When a sniper shot 12 police officers, killing five, at a protest July 7 in Dallas, the community’s reaction was horror. And solidarity. “Everybody was just so moved that everybody wanted to know, ‘What can we do?'” Andrea Ridout, owner of Gecko …
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Lowe’s App to Offer 3-D Planning Aids via Phone
When consumers head to Lowe’s in the future, they’ll have a better chance of mapping out their homes and making sure products they buy fit just right. Through Lowe’s Vision, an app using Google’s 3-D smartphone platform Tango, users will be able …
Read More »Is Amazon on Its Way to Becoming the Biggest U.S. Company?
Amazon has grown to a stock market value that places it among the top 10 biggest companies in the U.S., and is on its way from No. 6 in size toward No. 1, according to a recent report. The retailer has …
Read More »All U.S. Walmart Stores Now Accept Payments via Smartphone
Walmart announced this month that customers at all 4,600 of its retail stores in the U.S. can now use Walmart Pay to pay for in-store purchases with their smartphones. Walmart began testing the mobile payment platform at stores starting in December. Walmart Pay is part …
Read More »Lawn Care Offers Sales and Customer Service
The market for selling outdoor power equipment is growing because of consumers’ increasing interest in riding and zero-turn lawn mowers and lithium-ion battery powered tools. In 2014, total retail sales were $10.2 billion in the lawn and garden equipment market, …
Read More »Banks Pushing to Increase Debit Card Swipe Fees
Banks are pushing to change a cap on debit card swipe fees that the Federal Reserve implemented in 2011. However, 89 percent of consumers believe the “swipe fee limits should not be undone,” according to a survey by the National Retail Federation. Additionally, 84 percent of …
Read More »6 Lessons From Michigan Hardware Retailers
North American Retail Hardware Association (NRHA) staffers are regularly visiting independent home improvement stores, getting to know owners and employees and learning lessons on retail everywhere they go. In late June, NRHA’s Hilary Welter and Renee Changnon spent two days in Ann Arbor, …
Read More »Home Depot Using Hydrogen Energy at Stores
The Home Depot is continuing to expand its use of hydrogen energy and plans to use the power to generate electricity at 200 stores by the end of this year. The company’s goal is to use hydrogen fuel cells, which generate energy through a chemical …
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