When This Company Ran Out Of Shovel-Sized Boxes, It “Got Creative”

As someone wise once said, if you don’t have a box that will fit what you want to ship, just figure something out. One of our very own Consumerist readers was the recipient of such necessity-driven creativity recently, when an item she’d ordered online showed up on her doorstep in, shall we say, unexpected packaging.

The reader says she ordered the large sifting shovel — ideal for use in chicken coops or large-scale animal rescue operations — last week on Amazon from a third-party seller, and it was left on her porch a few days later.

“Yes… this is how it was delivered,” she wrote, adding that she got “quite a kick out of it.”

We checked with the seller, Next Day MRO, to verify that they had indeed, shipped a shovel with the handle sticking out of a box, and a representative for the company confirmed that the choice was deliberate.

“Yes, this bit of creativity was ours,” the rep wrote, explaining that UPS and FedEx charge for items that aren’t shipped in a box. “Our team would typically put this item into a box that would fit the whole handle; turns out we were out of boxes so they got creative,” he said.

That’s not proper packaging for such an item, a UPS spokesman confirmed with Consumerist when we shared the photo. He explained that drivers occasionally pick up packages from customers assuming they know what the proper packaging guidelines are. However, sometimes the person doing the packaging might not know or might not have followed those guidelines, the rep explains.

“Our drivers strive to give the best service in our industry and that is perhaps the reason that shovel may have been accepted, but it should not have been accepted in that condition,” the spokesman told Consumerist in an email. “It should have been completely enclosed in packaging material.”

Macy’s Sell Frango Chocolate Brand To Garrett Popcorn

More than a decade after Macy’s inherited much-adored chocolate brand Frango from Marshall Field & Co., the struggling department store is selling the label to Garrett Popcorn. 

Macy’s announced the transaction Monday, noting that Garrett will now “develop, create, sell, and distribute” the chocolate and confectionary brand.

Under the deal, for which a price was not disclosed, the Frango Cafe at Macy’s State Street store in Chicago (better known locally as the former flagship location for Marshall Field’s) will remain open and the candies will continue to be sold at more than 350 Macy’s locations.

“We are happy to have found such a natural partner in Garrett Brands and are confident they will be great stewards of the Frango brand,” Tim Baxter, chief merchandising officer at Macy’s, said in a statement. “And, given Garrett Brands’ history of thoughtfully growing brands, we are confident that this partnership will introduce new customers to premium Frango chocolates.”

Frango was first launched in 1918 for the Frederick & Nelson department stores. The brand’s chocolate mints were popularized by the Marshall Field’s department stores after it acquired the trademark in 1929, expanding the candy’s reach.

The chocolates were produced on the 13th floor of the department store until 1999 when the kitchen closed, according to the Chicago Tribune. In 2005, Macy’s acquired Marshall Field and the Frango brand, eventually moving production of chocolates back to Chicago. We’ve reached out to Garrett to confirm if Frango-making will continue in the Windy City, and will update this story if we hear back.

Marriott May Offer Communal Rooms With Shared Living, Kitchen Spaces

When you travel with a group, it can be a pain to book adjoining rooms, and even then you all have to cram into one person’s room or lay claim to the lobby bar if you want to get together. This is one reason why groups are increasingly turning to Airbnb and similar services, and why Marriott may try rooms with communal spaces.

The Los Angeles Times reports that Marriott International showed off its latest communal lodging concept at The Americas Lodging Investment Summit last week, revealing a setup that appears to be more of an apartment/dorm hybrid than a traditional hotel room.

The concept, which the company says could be used at its Element Hotel brand, revamps each floor of the hotel to contain a cluster of rooms around a shared living and kitchen area on each floor of the building.

Toni Stoical, vice president for Marriott’s distinctive select brands, tells the L.A. Times that the rooms could be rented by large groups of travelers, such as colleagues on business trips or friends attending bachelor parties.  It’s unclear if the communal setup would ever be rented to several small parties or individual travelers.

The communal-room configuration could be the hotel industry’s attempt to take on short-term rental companies like Airbnb and Vacation Rentals By Owner, where large groups of guests can rent entire homes or apartments.

While the company didn’t reveal when it might add the concept to its hotel lineup, Stockton notes that feedback has been “very positive” so far.

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Walgreens Slashes $2B From Value From Rite Aid Merger; Up To 1,200 Stores To Be Sold Off

Last Friday, Jan. 27, was the deadline for the deal to close in the proposed acquisition of drugstore chain Rite Aid by competitor Walgreens. Today, the companies announced a revised deal with an eye to meeting Federal Trade Commission approval. This deal values Rite Aid at over $2 billion less, and proposes the sale of hundreds more stores to another drugstore chain.

The two chains first proposed this deal back in October 2015, putting the value of Rite Aid and its stores at $9.4 billion. According to The Wall Street Journal, the new proposal lowers the purchase price of the chain, and the final value of the company ranges from $6.50 to $7 per share depending on how many stores Rite Aid divests, or sells to a competitor as a condition of the merger. The lower share price kicks in if the companies divest at least 1,200 stores.

Walgriteaid Merger 2.0 expires at the end of July, giving the FTC more time to evaluate the deal and the impact of an additional 335 divested stores. Even a total of 1,200 may not be enough, since the merger would create the country’s largest drugstore chain with over 10,000 stores.

Consolidating the two chains wouldn’t just affect consumers and give them fewer choices of places to shop: it would give the new, larger Walgreens a stronger bargaining position with both drug companies and pharmacy benefits managers, which decide how much health insurers will pay.

600,000 Audi Vehicles Recalled Over Fire Hazard, Airbag Issues

Audi’s parent company Volkswagen is kicking off the week in style, announcing two separate recalls — one involving a potential fire risk, the other for faulty airbags — covering a total of nearly 600,000 vehicles.

The first recall involves 342, 867 Audi vehicles containing faulty coolant pumps that may be susceptible to fires. Covered models include:
• Audi A5 (2013-2016)
• A5 Cabriolet (2013-2016)
• Q5 (2013-2016)
• Allroad (2013-2016)
• A4 (2013-2016)
• A6 (2012-2015)

According to a notice [PDF] posted with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the coolant pump in the recalled vehicles could become blocked by debris from the cooling system, which can lead to the pump overheating and the risk of a vehicle fire.

VW says it first became aware of the issue in 2015 when Audi received information about an unspecified number of cases in which the engine compartments of vehicles began to smolder.

The automaker will notify owners of affected vehicles staring Feb. 20 and dealers will update the software so that the power supply to the coolant pump is deactivated if the pump becomes blocked with debris.

The second recall sounds a lot like one we’ve heard before: passenger side airbags can deploy with enough force to shoot pieces of shrapnel at occupants, leading to serious injuries.

Despite the resemblance to Takata’s massive airbag recall — which has affected VW vehicles — a notice [PDF] from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does not disclose who manufactured the airbags in the latest Audi recall.

In all, the airbag inflator in 234,054 model year 2011 to 2015 Audi Q5 may rupture as the result of corrosion.

According to the notice, the sunroof drainage system may allow water to soak into the foam surrounding the side head airbag inflator canister resulting in the corrosion of the canister.

This corrosion can weaken the canister and, during deployment of the side head airbag, the inflator may fracture and propel fragments into the passenger compartment.

VW says it became aware of the issue in 2016 after incidents in China and Israel. The carmaker will notify owners of the affected vehicles next month and dealers will inspect the airbag inflator and either coat or replace it, if necessary.

Starbucks CEO Says Company Will Hire 10,000 Refugees At Stores Around World

Amid efforts by the Trump administration to curb immigration, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz announced over the weekend that his company “will neither stand by, nor stand silent, as the uncertainty around the new Administration’s actions grows with each passing day.”

In a statement released Sunday evening, Schultz — who will soon be stepping down as CEO but will remain as Chairman of the Board — said Starbucks will provide job opportunities to thousands of refugees around the world.

“There are more than 65 million citizens of the world recognized as refugees by the United Nations, and we are developing plans to hire 10,000 of them over five years in the 75 countries around the world where Starbucks does business,” writes Schultz, adding that the initial focus will be on “individuals who have served with U.S. troops as interpreters and support personnel in the various countries where our military has asked for such support.”

This statement was in direct response to an executive order signed on Friday by President Trump that put a temporary halt on refugees entering the U.S., and severely restricted travel from seven countries. A number of people who had already been approved for entry into the U.S. — including some who had worked as translators and other support personnel for the American military and government — were detained at airports, turned back, or not allowed to board flights to the U.S.

The CEO also addressed a handful of other controversial policy and legislative changes likely to occur under the new administration.

With regard to repeal of the Affordable Care Act, he noted that any insurance-eligible employee who loses their coverage if the ACA is repealed will have the option of joining Starbucks’ insurance plan.

Schultz also stated his company’s commitment to doing business in, and with, Mexico.

“[W]e stand ready to help and support our Mexican customers, partners and their families as they navigate what impact proposed trade sanctions, immigration restrictions and taxes might have on their business and their trust of Americans,” reads the notice. “But we will continue to invest in this critically important market all the same.”