‘Telepresence’ Robots Help at the Office
Milwaukee — Shortly before New Year’s Day, a ten-person team combed through the 18-story building on Northwestern Mutual’s downtown campus here seeking an elusive culprit: the poinsettia plant. At home, Amy Lamb, who works in the insurer’s software development and support area, was waiting to hear the results of their search to determine when she could return to the office. For six years, Lamb has been forced by a severe poinsettia...
Warm Weather Leaves Stores in the Cold
New York — The unseasonably warm weather has left some people feeling cold about holiday shopping. Rosemarie Nowicki, who lives in Berkeley Heights, N.J., finally spent some of her holiday budget last weekend buying coats online for her family because she hated the thought of being stuck in a store with such mild temperatures outside. “It’s hard to get into the holiday spirit; I’ve been walking around in short-sleeve shirts and capri...
Consumer Confidential: You’ve Bought It. Now What About Returning It?
On Black Friday, people’s thoughts turned from a celebration of thankfulness to spending gobs of cash on modestly discounted consumer goods. I’m not here to judge. But I am here to offer some tips on two of the big Rs of the holiday shopping season: rebates and returns. “There’s a lot of variability with how manufacturers and retailers handle this,” said Karl Quist, president of PriceBlink, an online price-comparison tool. “It...
Protect Yourself From Holiday Identity Theft
The holidays are a great time for buying gifts – and also a prime time for thieves. But having your purse or wallet stolen in a busy mall might be the least of your worries this year when it comes to holiday shopping and identity theft. Here are the best ways to protect yourself from different types of identity theft this holiday season. Stick With Familiar Retailers and B rands: Popular holiday products are often similarly...
Day Doesn’t Draw Shopping Throngs
New York — The annual ritual of Black Friday, as we know it, is over. Gone are the throngs of frenzied shoppers camping out for days ahead of the big sales bonanza on the day after Thanksgiving. And forget the fisticuffs over flat-screen TVs. Instead, stores around the country had sparse parking lots, calm, orderly lines, and modest traffic. Black Friday, which traditionally is the biggest shopping day of the year, almost looked like...
