TresSugar

Target and Wal-Mart Start to Slash Prices on Toys

babysugar — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 06:00:28 -0700

Shoppers, listen up! The pumpkins are barely ripe for carving and already the mega stores are having price slashing wars. Target and Wal-Mart have made the 2009 holiday toy budget a tad more realistic as they have marked loads of games and dolls down to half-price. Parents who like to keep their local mom and pop businesses afloat may be reconsidering that approach this holiday season when they see Barbies and G.I. Joes at dirt cheap prices. Will the state of the economy affect where you are shopping this holiday season?

Should Wal-Mart Censor Artists?

TresSugar — Fri, 22 May 2009 06:00:00 -0700

It seems fair for a store to make decisions about what it wants to sell. For example, if an owner of a small business opposes vulgarity, she might pass on selling CDs with explicit language.

When Wal-Mart, the largest record store in the country, refuses to sell an artist's record because it contains bad language and insists that it will do so only after the band has released an edited, "clean" version - this is de facto censorship, and, in my opinion, an abuse of corporate power.

Green Day's album "21st Century Breakdown" won't be sold in Wal-Mart because the band refused to edit it for language and content, and knowing their reputation, probably never will. Basically, Wal-Mart is preventing a large portion of an artist's audience from enjoying the artist's authentic work.

Do you think Wal-Mart should be allowed to dictate these standards to artists? Should Green Day suck it up and release a Wal-Mart friendly version?

Supermercado de Wal-Mart Coming to Texas and Arizona

CitizenSugar — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 10:30:30 -0700

Bienvenido a Wal-Mart!

Retail giant Wal-Mart will soon open Hispanic-focused grocery stores in Texas and Arizona. The staff will be bilingual and the stores will feature tortilla bakeries, a larger selection of Spanish-language music and DVDs, and a wide assortment of Hispanic food.

Companies can't help but pounce on the potential in the Hispanic market. In addition to Wal-Mart's supermercado plans, Home Depot and Best Buy have launched Spanish-language websites.

Are you happy a huge retailer can adapt to a specific market, or would you rather see local stores appeal to the local tastes?

Source

Fab Flash: The Jonas Brothers Try Their Hands at Designing

FabSugar — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 12:00:22 -0700

There's no stopping the Jonas brothers. Somewhere between performing sold-out concerts and flying around the country with Molly, the brothers found time to share their cool style with the masses by creating a cute clothing line for tweens. The line, named Jonas, is inspired by the brothers' fictional TV show, soon to be debuted on the Disney channel. The preppy collection includes argyle sweater vests, woven tops, tees, polo shirts, leggings, denim skirts, and jeans. The collection, set to retail $10 to $25, will be available at Wal-Mart, Kmart, Sears, and JCPenney in the Fall. Are you at all interested?

To see more from the Jonas collection, read more

View 3 Photos ›

Source

Should the Zack and Miri Title Change For Wal-Mart?

BuzzSugar — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 16:30:24 -0800

Yay: The Zack and Miri Make a Porno DVD will hit shelves next Tuesday, Feb. 3! But on Wal-Mart's shelves the title may look a little bit different. Wal-Mart requested that director Kevin Smith change the title on the DVD covers so the word "porno" isn't there, and Smith has agreed to do it. Here's more:

Smith said Weinstein Co., which released the film Oct. 31, has complied with Wal-Mart's request and created new DVD covers for the retailer, but the director worries that some unsuspecting customers will be fooled when they see the shortened title.

[Smith said,] "I mean, at least with the word 'porno' in the title, you can kind of give people a warning about what they're in for."

That's a good point, really - is it actually doing anyone a service to take the word "porno" out of the title? Or is it understandable that Wal-Mart would want the DVD cover to not include that word?

Photo courtesy of The Weinstein Company

Family Demands Wal-Mart Pay For Death of Employee - Fair?

LibertySugar — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 03:00:25 -0800

The family of the Wal-Mart worker killed by a stampede of shoppers has filed a wrongful death lawsuit, claiming that Wal-Mart "created an atmosphere of competition and anxiety" that led to "crowd craze." Considering that a young man died in the Black Friday frenzy, that much seems true -but should Wal-Mart have to pay for that death?

The family thinks so, and in the lawsuit they argue that Wal-Mart "engaged in specific marketing and advertising techniques to specifically attract a large crowd and create an environment of frenzy and mayhem and was otherwise careless, reckless and negligent." The family also claims that the store did not provide reasonable security.

Regardless of who's ultimately responsible, it's unbelievably sad that a stampede caused by discounts resulted in a man's death.

Source

Wal-Mart Worker Dies on a Very Black Friday

LibertySugar — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 00:01:00 -0800

A 34-year-old temporary holiday worker died under a stampede of 2,000 discount hungry Wal-Mart shoppers yesterday. Witnesses described crowds at the Long Island, NY, Wal-Mart as savages; shoppers busted down doors and cut each other in line. Other shoppers, including a pregnant woman, were rushed to the hospital.

Not every store saw a surge, violent or not, in shopping. In anticipation of lower than usual performance, retailers took a hit in the stock market, as company shares dipped on Friday. But regardless of tough economic times, foreign shoppers vacationing in the US came out in significant numbers to take advantage of bargains compounded by a favorable exchange rate. Some speculate that tourists could save the holiday shopping season this year.

Did you brave the stores yesterday for Black Friday, or are you waiting for less chaotic Cyber Monday?

Source

Daily Tech: The BB Bold Arrives. . . in Stores. . . Today!!

GeekSugar — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 12:02:03 -0800

Oh man, I feel like we've been told four different dates on this release. But I can finally say, you can go get a hot new BlackBerry Bold today! - CrunchGear
Learn how to make your own election 2008 dashboard widget in only 10 seconds! - Boing Boing
The Peek email-only device will be offering unlimited text messaging to its service starting next month. - Gizmodo
Tony Fadell, the head of Apple's iPod division and who is responsible for taking his iPod ideas to Apple in 2001, will soon be leaving Apple. - Valleywag
Out with the old and in with the new. Wal-Mart plans to start taking some of its shelf space used for CDs for video games and Blu-ray discs instead. - Switched

Daily Tech: Wal-Mart Caps Wii Limit at One Per Person

GeekSugar — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 12:00:57 -0700

Looks like the Nintendo Wii is going to be in short supply this holiday season. Even two years after its launch, you can't purchase more than one at Wal-Mart. - Kotaku
Planning on traveling this Christmas? Unplggd has created a list of eight tips to keep your laptop safe on holiday travels. - Unplggd
The first screenshots of Windows 7 desktop have surfaced on the Internet. - Boing Boing
When purchasing products online, head on over to GotoDaily to find a list of discount codes and printable coupons! - Lifehacker
LAST DAY! It's giveaway time on geeksugar! Log in and participate in our geeky Halloween costume contest for your chances to win a Canon Rebel XSi SLR Digital Camera! - geeksugar

No Kid Miners! Sustainably and Responsibly Sourced Gold

CitizenSugar — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 14:30:59 -0700

In the story about children mining gold in Africa, lots of you were interested in making sure your baubles and bling had no part of the sad practice of exploiting children to extract the precious metal. I am not afraid to be servicey so I found this brand that answers that accessory predicament.

It's called Love, Earth and it's a pilot project that's a collaboration of companies in the jewelry supply chain. Not just committed to protecting kids, the brand produces pieces that can be traced back to the ecologically-sustainable mine it cam from. Since every single gold ring made produces 20 tons of mining waste, and the processing makes thousands of gallons of cyanide, they've gone ultraresponsible and transparent, allowing you to track the entire history of the piece.

Want to know where to find the line? You may be surprised. . . To find out, read more.

Oh, yeppy yep! Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart! I know a lot of you have complicated feelings about the chain, but this line of jewelry is pretty remarkable and groundbreaking.

Each piece you purchase from the store has a tracking number allowing you to trace the whole story, an important step in making the whole jewelry industry more accountable and responsible to people, the earth, and ladies who like to wear finery. Wal-Mart is looking to add similar responsible diamond jewelry in the future.

Do Wal-Mart's big goals to supply itself by 100 percent renewable energy, and the fact that they're using their might for good, make them better in your eyes?