uSam’s Club Wants To Shed Its Walmart-Like Personar

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  (Ryan)

  Oftentimes, children of successful, well-known parents struggle to get out from their elder’s shadow. Such is the case for warehouse retailer Sam’s Club, which announced its desire this week to break away from its parent company Walmart.

  The company announced a new strategy over the weekend that aims to differentiate the shopping experience at Sam’s Club from that of Walmart, the Wall Street Journal reports.

  “We want to be less of a Walmart,” Sam’s Club chief executive Rosalind Brewer said before unveiling the updated strategy that includes increasing online sales and adding ancillary services like tax preparations.

  Under the new plan, Sam’s Club stores will begin catering to households that make more than $45,000 per year, by carrying more organic food, brand-name clothing and higher-end household products like 1,000-count Egyptian sheets.

  The changes come after the membership club has struggled in recent years to capture more affluent shoppers, while big box stores have encroached on the company’s former sweet-spot of selling discounted bulk-sized products.

  Some analysts say that Walmart itself is responsible for Sam’s Club’s faltering sales and popularity, as the big box retailer is the warehouse store’s largest competitor.

  Walmart founder Sam Walton launched Sam’s Club in 1983 as a place for small businesses to stock up on discounted bulk items, the WSJ points out.

  However, over the years the two retailer have become more alike, with analysts saying nearly 81% of Sam’s Club shoppers also shop at Walmart.

  Brewer doesn’t agree that Walmart is Sam’s biggest rival, but she does believe that the two companies should stick to their own lanes: Sam’s selling bulk items and Walmart selling more single items.

  The WSJ reports that Sam’s is already spreading its wings by testing higher-end stores in two regions. Those locations, which aim to attract shoppers from stores like Whole Foods, focus more on individual prepared meals, pricey furniture, apparel and food alongside rows of bulk items typical of the warehouse stores.

  This isn’t the first time Sam’s Club has tried to sidestep its parent company. Over the years, the retailer has dabbled in higher-priced products, but turnover in the executive offices has largely hampered those efforts.

  Sam’s Club Aims to Be Less Like Wal-Mart [The Wall Street Journal]

  
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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

uFAA: Software Upgrade Could Be Behind Technical Glitch That Snarled Hundreds Of Flights Over The Weekendr

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  (kevindean)

  If you had a terrible time trying to fly somewhere in the U.S. this past weekend, you’re not alone: hundreds of flights were delayed or canceled along the East Coast on Saturday before travel returned to a more normal pace on Sunday. The Federal Aviation Administration says the technical problem at a Virginia air traffic control center that caused the travel issues could be linked to a software upgrade at the facility.

  On Sunday the agency said the travel nightmare was likely connected to a software upgrade at one of its Leesburg, VA traffic control centers. The FAA has disabled the features that were included in the upgrade, the Wall Street Journal reports, calling the disruption an “automation failure.”

  The difficulties on Saturday prompted the FAA to restrict flights in the area served by that center from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. All told, the FAA says there were about 492 delays and 476 cancellations related to the technical problem, notes the Associated Press. That amounts to about 70% of normal Saturday air traffic at the Baltimore-Washington International Airport, 72% at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and 88% at Dulles International Airport, notes the Associated Press.

  The big airlines said on Sunday that most or all of their passengers had been rebooked on new flights. American Airlines was hit particularly hard, with 245 cancellations. United Airlines had 70.

  FAA Software Upgrade Fails, Triggering Travel Nightmare [Wall Street Journal]

  
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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uStarbucks Takes Its Booze, Small Plates Menu To Two Dozen More Storesr

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• Over the past several years, Starbucks has toyed with the idea of offering customers beverages with a bit more bite —testing an evening menu with booze and more substantial food than its typical bakery fare. Now, the company appears to be taking the plunge, announcing an expansion of its Evenings menu, which includes wine, craft beer and savory small plates.

  The company announced the move today, saying it doesn’t just want to be your morning go-to, but your night-time one, too.

  Starting on Wednesday, Starbucks’ Evenings menu will be offered at two dozen new locations across the U.S., including some in the Brooklyn, Denver, Miami, Orlando and Northern California areas, USA Today reports.

  By the end of the week the new menu, which features decadent small plates like bacon-wrapped dates and truffle mac ‘n cheese, will be available at 70 Starbucks stores – select locations in Seattle, Portland, California, Chicago and Atlanta already provide Evenings libations.

  

  Starbucks offers a sample version of its Evenings menu. [Click to enlarge]

  The new Evenings menu locations will feature a different aesthetic than your typical Starbucks, complete with more seating and mood lighting.

  Customers can still expect to pick up their beverages at the counter, but the company says to avoid spills they’ve ditched stemmed glasses in favor or more sturdy stemless glassware.

  The adult beverages will vary from store to store, with the company trying to keep things local by partnering with craft brewers and area wineries.

  Starbucks doesn’t appear content with just adding a few dozen stores slinging the boozy drinks, as it currently has liquor licenses pending for several hundred other locations across the country.

  Rachel Antalek, vice president of concept innovations for Starbucks, says the company is optimistic it will be granted the licenses, and have the stores up and running by the end of the year.

  “We learned resoundingly that our customers want to come to Starbucks and have a glass of wine or a craft beer,” Antalek said. “There aren’t that many places to go in the evening where you can go very relaxed, very casual. It’s not loud. You can actually have a small group and hear yourself talk.”

  Starbucks has been cautious about rolling out its adult-only beverage options since first announcing the concept back in 2009 as an attempt to drum up sales after 4 p.m.

  The company made a big ado about expanding the program in 2012, but only about 40 of the company’s U.S. coffee shops provided the offerings.

  Now, Antalek says the company plans to implement the Evenings menu in more than 2,000 of the company 12,000 stores.

  ‘Evenings’ at Starbucks: Coffee shop to sell wine, craft beer, small plates [USA Today]
  We love seeing you a little later. [Starbucks]

  
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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

uIt Ain’t Over Yet: Bird Flu Aftershocks Will Keep Egg, Whole Turkey Prices Highr

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  (Dyanna Hyde)

  Though the bird flu crisis might be over now, the toll it’s taken on egg and poultry producers in the U.S. will continue for quite some time. Industry experts say egg prices will climb higher than previously predicted, and stay high through 2016. Meanwhile, frozen wholesale turkeys will also cost more this Thanksgiving than last year.

  After 48 million chickens and turkeys were destroyed this year during the avian flu outbreak, limited supplies of baby poultry and not enough space to house them could make it tough for farmers to rebuild their poultry populations, reports Reuters.

  Egg prices are going to tick up higher than experts thought, according to estimates from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and could stay high into 2016, while frozen turkeys will likely cost 19% more than they did last year for Thanksgiving.

  It’s been two months since the last case of flu was reported, but poultry producers say it could take two years or so of rebuilding to get their flocks back to where they used to be.

  Many Iowa chicken sites have yet to get approval from the USDA to bring in new replacement birds, further slowing rebuilding efforts until farms can bring in egg-laying chickens this fall. Many poultry sites will probably remain closed until the end of this year, because of the time it takes to fully and properly clean farms to make sure the virus has been eradicated.

  Things could get bad again if wild ducks spread the flu during their seasonal migrations as well.

  The USDA hiked its estimate for wholesale frozen turkeys in the second quarter to $1.28 to $1.36 per pound, up from an average of about $1.14 a year earlier. Though turkeys often go for a discount to drive holiday sales, you might not get as much of a deal as previous years.

  “Some chains might not discount them quite as heavily,” USDA agricultural economist Dave Harvey told Reuters.

  And as we reported previously egg prices are at a record high, with wholesale shell egg prices in the Midwest hitting $2.88 a dozen in the first week of August — almost twice the price a year earlier. These prices have restaurants and stores cutting back on eggs: in June, Texas-based Whataburger trimmed its breakfast hours to cut down on the number of eggs it went through, McDonald’s could end up putting the kibosh on its all-day breakfast menu expansion, while Dunkin’ Donuts has already canceled a major promotion it had planned because of tight supplies.

  Bird flu aftershocks to drive U.S. turkey, egg prices higher [Reuters]

  
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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uTV Retail Meets Online Flash Sales In QVC Parent Company’s $2.4B Purchase Of Zulilyr

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• In what appears to be a match made in retail heaven, the owner of QVC plans to purchase growing flash sale business Zulily for about $2.4 billion.

  The Wall Street Journal reports that Liberty Interactive Group will add to its e-commerce portfolio with the purchase of five-year-old Zulily.

  The pending marriage seems like a natural step for the two retail entities. In the past, Zulily CEO Darrell Cavens has likened his site to the web’s version of QVC, saying the two companies share similar selling approaches and customers.

  Zulily has grown in popularity following the recession, when high-end retailers had piles of merchandise that nobody wanted. The site has become almost synonymous with long wait times, however, as the company doesn’t have items on hand when they sell them, but instead waits until an item has sold out before the vendor ships the items.

  As we’ve pointed out in the past, customers have to wait several weeks to receive their purchases, and they’re okay with that. Such was the case in early 2014: when Zulily experienced a massive backlog earlier that year, that required hiring extra staff, we didn’t receive any complaints about it here at Consumerist.

  The new combined company is expected to have revenue of more than $10 billion.

  QVC to Acquire Online Shopping Site Zulily for $2.4 Billion [The Wall Street Journal]

  
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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

uFederal Judge Applies Common Sense, Decides Yelp Reviewers Are Not Employeesr

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  (jdong)

  Last year, we shared the news that a group of Yelp reviewers whose accounts had been deactivated were suing the website for back wages. The ex-reviewers claimed that they had performed the functions of an employee, with guidance and critique from Yelp management, by providing content that the site could sell ads against. U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg dismissed the case last week

  One major problem is that it wasn’t quite clear to the judge what the plaintiffs were after; the original complaint seems to ask for minimum wage for every Yelp review ever written. He gave their work on this case a metaphorical one-star rating, calling their filings “rambling and invective-filled papers.”

  It also may help that the judge, or maybe one of his clerks, has actually used Yelp before. The class action attempted to frame registering for a Yelp account and writing reviews as being “hired” by the site, which is not how employment works under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, or in any rational universe. As the decision puts it:

  A reasonable inference to be drawn from the complaint, and from plaintiffs’ arguments, is plaintiffs use the term “hired” to refer to a process by which any member of the public can sign up for an account on the Yelp website and submit reviews, and the term “fired” to refer to having their accounts involuntarily closed, presumably for conduct that Yelp contends breached its terms of service agreement.

  In summary, writing Yelp reviews is a voluntary activity that people do for fun. Giving you “Elite” status and inviting you to parties does not make it a job. Even if Yelp does sell ads against user reviews, that doesn’t necessarily mean that users are providing a service for Yelp: no one asked them to

  Jeung et al. v. Yelp Inc. [Decision] (via Courthouse News)

  SEE ALSO:
  3 Reasons Why Yelp Should Reconsider Its “Elite” Yelper Program

  
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by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

uTarget Expands Its Test Of Curbside Pickup To New York And New Jerseyr

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  (Curbside)

  Do you enjoy shopping at Target, but dislike getting out of your car? What if you could visit Target without the temptation to pick up random items and end up with a cart full of merchandise when you were only there to pick up one thing? Your salvation may be at hand: Target is expanding curbside pickup.

  Paired with the news that the retailer also is about to try grocery delivery, it looks like maybe they don’t want us in their stores anymore at all. The appeal is obvious, though: it combines online shopping with not having to wait around for two days for your stuff to show up. At the same time, you don’t have to actually go into the store, which is the problem that

  Target started this service with some stores near San Francisco, where they’ve been working with a startup called Curbside that provides the special app that lets stores know when you’re nearby, so they can get your package ready. Curbside has been working on a special outdoor pod for stores and malls that use its pickup service: whether these will be a San Francisco oddity or as familiar a sight outside stores as Redboxes have become, we’ll find out in the coming years.

  So far, the expansion outside of San Francisco will be to ten Target stores in New York City and northern New Jersey, but prepare to have this become an even more common way to shop in coming years.

  
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by Laura Northrup via Consumerist