The Washington Post reported this week that Blockbuster is going to start renting movies through home Internet connections, offering customers the chance to have an in-home box that would allow them to download movies directly from Blockbuster without ever having to go to the store.  It's kind of the next step in video on demand, but I wonder if it will take off. What do you think?

Malls are always trying to do something new, but here's a really good one. A Staten Island mall is displaying the mug shots of people who have shoplifted there on digital display boards throughout the mall. The photo that accompanies this New York Daily News story shows one of the boards displaying several mug shots and the sentence "Shoplift in this mall and you could have your face right here."

Thanks to my friends at the Consumerist for this great story about a guy who got a new laptop to replace his defective one by writing to Steve Jobs directly.

I wish all consumers were this proactive...

I thought this was an interesting story over on the Wallet Pop blog about which items have the biggest mark ups. Now of course there does have to be some mark up because the retailer does have to make some profit to stay in business. But, according to the story, some of these items have a mark up of like 1,300 percent! Holy cow! Wine at restaurants, movie theater popcorn and pre-cut fruits and veggies at the store all made the list. Which items do you think should be added?

To me, one of the best parts about shopping is having a chance to chat with the cashiers. Of course, part of that is because it's my job to know what's going on in stores, and employees are always the ones with the scoop. But part of it is also just because I like talking with people. At stores where I am a regular, I know many of the cashiers by name.

So I was surprised by this Wall Street Journal story about an efficiency program being implemented by midwestern grocery chain Meijer. The company is timing its cashiers, starting the clock when the customer's first item is scanned and stopping it when the receipt is printed. The faster you go, the more efficient you are deemed. I understand that companies need to look for efficiencies wherever they can nowadays, but I have to wonder if this will backfire. Who likes to feel rushed when they are giving a store some of their hard-earned money?

I was driving home tonight and heard a fascinating story on NPR's "Marketplace" radio show.

The host, Kai Ryssdal, went to the mall with Martin Lindstrom, author of a book called "Buy-ology." Lindstrom talks about how some stores are increasing the size of grocery carts to get you to buy more and how shoppers can react on an unconscious level to the tactics stores employ. I'm a student of retail, so I thought it was incredibly interesting, and I thought you might, too.

NPR has the interview as well as additional segments that did not air on its Web site here. (The additional pieces are in the little box titled "Related.")

Sometimes I see things that just make me cringe.

Here's a good example from a recent Consumer Reports press release: "12 Million Americans Still Carry Debt from Last Year's Holiday Shopping"

Yikes! I certainly hope that given the current economic climate, we are all thinking about buying gifts we can actually afford. Or, perhaps some of us should think about skipping gifts this year and focusing on that debt... your friends probably won't even miss the sweater.

The Wall Street Journal has a fascinating story this morning about cart-sanitizing machines popping up in some U.S. grocery stores. The machines look kind of like mini car washes. This trend, of course, is an extension of the sanitizing wipes that have made appearances in several of our area stores as people have become more concerned about germs on carts.

The system in the photo is from a Wisconsin company called PureCart and (according to the story) costs about $7,500 a year for a store to rent. As president Jim Kratowicz says, "We like the idea of wipes, but what's the message? Our carts are dirty, here's a rag, go clean it?" I have no indication that any of our area stores are considering implementing this type of system yet, but you never know... What do you think?

According to this Wall Street Journal story, it's suddenly very cool to be cheap. Who knew?

Everything I've read lately about holiday shopping has been about how consumers are cutting back. So I was surprised when I received a press release this week from the International Council of Shopping Centers that said that despite the cut-backs, consumers were still planning to spend more than $1,100 this holiday season on average. Now that's the grand total... clothes, gifts, entertaining, etc. But that's still a lot more than I'm planning to spend on gifts, decorations and food. But how about you? Where are you still going to spend and where are you cutting back?