My most recent grocery delivery came with an unfortunate surprise: a jar of salsa broke in transit, and ruined several other items that were in the same bag. The delivery person saw the issue right away, and told me that they would issue a credit for the damaged items. That’s all fine and good, but […]

The other day, I walked into the pharmacy to pick up some prescriptions. As always, I stopped at the kiosk to scan my loyalty card and see which coupons it spit out. Usually, these coupons are mediocre, but one caught my eye: $2 off a multi-pack of the gum that I buy regularly. Since the […]

Although relatively few retail stores have more than one floor, that type of configuration is quite common in bigger cities. I can think of several examples here in Chicago, and they vary in terms of whether they use elevators, escalators or plain old staircases to help people reach the additional floors. A recent experience emphasized […]

Despite the surprisingly large crowds, I decided to take a brief walk through the grand opening celebration for the new shopping center in my area. For whatever reason, the event organizers had set up the vendor booths, music and other festivities in a nearby park, rather than at the shopping center itself. This would have […]

As I perused the aisles of a brand-new grocery store in my neighborhood, I was amazed at the number of free samples that were available. In each case, the store had a friendly staff member on hand to greet passers-by and offer a product sample, which I understand is a proven way to encourage people […]

Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to try out a nifty new diner that’s located about a block from my apartment. The reviews of the company’s other locations were really good, so I expected a pretty solid dining experience. Sure enough, the food, decor and service were all superb. There was one really weird […]

If you’ve used any travel websites lately, you may have noticed that most of these sites automatically remember your past searches — even if you leave the site and come back later. The same is true for an increasing number of online retailers and even entertainment sites. While this functionality can certainly be convenient, it […]

While I was working on some research, I came across an enormous list of all the companies in a particular industry. The person running the website had obviously gone to great lengths to list every possible detail about the companies in his list, and the date on the top of the page indicated that the […]