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Tech NewsLondon’s Giant Shoebox Is Actually An Adidas Pop-Up Shop
Pop-up shops are a dime a dozen these days but, when a brand decides to get weird, it’s often memorable. Such was the case with the recent Adidas project in London’s Shoreditch neighborhood. Designed to celebrate the launch of the new Stan Smith collection, this giant shoebox of a pop-up shop had a short run. … Continued
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Tech NewsPrivacy & Security
How Well 100 Top Online Retail Sites Look After Your Password
Ever wondered if the site that you’re typing your credit card details in can really be trusted? Well, a new report reveals how well 1o0 top retail sites look after your details. The research, carried out by Dashlane, used 24 criteria to assess how seriously the sites took security—from acceptance of weak password to emailing … Continued
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Tech News
Screw Your Murphy Bed, This One Flips Over Into a Desk
Would you ever walk into a stranger’s home and ask to buy the necklace draped on their side table? Or offer to give them cash for some of their cutlery? No? Well, meet Mira Schröder. She lives in an apartment that functions as a part-time showroom, where everything—including the amazing flippable bed above—is available for … Continued
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Tech News
In the Future, Malls Will Be Halls Full of Screens
Westfield Labs is partnering with eBay this holiday season to offer the world a sneak peek at the mall of the future. And it’s just a bunch of touchscreens. Sony, Toms, and Rebecca Minkoff are all simulating the experience of shopping online by offering digital storefronts that amount to heavily branded kiosks where you can … Continued
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Tech NewsCommerce
WSJ: Amazon Is Going to Start Sunday Deliveries
The Wall Street Journal claims that Amazon is planning to start delivering packages on Sundays, to customers in Los Angeles and New York, in a new partnership with the United States Postal Service. The new collaboration will kick off on November 17th in the nation’s two largest cities, but is intended to expands to Dallas, … Continued
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Tech News
Urban Outfitters Is Going to Build Its Own Tiny Town
Good news retail fans! Everybody’s favorite skinny jeans store, Urban Outfitters, is about to break ground not only on a new store but on an entire little Urban Outfitters town. Soon you’ll be able to eat, sleep and shop without ever leaving leaving the cozy embrace of Urban Outfitters. Just like in college. Okay, so … Continued
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Tech News
This Automated Drive-In Market Was Pretty Retro, Even For 1956
This fully automated drive-in food market held the promise of a leisurely, push-button future. But even people of the 1950s probably recognized it as a sleek re-imagining of a surprisingly retro idea. The drive-in market of the 1920s revolutionized how a lot of Americans shopped for food. For better and worse, the world was fast … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech News
IKEA’s Going to Sell Solar Panels Now (No Assembly Required)
Get excited, Earthlings who like the Earth: IKEA just announced a new program to sell energy-saving solar panels in each of its 17 UK stores. This means that with a little bit more effort than it takes to purchase a set of Billy bookcases, Brits can be doing their part to bring the world a … Continued
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Tech NewsCommerce
Now You Can Buy Fine Art on Amazon
Amazon has just announced that it’s partnered up with over 150 galleries and art dealers across the US to sell you fine art through its new initiative Amazon Art. The site offers over 40,000 original works of fine art, showcasing 4,500 artists. That, perhaps unsurprisingly, makes it the largest online collection of art directly available … Continued
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Tech News
Samsung Is Building 1,400 Retail Stores Inside Best Buys
In a bid to compete more directly with Apple, Samsung has announced that in the coming months it will open 1,400 Samsung Experience shops within Best Buy stores around the US. Following an agreement made by Sammy and Best Buy in December, the venture will see 900 stores open across the country by May, with … Continued
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Tech NewsCommerce
Amazon Is Buying Goodreads (Updated)
Noted online bookstore and retailer Amazon.com is buying the excellent online books-related social network and information portal Goodreads. Well, that’s a deal that makes a lot of sense. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Goodreads, the online books portal is a place where users can connect with each other, and keep track of … Continued
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Tech News
Rumor: Google Is Working on Same-Day Amazon Prime Killer
TechCrunch claims that Google is “stealthily preparing” to launch a new same-day-shipping Amazon Prime competitor called Google Shopping Express. Sources have told TechCrunch that the service would cost $59 a year—undercutting Amazon’s annual Prime subscription by $10—and allow customers to receive same-day deliveries from bricks-and-mortar stores. The sources don’t expand on which those stores might … Continued
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Tech News
Google Might Be Opening Its Own Google Stores
According to 9to5Google, Google has plans to open standalone retail stores to sell Google products like the Nexus 4, Nexus 7, Nexus 10, Chromebooks, Google Glasses and more. The goal is to open its first flagship Google Store by the end of the year. Unlike Google’s current pop up-style stores inside Best Buys, these Google … Continued
By Casey Chan -
Tech News
How Apple Sets Its Prices
Apple pricing is unlike almost every other brand in consumer tech: consistent across each and every retailer, and rarely discounted. How do Cook and Co manage to pull that off? MacWorld has an interesting article about the techniques which Apple uses to keep its prices fixed. From the article: Most products move from manufacturers to … Continued
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Tech News
Mannequins May Be Watching You Shop With Their Horrifying Eyeless Faces
If you’ve ever had the sneaking suspicion smooth-faced mannequins were secretly watching you while you shop, you’re probably just paranoid. But you might also be right. According to reports by Bloomberg, some high-end retailers are already rolling out models that watch you shop with secret cameras. These creepy, stalker mannequins go by the brand name … Continued
By Eric Limer -
Tech News
Why Was This Shady AT&T Manager Letting People Cut the iPhone Line?
The Bronx: home of J. Lo, sulfur fumes, and crooked iPhone sales? It seemed that way while waiting at the Bay Plaza shopping mall this morning, where one retail chief didn’t seem to play by the rules. The line was modest, but it didn’t matter when a dark-tinted SUV rolled up as customers were slowly … Continued
By Sam Biddle -
Tech NewsAT&T Opens Up Fancy Flagship Shop in Chicago
AT&T’s fancy new flagship shop in Chicago’s Magnificent Mile district is a 10,000-square-foot space teeming with technologies. There’s the biometric security system, which reads employees’ fingerprints. The iPad point-of sale system (which the carrier hopes to roll out to all of its stores in the next couple of years). An “Apps Bar”, a “Lifestyle Boutique”, … Continued
By Molly Oswaks -
Tech NewsCommerce
How Amazon’s Same-Day Delivery Plan Will Kill Your Local Stores
For years, Amazon has fought to avoid having to collect sales tax in order to keep its prices low. Now, though, it’s given up on that that battle and instead looks set to launch a same-day delivery service—and that could destroy local retail as we know it. Farhad Manjoo has put together a wonderfully insightful … Continued