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Nov
16

20 Weird Retail Shops You Never Knew Existed

Category: Interesting Facts, retail lists, Weird, WTF Tags: Cashiers, Interesting, retail stores, weird, weird stores, WTF Leave a Comment

In the retail world, we have pet retailers, wine retailers- and zombie apocalypse retailers? Here are 20 interesting retail shops that you never would have thought existed. But oh, they do.

1. Zombie Apocalypse Store (Las Vegas)

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The Las Vegas-based store sells everything from survival blankets to children’s books to educate the little ones about potential zombie attacks. To them, “zombies” can be a metaphor for many things: earthquakes, terrorists, the Government, or “anything that you think you and your family should prepare yourselves for- or against.” Intense.
Via thetruthaboutguns.com

2. Mr. Throwback (New York)

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Mr. Throwback sells vintage sportswear, sneakers, starter jackets, NBA champion jerseys, snapbacks, toys, and video games that scream nostalgia! Born out of the Hell’s Kitchen flea market in 2011, it has now become so successful that it opened up a store in Manhattan. What makes Mr. Throwback even more awesome? They use Bindo’s POS *wink*
Via mr.throwback.com

3. My Man Cave Store (Myrtle Beach)

A wife’s worst nightmare but a husband’s best friend, this store has all the tools you need to build your man cave. Whether you men mentally escape the real world by chugging beer or by listening to rock or by watching football, this South Carolina-based store has got you covered. Just make sure you treat your wife to the spa after she finds out you’ve bought a giant pool table.
Via mymancave.com

4. The Time Travel Mart (Los Angeles)

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Next time you travel back in time, you might want to buy some time travel sickness pills. Luckily, you can find them at The Time Travel Mart. While you’re there, why not pick up some robot milk or dinosaur eggs? With 2 locations in Los Angeles, this store will definitely be your go-to place the next time you run out of mammoth chunks.
Via timeout.com

5. DapperCadaver (Sun Valley)

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Ever want to buy the props you see in Pirates of the Carribbean or Breaking Bad? Just visit DapperCadaver and you can! Whether you need a sheep’s brain for a psychology teacher or more burnt bones to add to your skeletal collection, this store has it all. If it’s good enough for Lady Gaga or Ke$a (just some of the musicians they work with), it should be good enough for you.
Via bjwinslow.com

6. Wall Drug Store (South Dakota)

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When you’re driving through South Dakota, you’ll have to stop by the Wall Drug. Founded during the depression, the store is not just a drug store, but an experience, says customers: There’s a chapel, a fudge store, southwestern art pieces, postcards, boots, and a huge selection of Christmas cards. And yes, they do fill prescriptions.
Via wikimedia.org

7. NicNacs4Peanuts (Philadelphia)

Just the name of The store instantly grabs your attention. Having named her store after her two daughters, NicNac and Peanuts (yes, they’re nicknames), the storeowner sells eclectic, vintage products that you can’t find anywhere else (see the Marijuana, billions stoned sign up there?). Next time you want a unique gift, you’ll know where to go (if you’re in Philly).
Via facebook.com/nicnac4peanuts

8. Gamblers General Store (Las Vegas)

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Gambling addicts beware! The Gambler’s General Store has over 15,000 gambling products and can manufacture personalized custom chips for you, just like it did for The Soprano’s, Ocean’s 11, and Rush Hour 2. But gambling for them doesn’t just stop with cards, the Gambler’s General Store even has books on horseracing, sports betting, and bingo. Talk about a gambler’s dream come true!
Via southernaristocracy.files.wordpress.com

9. American Science & Surplus (Milwaukee, Chicago, & Geneva)

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This store’s range of eclectic products, many with a scientific or educational edge, is surely for those who are fascinated by discovery and invention- or for those who just love DIY projects. American Science & Surplus, which seems to attract both the young and old, is more than a store, says customers, it’s a total experience. They often end up spending hours in there.
Via gogobot.com

10. San Francisco Sock Market (San Francisco)

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Made for financiers of the fashion world, The Sock Market mirrors “the stock market,” offering “Blue Chip” socks to the well-established businessmen and “Penny Socks” for the kids who have “tremendous growth potential.” The website boasts 3 “sock markets” that you should check out: The San Francisco Sock Market, The Las Vegas Sock Market, and The Los Angeles Sock Market.
Via roadtrippers.com

11. Alternate Reality Comics (Las Vegas)

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The reviews had me sold at Ralph. He’s the owner of the store who has been described as “nothing but nice and helpful.” Another store run by a husband-wife duo, Alternate Reality Comics not only has a wide variety of comics, but plush toys and paintings from local artists. Still, I definitely want to meet Ralph.
Via alternaterealitycomics.com

12. Requiem Oddities (New Orleans)

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If you like surrounding yourself with animal taxidermies and skeletal jewelry, you’ll find yourself spending hours upon hours in Requiem Oddities. Not to mention, this “morbid curiosity shop” has one of the kindest (and coolest!) storeowners you’ll ever meet, according to customers. Ask about her history, they say.
Via tonyromeo

13. Rainbow Feathers Co. (Las Vegas)

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Anyone a fan of feathers? If so, you’ll definitely want to visit Rainbow Feathers in Vegas. They’ve got every single kind of feather you can think of in every single color you can think of…for any kind of purpose you can think of.
Via Clay H. from yelp.com

14. The Freemans Sporting Club

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Functional and long lasting garments are not the only reason why we loveFreemans Sporting Club, or F.S.C., we also love them because they too chant the mantra, “Made Local, Buy Local.” They support what is in the essence of this whole #ShopLocal trend: handmade goods with quality and durability made by skilled artisans. Oh, and they’re also a barber shop. Neat.
Via hypebeast.com

15. Wacko Soap Plant (Los Angeles)

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Don’t let this store’s name fool you. Wacko Soap Plant doesn’t just sell wacky soaps. The LA-based store sells books, ceramics, unique jewelry, and leather jackets worn by people like Elton John and sponsored by fashion brands like Levi Strauss. With inventory of over 2 million items, you’ll probably end up spending a lot of time in this store. It looks like Paris Hilton definitely has.
Via californiafrommylens.com

16. Woolly Mammoth Antiques & Oddities (Chicago)

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Another oddities store, Woolly Mammoth Antiques & Oddities focuses on animal themed-ephemera, taxidermy, medical devices, funeral objects, circus products, and art made by the owners. They even have classes like “How To Skin a Bird” so that you can make your own taxidermy and cool videos like this, showing wacky devices that can cure baldness and arthritis.
Via woollymammothchicago.com

17. Eyes Gallery (Philadelphia)

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The background of the Eyes Gallery is almost as cool as the actual store. Having completed a 3 year stint with the Peace Corps working as Art Advisors to the Ayamara and Inca people of the Andes mountains of Peru, this husband-wife duo opened Eyes Gallery and sells the coolest vintage and folk art you’ll find in town.
Via press.visitphilly.com

18. Farmacia Y Botancia Million Dollar (Los Angeles)

What happens when you want someone to fall in love with you but it just seems impossible? Buy love potion, obviously! You’ll find them at Farmacia Y Botanica Million Dollar, along with bath oil that quells gossip and medallions to protect children.
Via timeout.com

19. Bonanza Gifts

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If you’re going to open the world’s largest gift shop, it should definitely be in Vegas, baby! This store has over 40,000 square feet of shopping, selling virtually any “gift-shop product” you can think of. But as the storeowners themselves say, this ain’t just your daddy’s old t-shirt and postcard store!
Via lasvegas360.com

20. The Thing (New York)

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If you’re obsessed with digging through crates for old records and being overwhelmed with that feeling of nostalgia every time you come across an unexpected oldie, you have to come here. They even have “Diggin’ for Dummies” notes telling you how to dig through crates correctly. The Thing has thousands, maybe millions, of records- some going for only $2.
Via pitchfork.com

Know of other quirky stores to add to the list? Let us know in the comments below!

Sourced from bindopost.com

Nov
13

By IHWIR Admin

America’s Workers Are Out-Stealing America’s Shoplifters

Category: Retail Articles Tags: Interesting, theft, Workers Leave a Comment

Maybe if retail staff were paid better, stores wouldn’t lose $18 billion a year to in-house theft.

Shutterstock/The Atlantic

In a couple of weeks, the media will shift its attention to the madness of holiday retail, as if the fate of the American economy rests on how many hours (or days) in advance people started waiting in line to get into a sale at Best Buy. But one thing that might get lost in the coverage of Black Friday stampedes is how much money retailers will lose from shoplifting and theft—at the hands of their own employees.

The Global Retail Barometer, an annual report released late last week, revealed that American retail staff steal a lot more from their employers than actual, dedicated thieves: Employees account for 43 percent of revenues that were lost but shouldn’t have been, while shoplifters account for 37 percent. Usually, this takes the form of unsupervised sleight-of-hand at the register—benefiting from purposely canceling transactions that shouldn’t be canceled or issuing unwarranted refunds—and it accounted for about $18 billion in lost retail revenue last year in the U.S.

As MarketWatch noted, the outsize dent left by employees is more or less unique to America. The rate at which U.S. employees steal from their companies is nearly the highest in the world, second only to Argentina’s. Worldwide, retail workers contribute to only 28 percent of revenues lost.

So how might employee theft be reduced? Increasing supervision isn’t a guaranteed fix, as it might just engender more of the negative feelings that lead to theft in the first place. Instead, it might help to simply pay employees more: A 2012 study suggests that if retailers pay their employees better than their competitors do, employee theft will mostly disappear. Having a higher disposable income might be part of it, but the study suggested that paying higher wages can create a work culture that’s more premised on honesty.

Funnily enough, that’s exactly the opposite of what most employers have been doing. As Vox observed, wage theft on the part of U.S. firms is rampant: Nearly a billion dollars in wages that rightfully belonged to workers were recovered with the help of attorneys, states, and federal agencies in 2012. And if the Economic Policy Institute’s generous estimate that wage theft costs employees $50 billion a year is even close to accurate, employees aren’t the most culpable thieves here.

Sourced from theatlantic.com

Nov
2

By IHWIR Admin

The top 10 myths about working retail

Category: Interesting Facts, Retail Stories Tags: Interesting, retail stories Leave a Comment

Over 1 in 10 US jobs is in retail trade. The notion that these workers are mostly young, lazy and unskilled is false

Myth 1: Most retail workers are teenagers or young adults who do not really need the money

Reality: The average age of a retail worker is 37 years old (pdf), and more than half of year-round retail workers contribute a significant portion (pdf) of their family’s total income. For example, researchers found that a third (pdf) of New York City retail workers support at least one dependent.

Myth 2: Retail workers are unskilled

Reality: 28% of retail workers (pdf) have completed some college, and 15% have a bachelor’s degree or higher. Employers have deskilled a lot of the work, but still report in surveys that they want employees with both soft and hard skills, including product knowledge, ability to relate to customers, and increasingly, familiarity with technology for assisting with online sales.

Myth 3: Retail workers may earn a low wage, but most of them are only doing the job temporarily until they move up to higher level jobs or other careers

Reality: While the retail industry has higher turnover than many industries, most retail workers stay in the industry – which means that the turnover is high for individual employers, particularly those that pay low wages and treat workers poorly. In a large national survey (pdf), about half of retail respondents said they were not very likely to try to change employers in the next year. Workers do not lack a work ethic or commitment to retail, but are often forced to look for another job that provides more hours or more predictable schedules.

Myth 4: Retail work is meant to be just an entry-level job

Reality: Over 15 million people work in the retail sector, and that number is expected to grow, as retail sales worker occupations make-up thesecond largest job growth projections in the country, after food preparation occupations. More than 1 out of every 10 jobs in the country is in retail trade, which makes it a major part of our economy. It is unlikely that most retail workers will leave the sector for other work.

Myth 5: Retail jobs are pretty good jobs – at least workers are inside where it is warm, and conditions are safe

Reality: While many retail workers enjoy aspects of their job, such as working with customers, the average job is missing most aspects of a “good job”. According to the Department of Labor, the median wage is $9.53 for retail salesworkers and $9.13 for cashiers, and 15% of all retail workers live in or near poverty. A survey of New York retail workers (pdf) found that only 29% receive health benefits from their employer. Theinjury rate in retail (pdf) is higher than the average for all industries, and workers commonly experience injury from contact with objects or equipment, overexertion, falls, sprains and strains. In 2012, 262 retail workers were killed on the job.

Myth 6: If retail workers really had problems on the job, they could approach the employer and ask for a raise – or report legal problems to the government

Reality: All workers have the right to report problems to government authorities, and they have the legal right to ask for higher wages – including working with co-workers to demand improvements. But in fact, studies show that employers frequently penalize workers (pdf) who organize in the workplace, such as firing, surveilling or harassing in other ways. Last week, the National Labor Relations Board issued findings thatWalmart had illegally fired and disciplined employees who had participated in protests or strikes. Furthermore, while workers can file complaints with OSHA or the Department of Labor about unsafe working conditions or discriminatory treatment, processing those complaints can take years as most government regulatory agencies, particularly the Department of Labor, are grossly understaffed and under-resourced(pdf).

Myth 7: Most retail workers prefer to work part-time, so retail scheduling works well for them

Reality: Many retail workers do want part-time work due to their school or childcare responsibilities, but the majority of part-time workers do not have control over their schedule. According to reports (pdf), 13% of all retail workers, and 18% of low-wage retail workers, are working part-time but would like more hours if they could get them.

Myth 8: A lot of retail workers are lazy and do not work hard enough to help customers

Reality: Many retail workers report that they like working in the industry, and want to make a career in the field. Yet employment practices make it difficult for them to do their job well. Employers look to cut labor costs by keeping staffing to a bare minimum, making it hard for workers in some stores to provide adequate service to customers. In other stores, retail workers have to meet quotas for selling certain items or getting customers to enroll in credit cards or loyalty card programs. Employer demands interfere with workers’ ability to provide quality service to customers.

Myth 9: Raising retail worker salaries would get passed on to consumers, resulting in much higher prices

Reality: Studies show that higher wages do not necessarily translate into significant price increases. In fact, one study (pdf) found that if Walmart raised wages to $12 an hour for associates, and passed 100% of that onto consumers, prices would increase by only $0.46 per shopping trip, or $12.49 per year, for the average shopper. But Walmart could also cover the wage increases in other ways, such as a cut to its CEO salary, now at almost $21m a year. The same is true for other large retailers, who could easily raise wages with little impact on prices (pdf).

Myth 10: Most retail workers want to work on holidays in order to get more pay

Reality: Employers are not required by law to pay extra to workers working on holidays, unless that extra work puts their total work week above 40 hours. Retail workers report frustration that they have little control over their schedules, and some note that they could be penalized for refusing to work on holidays. Even if workers do get paid time and a half and holiday shifts are “voluntary,” most retail workers are underemployed and need more work. Only with sustainable schedules and living wages, would the decision to work on a holiday truly be voluntary.

Sourced from theguardian.com