As an editor of Retail Dive, it’s my job to keep tabs on every piece of retail-related news—the good, the bad, and the silly. From dumpster-diving beauty entrepreneurs to Prime Day’s social media uproar, below are some of the most interesting reads from the past week.
"Thank you #PrimeDay" — Twitter
While Amazon’s Prime Day generated massive amounts of press* around its Black Friday-like sale, Twitter users had fun expressing their grievances on Twitter when the event turned out to be … a tad bit disappointing.
Now printing: t-shirts that read "I stayed up late for @Amazon #PrimeDay and all I got was Tupperware."
— Jackie Huang Linayao (@jackielinayao) July 15, 2015
Guys, why is everyone complaining about #PrimeDay when this totally necessary 55 gallon drum of lube is on sale? pic.twitter.com/SpjDaeF687
— EditorChrista (@EditorChrista) July 16, 2015
When I die, I want whoever was responsible for #PrimeDay to lower me down into my grave so I can be let down one more time.
— Simon Zhou (@simonzhow) July 15, 2015
So what I'm getting out of this is that #PrimeDay is some sort of postmodern experiment to see if disappointment can be quantified.
— Brad Williams (@FuriousBrad) July 15, 2015
*And some pretty impressive sale numbers
A new take on treasure hunting
How far would you go to get that $100+ face cream for more than half off? Would you sink into a vat of other peoples’ trash? How about pay someone to do it for you? In a new feature, Racked explores the increasingly-competitive world of dumpster-diving beauty scavengers.
"[Selling] makeup is like selling drugs," James Jugan, a dumpster diver, tells Racked. "It’s like having a license to print money. It’s amazing."
Maxim does fashion
Maxim magazine, in an effort to “adapt a more refined approach to their content” is developing a swimwear line “where the pieces are more focused on fashion and storytelling than overt sexiness,” according to Yahoo. While that could be hard with minimal bikinis, we’ll be interested to see the results.
A town called Hollister
The New Yorker’s Dave Eggers takes a deep dive into the origins, or perhaps the presumed origins, of fashion brand Hollister, exploring the California town of the same name.
The best invention since twist off wine caps
Inducing a chorus of “YAAAAAS” heard around the world, Diane von Furstenberg will launch a purse that cordlessly charges smartphones this holiday season.