entire thing was an elaborate scam that pulled in money from attendees and vendors, raking in more than $150,000 over the past five months. The scammers used a website, Facebook page and Twitter account to promote the event, used PayPal to accept payments, sold fake hotel room reservations and issued fake conference passes. Boston police and the FBI are investigating, but so far nobody has been taken into custody. [More]
Squash Minimum Purchase Fees With Wallet-Sized Merchant Agreement
Fed up with stores not knowing the rules for credit card purchases, Andy at NonToxicReviews created this handy credit-card-sized PDF of the relevant portions of Visa’s and MasterCard’s merchant agreements.