Two Texas 18-year-old men have been accused of treating Walmart customers like some kind of animal to be hunted. Police say the twosome blew darts at shoppers, including an elderly woman on a motorized scooter and a 10-year-old boy. [More]
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Walmart To Give Nearly 40% Of Employees Pay Increases Over The Next Year
By 2.19.15
Just before Christmas Walmart announced it would raise the base pay for employees at 1,434 stores because of state minimum wage hikes. Today, the company announced plans to change the way it pays and trains not only those employees but nearly 500,000 more across the U.S. [More]
Raiders Of The Lost Walmart Have A Case For Your 7-Year-Old iPhone
By 2.17.15
The Raiders of the Lost Walmart are a band of brave retail explorers who comb the world’s big-box stores in search of retail antiquities at comically high prices. They carefully excavate clearance racks in order to find the most ancient pieces of technology available. In their latest report from the field, the Raiders found more ancient antivirus software, and a case for iPhones that may actually be collectibles by now. [More]
Police Charge Head-Butting Walmart Customer With Assault
By 2.13.15
Although the Walmart tax worker who was head-butted by a shopper at first declined to press charges against the woman, police confirmed that after a trip to the dentist for some broken teeth, assault charges have been filed. [More]
Walmart Sues Texas Over Law Banning Publicly Traded Companies From Selling Liquor
By 2.13.15
Depending on the state you live in, buying booze and beer can be a bit tricky. South Carolina and Kentucky previously outlawed the sale of alcohol on Election Day, while last year, the state of Michigan pondered a law that would classify a “pint” of beer as 16-ounces or less. But it’s a long-running law in Texas banning the sale of liquor (but not beer or wine) at publicly traded companies that raised the ire of Walmart. Now the nation’s largest retailer is suing the state to gain the ability to sell the spirits. [More]
Walmart Spending $270M On Canadian Expansion; Plans To Build 29 Supercenters In The Frozen North
By 2.11.15
Early this year, Walmart announced the opening of 11 new supercenters in Canada in the first month of the year, but that retail expansion pales in comparison to the company’s latest venture. The big box store now plans to invest $270.1 million with our neighbors to the north and open 29 additional stores. [More]
Video: Customer Head Butts Walmart Tax Worker During Argument In Store
By 2.10.15
No matter how unhappy you are with someone or something, violence is never the answer, people. A Walmart customer seen on video head-butting a Walmart employee during an argument, setting off an all out brawl, has been told by police not to come back to the store. [More]
Couple Allegedly Steals 57 Blocks Of Cheese From Walmart, Because Who Doesn’t Want Cheese
By 2.6.15
From past experience, we know shoplifters enjoy perusing the meat department at Walmart and occasionally stuffing some items down their pants or sitting on top of them on their motorized scooter. But what’s the next best thing to take from the big box store? If you’re a couple from Tennessee, then the answer is cheese… 57 blocks of it. [More]
Walmart Manager Says He Was Fired After Stopping Alleged Shoplifter
By 2.5.15
For several years now, Consumerist has reported on variety of stories where a former Walmart employee says they were fired either stopping a shoplifter or defending themselves in an altercation with customers. The latest such incident involves the manager of an Alabama Walmart who claims he was dismissed after stopping an alleged repeat offender from shoplifting again. [More]
Oklahoma Moms Stage Walmart Nurse-In After Store Tells Breastfeeding Customer To Cover Up
By 2.4.15
No matter how many stories we write reminding people that every state has a law allowing nursing moms to breastfeed in public, some manager at a store will still screw things up and ask a mother to leave the store or cover up. The latest incident involves a Walmart in Oklahoma, where several woman recently staged a nurse-in to drive their point home. [More]
NY Asks Stores To Halt Herbal Supplements After Tests Show Advertised Herbs Not Present
By 2.3.15
When you buy an herbal supplement that says “echinacea” or “ginko boloba” on the label, you may expect that it contains some additional ingredients beyond the advertised herbs, but you should be confident that those herbs are present. However, DNA tests commissioned by the New York state Attorney General found evidence that many herbal products may not contain what they advertise. [More]
Shoplifting Suspect Calls 9-1-1 On Walmart Security Guards Following Him Around
By 1.29.15
It must have been very unnerving for a man in Georgia when he noticed that two tough-looking men were following him around as he left Walmart. They caught up with him, claiming to be security guards from the store, and brought him back to Walmart. Police say that the suspect thought they were “thugs” and pulled a knife on the men, then called 9-1-1. [More]
CT Tax Commissioner: Walmart Tax Refund Service Just A Lure To Get You To Shop At Walmart
By 1.29.15
Walmart recently announced a service that allows consumers who use certain participating tax preparers to pick up their refunds at a Walmart store. The program already has one high-profile detractor in the form of Connecticut Commissioner of Revenue Services Kevin Sullivan who says he believes the program is intended to get consumers to spend their refunds at Walmart. [More]
Class-Action Suit Over Shortchanged Walmart Returns Allowed To Move Forward
By 1.21.15
While Walmart customers enjoy the ability to return items to any of the retailer’s locations, a number of these shoppers have claimed over the years that they were getting less for their returns than they should have because of sales tax differences between the purchase and return locations. Last week, a federal judge allowed a pending class action regarding shortchanged Walmart customers to continue. [More]
Walmart Lets People Pick Up Tax Refunds In Cash In Stores
By 1.20.15
Happy first day of tax season! Today is the first day that you can file your federal income tax return. Most Americans have to file a tax return, but a substantial number of people still don’t have bank accounts and conduct life in cash. Walmart wants to keep people in that situation away from check-cashing stores…and keep them in Walmart with a great big wad of cash in their wallets. [More]
Virgin Mobile Introduces Shared Prepaid Data Plans At Walmart
By 1.16.15
We learned yesterday that T-Mobile is introducing new prepaid plans that offer unlimited data as long as you’re content with unlimited access to the carrier’s slower 2G network. Their competitor in the prepaid market, Sprint’s Virgin Mobile brand, also has a new prepaid product that might work for some families who want to share a pool of data, but prefer a prepaid plan. [More]
Police: Woman Lived Inside Michigan Walmart For Two Days
By 1.13.15
Living inside a Walmart sounds more like something you might see in a movie (actually, it is, if you’ve ever seen Home Is Where The Heart Is) or a reality show, rather than something that occurs in real life. But over the years, it’s actually happened quite a few times – remember the teen that managed to hole-up inside a store for four days? The latest incident of living off the shelves of Walmart took place in Michigan last week and lasted a mere two days. [More]
Free Shipping Is Expensive For Retailers, Bad For Profits
By 1.2.15
Customers love free shipping, but retailers do not. Well, that’s not quite true: retailers love the sales that the availability of free shipping drives, but it isn’t very good for their profit margins. While customers have become used to free shipping and view it as the default for shopping online, retailers still haven’t been able to figure out how to provide free shipping without losing a lot of money. [More]
