Black Friday Ads and Flyers Are Here

Black Friday normally launch the day after Thanksgiving (if you happened to live in the US). Most retailers and store owners open as early as 4am. In recent years, many big stores such as Walmart, BestBuy, Target, etc. open as early as 10 p.m Thursday.

This year, it will be much earlier. You will get the chance to get into your favorite shopping store hours earlier than 10 p.m. To name a few, Wal-Mart and Sears plan to open at 8 pm.

The best shopping tool one must have before buying your favorite electronic gadgets, computers, DVD's Games, Kitchenware, Clothing, Appliances, Furniture, or even Firearm is the store's Flyers and Ads. Some of you may already have an idea where to look and print these Black Friday Ads.

But for those who have been wanting to have a copy or copies days before Black Friday, here are some of the most sought ads and flyers for your convenience.

BLACK FRIDAY ADS AND FLYERS

Happy Shopping, Be safe.

Living The American Dream: Interview With Home Depot Co-Founder Ken Langone

Watch billionaire financier and Home Depot CEO Ken Langone share his rag to riches story.

Top 10 Retailers With The Most Sales Worldwide

The Home Depot, the largest home improvement retailer in the United States,
ahead of rival Lowe's, and the fourth largest general retailer in the world
ranks #8 from the Deloitte report.

Deloitte has recently published a new report on Top 250 Global Retailers with the most sales worldwide. The first top 10 retailers which include 5 retail giants from the US, 3 from Germany, 1 from France, and 1 from the UK alone accounted for 29.4 percent of the all sales.

Download and take a look on this report here in PDF format.

NRF honors Burberry as the 2012 International Retailer of the Year

New Walmart Stores Hiring

A newly remodeled Walmart store in Miami, Florida

Retail giant Walmart is accepting job applications for its soon-to-open 120,000 square-foot Quincy Store in Charleston, West Virginia. The store is expected to open in mid-September and plans to hire more than 200 new employees for both full and part time positions.

The store needs floor associates, cashiers, supervisors, and administrative positions. Since the store has not officially opened yet, hiring center will be at 200 Upper Kanawha Valley in Cabin Creek if you plan to apply in person. You may also do it online at Walmart Careers.

As of this month, Walmart currently operates 37 superstores in West Virginia, including 5 Sam's Club and employs more than 12,000 workers in that state alone. Better hurry, hiring process begins now.


Another new Walmart store hiring at Westchester, Florida.  This is one of the eight (8) new stores that will soon to open in South Florida. Again, the store  will hire more than 300 new workers for various positions. If you are interested, you may apply online here or proceed to Miami-Dade County & Fair Expo Center at 10901 Coral Way, Monday to Friday to apply in person.

The store is scheduled to open August 31. Hiring process starts now until August 5. 


Related Topic:
More Companies Hiring Now: 10 Companies Hiring the most in Marketing 



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Martha Stewart Hires Blackstone Group for her Comeback

In a statement released today, famous business magnate Martha Stewart, also the founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSLO) will rejoin the board of directors of the company in June 6 of this year. Shares of Martha Stewart Living shot up 32% following the news.


Martha Stewart, the company’s largest shareholder, also was pleased about the move to hiring Blackstone Group to “take our business and iconic brand to the next level" the statement said. Blackstone Advisory Partners, the investment banking arm of the Blackstone Group, was hired for the task to "review and respond" to investors who have expressed an interest in partnering or investing with MSLO.

Once chairman and chief executive office of Martha Stewart Living, She had to relinguish her position and left the board after her conviction in 2004 for obstruction of justice and served 5 months in a federal prison. 

Martha Stewart wearing the Home Depot orange apron. Photo
courtesy of eEcostyle.com 

The reason why I brought up this news is somewhat interesting. Blackstone has been helping to revive the once dying business empire of Martha Stewart Living after three years of falling revenue. In fact, the results are somewhat promising. But did you know that it is the same private equity firm which MSLO has hired to take up its business branding to a higher level, that acquired a controlling interest at RGIS LLC in March 2007?

After the inventory company had lost $27 Million recently in a FLSA class action settlement case to tens of thousands of current and former employees, I am interested to know how Blackstone Group will be able to help the inventory provider regains back lost financial and business opportunities to a higher level. Although I am not crossing my fingers but it will be a challenging task to perform. 

About Blackstone Group:

The Blackstone Group is a global alternative asset manager and provider of financial advisory services. The firm's asset management businesses include the management of corporate private equity funds, real estate funds, mezzanine funds, proprietary hedge funds and closed-end mutual funds. Blackstone also provides M&A and reorganization advisory, as well as private placement services.

It is one of the largest private equity firms and alternative asset managers in the world, with more than $98 billion in assets under management and such notable holdings as Hilton Worldwide, Equity Office Properties Trust, The Weather Channel, and Universal Parks & Resorts. Blackstone has 17 offices around the world.

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Michaels Stores' Checkout Terminals Hacked

A typical Michaels retail store

Another credit card security breach again. If you happened to shop at any of the Michaels local stores recently that are located at the following states, your credit transactions may have been compromised:

Illinois, Colorado, Delaware, Gerogia, Iowa, Massachussets, Maryland, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Islands, Utah, and the State of Washington.

Few days ago, many Michaels' stores have found have been hacked on their PIN readers/Credit Card readers at checkout. The Texas-based arts and crafts supplier has determined that the hacked could have been perpetuated between February 8 through May 6 according to the latest law enforcement investigation. The hack was initiated from PIN pads that are attached to credit card readers where customers use to key in their personal identification numbers upon checkout.

These scam artists were able to steal credit card information including personal PINs. The first discovery of the breach was at a Michael stores in Salt Lake City and Midvale in Utah. As a result, the arts supplier has removed more than 7,200 PIN pads from all its US stores.

I got interested with the story not only because the company is a customer of RGIS LLC, but because I wanted to know how in the world one can hack PIN pads in a busy store at busy checkouts. What is their modus operandi? Was there any collusion between scammers and employees?

Honestly, the trick is quite simple, but with calculated risk. 

A VeriFone PIN pad and Credit Card reader combo.
Image courtesy of VeriFone.

FIRST, there was a careful planning. These criminals pose as legitimate customers of Michaels. At checkout, they then observe several things such as the models/make of Michaels PIN pads, standard cable connectors, etc. Since many Michaels art products sell in less than a dollar range, they can come back as many times as they want and master how the plan works, how many seconds would it take to deinstall and reinstall a new PIN reader, when is the best time to to do it, and how to do it clandestinely without much effort and detection.

SECOND, scheduled activity. Scammers come back in packs of two or three posing as customers not knowing each other. The first act as the customer/installer, the second as a legitimate buyer, the third as customer/distractor. While the second or third scammer busy distracting the unsuspecting cashier with questions related to their purchase, it will take no more than 10 seconds for the first buyer to unplug the old PIN reader and replace it with a reprogrammable RFID chip when the PIN pad is not in use.

THIRD, leave without a trace. After a successful installation, scammers leave the store. Since many newer PIN reader models have built-in RF chips (meaning, it can read your RF-enabled credit card), scammers can easily install PIN readers with a reprogrammed chip. But just outside the store, with the use of a laptop, high frequency RF proximity scanner, and a customized software, they were able to monitor/ skim credit card transactions complete with PIN numbers for the installed compromised PIN reader from a vehicle within dozens feet away from the store.

A typical PIN Reader with a bult-in RF
technology. Photo Courtesy of VeriFone.

The idea that these scammers pose as repairmen may not be suitable in this case because to be able to that you need to appear as repairmen which include having tools and equipment, with uniforms and all that, not mentioning the fact that they need to obtain a clearance from the Store manager FIRST before any repair can be initiated which is not a good idea. Because the lesser people detect your activity, the better your chances.

That is the basic idea of a detectionless PIN reader skimming. But you know it is illegal, right?

Poor Michaels. But how many times I've heard from credit card companies, from POS solutions providers and software vendors that their systems are secured, and reliable. But when things are happening on the contrary, you realized that they themselves need some serious reality check.

The arts supplier is closely monitoring fraudulent transactions with credit card companies while advising all their customers to take precautionary measures. So, if you live in the States I just mentioned, and need to buy your next quilting, embroidery, or arts projects for yourself or for your kids from your local Michaels store, I suggest that you use cash for payment transactions...for now.

For more information on RF-enabled smart cards, read my previous post on RF technology and The ABC of Hacking


Cheers!



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iHop Serves at Walmart Stores

Imagine those hearty combinations of two medium cooked eggs, crispy bacon strips, soft pork sausages links, hot and fluffy buttermilk pancakes, hash browns combined with hot coffee and a deliciously old-fashioned cholocate cake for desserts in a breakfasts at your favorite iHop restaurant? Hmmm...yummy!

iHop will soon serve breakfast menu at Walmart Stores.

Almost but not quite. Truth of the matter is, iHop for the first time, will enter the retail business by offering frozen breakfast items to 3,000 Walmart Stores nationwide which include French Toast Stuffed Pastries, Omelet Crispers, and Griddle 'n Sausage Wraps. For now, those items can only be purchased from Walmart Stores but DineEquity plans to expand its products to other retailers as well. Currently, the chain has more than 1,500 restaurants in all 50 states, Disrict of Columbia, Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands.

iHop's French Toast Stuffed Pastries will soon be sold at Walmart Stores

So, the next time you go shopping, try to see if these frozen products have been in your local Walmart Store.


Company Information:

• Revenue:                 $349.6 million USD (as of 2006)
• Operating income:    $72.8 million USD (as of 2006)
• Net income:             $44.5 million USD (as if 2006)
• Employees:              32,300 (as of 2007)
• Parent Company:     DineEquity

More iHop Interesting Links:

• Jobs and career opportunities at iHop
• iHop corporate awards and achievements
• iHop has been accused of animal cruelty and food safety by the Humane Society of the United States

McDonald's to Hire 50,000 Employees...in 1 Day

Image courtesy of McDonald's Corporation

Dubbed as, "National Hiring Day", McDonald's Corporation plans to hire up to 50,000 workers nationwide on April 19. You don't have to wait for that day to submit your job application. You may do it now.

This is probably the more ambitious hiring event of the company since the economic slowdown 3 years ago. Currently, the company has more than 14,000 restaurants and more than 600,000 workers across the United States.

Positions for hire vary from management positions, store crew, and logistics positions according to its website. Management positions can have as high as $50,000 a year salary, and store crew positions can have $8.50 an hour depending on the State you live. Current federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour.

The McDonald's headquarters complex, McDonald's Plaza,
located in Oak Brook, Illinois.

Although many labor and economic analysts say that it is too early to predict, massive hiring all over the nation is a good sign that the economy is in its way to recovery. Just recently, the US Department of Labor and Statistics announced that there was a gain of 216,000 new jobs created in March alone, pushing the unemployment rate improves by 1% from 9.8% last year to 8.8% this month, the lowest level in 2 years.

So, if you are interested, log on to its website and try your luck. You may find yourself working for this $34 billion company in no time.


Important data about McDonald's Corporation:

Revenue:                    US$24.075 billion
Operating Income:      US$7.473 billion
Net Income:               US$4.949 billion
Total Assets:              US$31.975 billion
Total Equity:               US$14.634 billion
Employees:                 650,000 Current


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Office Depot's Overpricing Practice is Paying a Great Price

Office Depot’s corporate headquarters in Boca Raton, Florida.

Some of you may have heard few years ago about Office Depot being investigated by the US Department of Justice or by an Attorney General due to overpricing, and how the retailer was slapped with millions of dollars as a result.

But here comes Office Depot again for the nth time. The US Department of Justice (USDOJ) is currently investigating a similar case of overpricing from some schools and local state agencies in the State of Florida. It was done by switching them to a different pricing option without the State's full knowledge or understanding.

See, this is not the first time the company had engaged with such practice. Not twice. But fourth time in a row:

• Office Depot was investigated sometime in 2008 for the second time. It was in June 2010 last year when the retailer had agreed to pay back $4.5 million to eligible claimants in Florida including schools, and local state agencies. Office Depot had denied the allegation and admitted no wrong doing.
• The third case was on 2008, the same year when it was first investigated. But this time it was the State of California as a state customer. Again, 2 years later, the company agreed to refund $2.4 million as part of the settlement.
• And the fourth, it was between 14 school districts and some non-profit organization in Missouri. After the investigation by the Attorney General, Office Depot agreed to pay $320,000 back to those schools and organizations.

As of 2009, Office Depot has undergone investigations for committing the same practice in 6 States including Ohio, California, Florida, Missouri, Colorado, and Texas. Now the company is paying a great price:

• Shares of Office Depot has started to slide as early as Tuesday after the company had disclosed in a SEC filing that it was a target of Department of Justice investigation.
• It lost $57.8 million or 21 cents a share in the fourth quarter last year.
• CEO Steve Odland resigned in October last year
• Just this month, the joint venture that owns Office Depot's headquarter sold it for $171 million.

What caused the apparent loss of business confidence for Office Depot by customers, investors, and creditors may be complex. But one obvious reason was its inability to rectify its old practice and the policy of customer transparency. I hope OD learns its lesson...this time.

Home Depot to Hire 60,000 Employees, Lowe's 50,000 this Spring

Lowe's store in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Home Improvement retail giants Home Depot and Lowe's have announced this week that they plan to hire more than 110,000 employees combined.

The two giants are ramping up workers in preparation for the coming Spring season. As everybody knows Spring is the Christmas for these retail stores and traffic is at its peak during this season. Most of the hiring opportunities are for retail stores and distribution facilities nationwide. They are looking for sales floor associates, backroom stockers, cashiers, parking attendants, flower and garden associates, replenishment specialists, logistics analysts, drivers, etc.

If you are looking for work anytime now, go and log on to their career websites.

Home Depot Career Webpage

Lowe's Career Webpage

or, if you prefer, visit any of their stores in you area for hiring information and requirements.

Do you think this could be a sign that th economy is getting better? All I know is that the retail industry is slowing to improve since the December last year. One more thing, the US Labor Department has reported that jobless claims has plunged to their lowest level in more than two years. And, unemployment rate fell to 9% in January last month from 9.8 last year.

I think these indicators tell us something about economic improvement as well.

Home Depot Corporate Data:
Revenue:                      US$71.3 Billion
Operating income:         US$4.38 Billion
Net income:                  US$2.26 Billion
Total assets:                 US$41.2 Billion
Total equity:                 US$17.8 Billion
Employees:                  322,000 (Dec 2009)
Website:                      www.homedepot.com

Lowe's Corporate Data:
Revenue:                     $47.2 billion USD
Employees:                 238,000
Website:                     U.S. website
                                  Canada website

News sources from CNN Money and PalmBeach.

Target Settles $22.5M For Hazardous Waste Violations

The Nicollet Mall, downtown Minneapolis Target, two stories with a varied facade to mimic multiple buildings.
The tower in the background is Target Corp. headquarters.

Retail giant Target (NYSE: TGT) has agreed to pay 22.5M to settle a lawsuit filed against the company in June 2009 for alleged violation of California's hazardous waste law by improperly disposing these materials to landfills AND for disposing them off to California Food Bank.

Target has reached a tentative agreement with California's attorney general. As part of the deal, the retailer does not acknowledge any wrongdoing and a county judge is scheduled to review the agreement on March 2, 2011. On top of the settlement, Target must also train staff how to properly dispose off waste materials and pay an independent auditor to check for compliance for the next three years after the signing of the final approval of the settlement. Also, Target shall pay around $3.4M to the California Attorney General's Office.

Here's what happened in June 2009: A lawsuit filed against Target Stores in California in June 2009 over disposal of hazardous waste materials by a joint complaint in Alameda County Superior Court. It alleges that over an 8 year period, more than 200 Target stores dumped various hazardous wastes including but not limited to bleaches, pesticides, paints, aerosols, and other flammable substances into landfills throughout the state. It also alleges that Target had donated these waste products to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank.

Who would think that this typical store of Target with its clean and tidy isles was
fined with $22.5M for unhealthy dumping of hazardous materials in the State of
California and for donating them to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank?

There are more than 1,700 Target retail stores in the US and 236 of them are in California. If the stores in the state practice improper dumping and donating of wastes, there is no doubt that the rest of Target stores throughout the country may have illegally dumped similar wastes or donated them to local food banks as well.


Please note that this is not the first time the company has settlement issues with similar issue.

Target had just settled in another similar case, this time, the selling of expired baby food in 2009, the same year the retailer was slapped with violation of dumping of hazardous materials.

Hmmm... there is something fishy (literal and figurative) going on with these stores. Extra care is necessary when you get food from your local food banks. We assume that what we get from them are perfectly safe. But due to some evil practices by retail and grocery stores, they may not be as safe as you may have thought of.

• To read the whole story, visit MailOnline.
• To read more about Expired Food, this article may help you: Expired Food: What consumers should know

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