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13 Dec 2011 11:08

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Biz: Black Friday backfire: Best Buy’s profits nosedive on heavy deals

  • 29% drop in Best Buy’s profits in the third quarter source
  • » Too many deals? Best Buy, which has become shorthand for “company that throws all its chips in on Black Friday,” lost its bet on this year’s Black Friday, as its third-quarter results (which include the waffle-iron-rioting-day) showed major weaknesses, as discounts got people into the stores but failed to get them to actually work as loss-leaders. “They were more promotional and that doesn’t bode well for the holiday season, which is going to be very, very intense,” noted Barclays Capital analyst Alan Rifkin.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Nov 2011 00:04

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U.S.: Cyber Monday’s version of Black Friday drama: Counterfeit stuff

  • 150 counterfeit websites taken down on Cyber Monday source
  • » Don’t mess with our passion for shopping. After such a turnout for Black Friday, shoppers were ready for online deals on Monday. So were websites touting fake merchandise — from sports jerseys to DVDs to accessories. This was a part of the investigation called “Operation In Our Sites,” which has seized 350 such counterfeit sites since 2010.
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Nov 2011 20:34

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Biz: How much did people spend over Black Friday weekend?

  • $52.4 billion spent on Black Friday weekend (whoa)
  • $45B the amount spent during Black Friday weekend last year; that’s a 16 percent jump, for those playing at home
  • 226M number of shoppers over Black Friday weekend; that’s also a huge leap from 2010, and a record number
  • $398 the amount spent per customer on Black Friday weekend — a jump of more than $40 from 2010 source
  • » A big win for retail, but for humanity … eh. The heavy spending this year came with a number of downsides, most notably in the form of a series of customers-acting-crazy moments. We covered a few of these over the weekend, including an overzealous pepper sprayer and a riot over $2 waffle irons. Sure, the economy needs a serious kick in the pants, but we hope we can get said kick in the pants while being nice to our fellow human beings. Fortunately, tomorrow is Cyber Monday, where the problems with physical shopping don’t exist. Unless you know a way to shut off your neighbor’s internet. In which case you’re evil and we don’t like you anymore.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 Nov 2011 08:14

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U.S.: WTF: Competitive shopper at Wal-Mart pepper sprays rivals

  • I heard screaming and I heard yelling. Moments later, my throat stung. I was coughing really bad and watering up.
  • Porter Ranch, Los Angeles, California Wal-Mart customer Matthew Lopez • Describing what happened after another customer, who authorities say was “competitive shopping,” pepper sprayed 20 people (including children!) in an attempt to beat everyone else at getting stuff. Considering, you know, this incident and this incident, the usage of pepper spray seems incredibly ironic. Authorities are looking for the person who sprayed her fellow shoppers in efforts to buy a new Xbox 360 or something similar. Humanity sucks sometimes. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Nov 2010 01:30

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Politics: Max Headroom: John McCain all over place with DADT rhetoric

  • Was Obama an inexperienced politician when he said he’d repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t tell”? Well, he ran a better campaign than this dude back in 2008. (Thought we’d forget that, didn’t you?) Anyway, John McCain was on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday trying to explain how the current gays in the military policy makes sense, in a way that’s giving Candy Crowley some real meat to chew upon. Meanwhile, large chunks of Americans think the policy should be repealed. And that includes this guy’s wife.
  • See, I’m not like Obama at all! The storyline we’re expecting to see in the next few months goes like this: Democratic senators, like Claire McCaskill, will be falling over themselves to differentiate themselves from the president. Don’t expect her to have a fat lip from playing basketball anytime soon.
  • Soft Black Friday story ruined It seems like your normal mid-afternoon CNN story that you can completely ignore until around the 45-second mark, when the anti-fur protesters show up. Then it gets interesting. Hey protesters: People who watch CNN in the daytime don’t buy fur; they can’t afford it.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Nov 2010 23:28

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Biz: Black Friday final tally: More hype, more people, slightly more sales

  • 2.2% the increase in Black Friday foot traffic
  • $10.7B the total sales tallied on Black Friday
  • 0.3% the increase in sales from last year source
  • » How it compares: It’s roughly the same increase in sales as last year, but then again, retail stores have been offering sales for weeks before Black Friday, which may have cannibalized the overall effect of the day. On the plus side, at least that collapsed Salvation Army building in Colorado didn’t fall on anyone.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 Nov 2010 21:53

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Biz: A sampling of when certain stores are opening up for Black Friday

  • 10 p.m. the time Toys “R” Us opens tonight for Black Friday (earliest)
  • 12 a.m. the time Wal-Mart opens for Black Friday (still pretty early)
  • 3 a.m. the time Kohl’s opens for Black Friday (too late; nobody cares) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

22 Nov 2010 10:45

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Biz: Wal-Mart to price match on Black Friday, basically encourage riots

  • Ah, our favorite time of the year. Black Friday. In case you’re looking for deals on stuff, you may want to consider the unincorporated wastelands that will be Wal-Mart stores on Friday. See, if one store is offering a really good deal on an item that Wal-Mart has, it will match the deal. Which, on top of their free shipping offer online, basically ensures that you will go nowhere else this holiday season to buy your Christmas presents. Merry Christmas, other retailers. You’re going out of business, and Wal-Mart’s going to buy your corpse. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Nov 2009 01:11

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Biz: Black Friday sales mostly flat, but with silver lining online

  • +0.5% increase in sales this Black Friday, compared to last year
  • +35% increase in Black Friday Web purchases from last year source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Nov 2009 17:58

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Biz: Daily Poll: Is Black Friday more dangerous than it’s worth?


Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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