Add “romance” to your next grocery list.
According to a map of the most common Craigslist missed connection locations, most Americans are looking for love while running errands.
For Psychology Today, Dorothy Gambrell mapped out the most common missed connection locations by state. Her study, which was based on each state’s most recent 100 Read More
*Slow clap* Congratulations, Arianna. We see that you’ve beat the dreaded “Original Holiday Content” beast that has driven down traffic at so many other Internet hubs. And you were so clever about it, too! Why make one post merely listing Walmart’s schedule today, when you can create a sort of listicle-generator that randomizes and promotes every pairing of store hours possible?
Here’s how the link-bait portal just found a new way to game the system. Read More
Walmart just sent out another cryptic release about a store it will not be opening in New York. Last time, it was an outlet at Willets Point. This time, we learn it is an even more serious non-event: the big box bogeyman’s long-sought beachhead in Brooklyn is not happening.
According to Walmart spokesman Steve Restivo, the company could not reach an agreement with The Related Companies to anchor the developer’s Gateway project in East New York. Despite this setback, the company promised to keep trying. Read More
The press release came in even before The Observer had seen the initial report that prompted it.
“We have not had any talks with Walmart about a location at Willets Point and we have absolutely no intention of discussing this site with them,” the email statement read.
Who knew! And yet it made perfect sense, as the company has been looking for any opening imaginable in the city. Read More
‘Tis the season for food trucks, with the warm weather meaning comfortable lines and more customers. For Walmart, this is more the season of discontent, with opposition to the store in New York growing on the heels of the big box retailer’s Mexican corruption scandal. Even long-time allies like the Related Companies have apparently given up on the southern-fried discounters.
But Walmart has hit upon a novel way to work its way into the city, on board a modified food truck run by partner company Procter & Gamble.
For the next month, @PGmobile will, in the tradition of the great food trucks to come before it, set up shops on street corners across the five boroughs, tweeting out its location and asking for suggestions on where to go next. Eight different products will be on offer—at Walmart’s everyday low prices, of course—from Iams dog food to Gillette razers and Pampers diapers.
The Walmart name appears but once, tucked away on the bottom of the truck, and it is nowhere to be found on the associated Twitter feed. Read More
Walmart is in a pickle, and not the kind that can be found in the canned goods aisle. Following the Mexican bribery scandal, pols high and low have reaffirmed their opposition to the store. But they are not the only ones. Even some of the big box retailers staunchest supporters have come out against the company, namely Greg David.
The Crain’s columnist and former editor for three decades of the influential business weekly is a big believer in capitalism and its important role in shaping the city—he just wrote a book about it. To that end, he has long supported Walmart’s efforts to open a store in the five boroughs (14 times at last count). Yet now, in light of the scandal, even Greg David doubts Walmart will ever open in New York. And he believes this is all Walmart’s fault. Read More
We bet all Walmart wants to do right now is sink down into one of its faux leather recliners and watch some stupid rom-com on a $199.98 flat screen. It’s been kind of a rough weekend for America’s favorite mega-retailer.
First, there was the New York Times story about executives hushing up a vast Mexican bribery conspiracy to win market dominance. And now, in celebration of Earth Day, a local opposition group is going after the company’s environmental record. Read More
Big isn’t always better!
Best Buy did a monstrous belly flop in the pool of big retailers last Thursday, reporting a $2.6 billion quarter loss and sending tidal waves to similar retailers. Best Buy, along with many of its retailing rivals, is shifting their focus to opening smaller locations. We are facing down the end of the big box story, according to Bloomberg. Read More
Fordham University published their Fourth Quarter 2011 V-Positive Report, which measures the Consumer Value Index. The methodology is based off of a few psychological theories that reflect the “understanding of the motivation to consume.” In short: a thousand people are surveyed at the end of the year and answer several attributes for each of the seven domains. Read More
Oh, Walmart. Your time might be running out, but your efforts are no less persistent. The boxing gloves have been long thrown to the side, but New York’s bare knuckles have delivered some blows lately.
The problems aren’t limited to New York, either. Walmart is facing resistance in the Chinatown district in Los Angeles. The LA Times reported that City Council outlawed big box chains from opening up in the neighborhood last week.
But Walmart responded, quite shockingly, by saying that “it speaks volumes that the community was not consulted in the writing of the motion.” Riding the wave of input outcry, Walmart even called for community input in Aspen Hill, Md. last October.
But community input in New York? Walmart wants nothing of the sort. Read More
