Wal-Mart Employee Trampled to Death by Customers

Nov. 28 (Bloomberg) -- A worker at a Wal-Mart in New York City’s Long Island suburbs was killed when a throng of shoppers broke down the doors to the store early this morning and knocked him to the ground.

The event involved a temporary employee and was “a tragic situation,” Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s biggest retailer, said in a statement. “The safety and security of our customers and associates is our top priority.”

It wasn’t immediately clear if any shoppers or workers have been killed during similar incidents during sales on the day after Thanksgiving, traditionally known as Black Friday.

“We do not know of an incident such as what happened today,” Ellen Davis, a spokeswoman for the Washington-based National Retail Federation, said in an e-mail. “It is a horribly tragic situation. Retailers are reminded of the importance of employee safety.”

At least four shoppers were hurt in the melee at the store in the Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream, about 13 miles (20 kilometers) east of New York City, Nassau County Police said in a statement. The injured include a 28-year-old pregnant woman who was taken to a nearby hospital for observation and three people who suffered minor wounds, police said.

The 34-year-old worker, who wasn’t identified by police, was knocked down by the crowd shortly after 5 a.m. local time and taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 6:03 a.m., the police said. The county medical examiner will determine the cause of death.

Temporary Employee

The man was working for a temporary agency on the company’s behalf, Wal-Mart said in the statement.

About 2,000 people had gathered outside the store as it prepared to open, Newsday reported, citing police Detective Lieutenant Michael Fleming, who spoke at a briefing. Shoppers in the back of the line pushed those in the front into the doors, which then came off their hinges, the newspaper said.

Hundreds of people then surged into the store, knocking over the worker and trampling him, Newsday said, citing Fleming. Authorities are reviewing surveillance video and are considering criminal charges although it may be difficult to identify individual shoppers, the newspaper said.

Some people continued to shop despite the efforts of upset store workers, who attempted to get them to leave, Newsday said, citing Kimberly Cribbs, a shopper from Far Rockaway.

Store Closed

The store was later closed by police, said Carolyn Kasdorf, a department spokeswoman.

U.S. retailers including Wal-Mart opened their doors as early as midnight and discounted merchandise as much as 70 percent on the day after Thanksgiving to counter what may be the weakest holiday shopping season in six years.

Retailers promoted “doorbuster” deals to attract customers on Black Friday, so named because the day after Thanksgiving was said to be when retailers started to make their annual profit, having paid off their costs from sales earlier in the year.

The Valley Stream store was offering discounted merchandise including a $128 Magnavox DVD player, a $97 Garmin GPS navigation system and a $69 Samsung digital camera, according to a promotional flyer posted on Wal-Mart’s Web site.

Axl Rose Accuses Dr Pepper of Malpractice

Los Angeles (E! Online) – All is fair in Chinese Democracy, except when the citizens are denied the opportunity to drink what the Dr ordered.

Axl Rose, wholely mum when Dr Pepper announced that it would bestow a free 20-ounce bottle to all Americans when Guns N' Roses' years-in-the-making album finally dropped, is taking the company to task via his attorney after learning that not all customers were served.

The soft-drink slinger had arranged to bestow online coupons to any thirsty freebie-seeker who visited its website on Nov. 23, but the site crashed due to...well, high traffic brought on by people's insatiable desire for free stuff.

The promotion was extended for another day, but the site was unreachable for most of it, per Rose.

And despite what surely is Rose's sympathy for those who have trouble meeting customer demand, his lawyer is calling the attention-getting ploy an "unmitigated disaster which defrauded customers."

In a letter to Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc, Beverly Hills-based Alan Gutman demanded that the company extend the promotion and place full-page apologies in the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and USA Today.

Calling the campaign an "exploitation of my clients' legendary reputation and their eagerly awaited album, Gutman wrote that "mocking undertones" in the Dr Pepper promotion made for a "raw and damaging commercial exploitation of our clients' rights," which was then made even worse by the "shoddy execution of your disingenuous giveaway offer."

Oh, and the band would like some money now, too.

Threatening further legal action if no reparations are made, Gutman requests "appropriate payment...for the unauthorized use and abuse of their publicity and intellectual property rights."

UPDATE: In a statement to E! News, a Dr Pepper rep says: "For us, this was a fun giveaway that has always been about the fans, and we've taken great steps to fulfill it, including:

• extending the window for the giveaway from 24 to 42 hours • Adding a toll-free line to handle consumer requests for the coupons • Setting up an interactive voice recorder to accept coupon requests This was one of the largest responses we have ever received for a giveaway, and we're happy we were able to satisfy the thirst of so many Dr Pepper fans."

Top 10 Black Friday Sites

Well, hopefully you are geared up for Black Friday, as I am on the lookout for great deals. The following sites include a Wii tracker, downloadable ads, and more! So hopefully you find what you need and then some. Happy Thanksgiving!

*Clicking on each picture will take you to the respective site

1. Dealnews.com (Wii Tracker)






2. Amazon.com






3. TGI Black Friday






4. Mahalo






5. GottaDeal.com






6. Black Friday Gear






7. BlackFriday.FM






8. Black Friday Ads






9. iBlackFriday.com






10. Bradsdeals.com

Family's Punching Bag Holds Smelly Surprise

Man Says Bag Filled With Underwear

CINCINNATI -- A Cincinnati-area family got a smelly surprise when they opened a punching bag they purchased earlier this year.

Joe Heckel said he and his son were moving a TKO brand heavy punching bag from their garage to the basement when they decided to see what was inside in case the bag later leaked. But Heckel said that instead of sand or plastic pellets, he found the bag full of men's and women's underwear, some of it used.

"(There were) bras, thongs and bathing suits. We could not believe there were clothes inside instead of sand," he said.

Heckel said the smell was "bad, real bad."

Heckel said that contacting the store where he'd bought the bag didn't go anywhere.

"I called to ask them if they could tell me if these were clean underwear, but I don't think that he believed me," Heckel said. "I said 'I'm a cop, I'm telling you that's what's in there!' He stated that he had never looked in a bag so he didn't know what was in them."

Heckel described the discovery as "gross but kind of funny in a way," and couldn't help but chuckle as he told his story. He and his son finished installing the punching bag after taking pictures, but he says they have yet to use it.

A spokeswoman for the store told partner Web site WLWT.com that they were unaware of what had happened, but asked for Heckel's phone number so they could contact him about the matter.

Attempts by WLWT.com to contact Technical Knockout Inc., the company that owns the TKO brand, have been unsuccessful. A number listed for the company was "unassigned."

But on Thursday, a company representative saw Heckel's story on a Houston Web site and called him.

Heckel said Thursday that the representative told him that the underwear in the bag was a "quality problem" that they were dealing with, and that the people who had made the decision to put underwear in the bags had been fired.

The representative said a new, non-underwear-filled bag would be shipped to Heckel shortly.

Black Friday looking bleak for retailers

In this tough economic time, you look around and notice a ton of stores closing their doors.  

• The Ann Taylor chain of women's clothing stores (which includes Ann Taylor, LOFT, Ann Taylor Factory and LOFT Outlet stores) said in Novermber 2008 they would expand the scope of a restructuring announced in January 2008 that included the closing of 117 stores (out of approximately 966 locations).



• The Bombay Company chain of imported home furnishings stores filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September 2007. All 384 of its U.S.-based stores were closed and liquidated in January 2008 (but new ownership still operates approximately 48 Bombay & Co. stores in Canada).



• The Caché chain of women's specialty apparel stores closed 14 underperforming outlets, but is still has 295 stores across the country and is still opening new stores.



• The Charming Shoppes chain of plus-size women's apparel stores has closed 150 of its approximately 2,360 outlets.



• The Circuit City chain of retail electronics stores filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November 2008 and is closing 155 stores across the U.S. (More information about Circuit City's business operations under Chapter 11 protection can be found here.)



• The CompUSA chain of consumer electronics stores was sold to the Gordon Brothers Group restructuring firm in December 2007, and most of its 103 outlets were subsequently closed. In January 2008 many of the remaining assets and the CompUSA brand were sold to Systemax, Inc. which currently operates 23 CompUSA stores in Florida, Illinois, North Carolina and Puerto Rico, as well as an online store, CompUSA.com. (CompUSA continues to accept gift cards.)



• The Dillard's department store chain closed 20 outlets in 2008 and said it expects more store closures in 2009.



• The Disney Store chain was reacquired by the Walt Disney Co in March 2008; Disney has since closed 98 of its 322 North American stores.



• The Eddie Bauer chain of casual apparels stores shut down 27 outlets in the first quarter of 2008 and planned to close a few more stores by the end of the year.



• The Ethan Allen chain of home furnishings stores closed 12 retail design centers and two service centers in 2008.



• The Foot Locker chain of shoe stores chain closed 274 outlets (out of more than 3,700) in 2007 and another 60 in the first quarter of 2008, with more such closures likely.



• Whitehall Jewelers acquired the remnants of the Friedman's and Crescent chains in early 2008 after that combined company entered bankruptcy, then Whitehall itself filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June 2008 and began liquidating and closing all 373 of its remaining stores.



• The Gap chain of clothiers (whose brands include Old Navy and Banana Republic) closed 17 stores while opening 37 more during the third quarter of 2008, ending with a total of 3,190 outlets. The company expects to close 115 stores while opening 100 more locations during the 2008 fiscal year.



• The Movie Gallery/Hollywood Video video rental chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October 2007, just after announcing plans to close 520 stores. In February 2008 the chain announced closings of 400 more outlets, and in April 2008 Movie Gallery said they were shutting down another 160 underperforming stores. The chain emerged from bankruptcy reorganization in May 2008 and currently operates about 3,500 outlets.



• The Home Depot chain of home improvements stores announced in May 2008 that it would be closing 15 underperforming outlets.



• The KB Toys chain of retail toy stores entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 2004 and at that time announced plans to close 375 of its outlets. It emerged from Chapter 11 reorganization in August 2005.



• The Kirkland's chain of home decor stores is expecting to close 130 (of its approximately 335) outlets by the middle of 2009.



• The Levitz Furniture chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection (for the third time in ten years) in November 2007 and shortly afterwards began the process of closing its stores and liquidating its remaining inventory.



• The Lowe's chain of home improvement stores announced that it was "scaling back" in the sense of opening fewer new outlets in 2008 and 2009 than originally planned, but the company still expects to complete the opening of between 115 to 120 new stores in 2008, with more new stores (and no closures) to follow in 2009.



• The Macy's chain of department stores (which also includes Bloomingdale's) closed 11 (of its approximately 850) outlets in 2008.



• Pacific Sunwear closed 74 underperforming stores in its d.e.m.o. line in 2007 and closed all 154 of its remaining d.e.m.o. stores in 2008. (The company has not so far announced plans to close any of its core Pacific Sunware outlets.)



• The Pep Boys chain of auto supply and repair stores closed 31 low-return outlets (out of approximately 600 stores) at the end of 2007.



• The Sharper Image chain of electronics and specialty gifts stores filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February 2008, then began closing and liquidating all 184 of its outlets in June 2008.



• Sprint, a global provider of voice, data and Internet services, announced in January 2008 that it would be closing about 125 of its 1,400 retail outlets.



• Talbots Inc. announced in November 2008 that it was seeking to sell off its chain of J. Jill casual clothier stores. (Talbots has already shed its Talbots Kids, Talbots Mens and U.K. businesses and has closed an additional 28 Talbots stores out of about 1,400 total outlets.) However, we have found no announcement that Talbots is planning to close any J. Jill outlets in the near future: The chain still operates 283 locations, is still opening new stores, and is still selling and redeeming gift cards.



• The Wickes Furniture chain began liquidating merchandise and fixtures at locations nationwide in February 2008 as part of bankruptcy proceedings.



• Wilsons Leather (the Leather Experts) shut down its mall-based locations in 2008, but in July 2008 the Wilsons Leather Outlet Stores (and e-commerce) business was acquired by G-III Apparel Group, which currently operates 119 Wilsons outlets in the U.S.



• Zales Corp, which operates Zales Jewelers, Zales Outlet, Gordon's Jewelers, Peoples Jewellers, Mappins Jewellers, and Piercing Pagoda, closed approximately 105 retail outlets (out of 2,130) in 2008, half of them kiosks and half of them stores. However, the company also opened approximately 100 new outlets in 2008, so the net change in the number of Zales-operated stores was relatively small.

Dr Pepper to Deliver On Its Free-Soda Promise

Associated Press

The soft-drink maker said in March that it would give a free soda to everyone in America if the album dropped in 2008. "Chinese Democracy," infamously delayed since recording began in 1994, goes on sale Sunday.

"We never thought this day would come," Tony Jacobs, Dr Pepper's vice president of marketing, said in a statement. "But now that it's here, all we can say is: The Dr Pepper's on us."

Beginning Sunday at 12:01 a.m., coupons for a free 20-ounce soda will be available for 24 hours on Dr Pepper's Web site. They'll be honored until Feb. 28.

Dr Pepper is owned by Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc.

http://www.drpepper.com/

Black Friday before Friday?

Retailers are launching their Black Friday specials early to motivate budget-conscious buyers. You can normally find the latest Black Friday ads on sites like BlackFriday.info, Bargainist.com, DealTaker.com, BFads.net, and TheBlackfriday.com, so check those out before you go shopping this weekend, because it looks like retailers are slashing prices early this year.

Here's a list of sales happening right now, just to give you an idea:

Walmart: Starting November 8th, Walmart will have in-store specials starting at 8 am. The retailer will be selling several 15.4-inch Compaq CQ50-139WM laptops for $298, Sony's 2GB Walkman player for $49, Samsung's S760 point-and-shoot digital camera in red for $89, a 46-inch Sanyo 1080p LCD HDTV for $798. Check out the flyer here.

Best Buy will also be marking down the eMachines laptop (eMD620-5777) for $299 according to BFAds.net. The laptop includes a 14.1-inch screen, 1GB DDR2, 160GB hard drive, Windows Vista, and AMD Athlon 2650e processor. The site has a side-by-side comparison of this laptop versus the Compaq notebook being sold at Walmart.

Kmart is offering the 32-inch Sylvania LCD HDTV for $440 and the Wii Fit for $90, according to I4U, and Sears has a lot of sales in the electronics department too, so check those out.

Circuit City will be closing some stores this quarter, so it may be running lots of promotions off and online too. Look around between now and Black Friday for more savings.