A 25-year-old man is in custody and a 7-year-old girl’s family is shaken after the child narrowly escaped a kidnapping attempt at a Walmart in Atlanta, Georgia.

Second grader Brittney Baxter was home sick from school due to a bout of strep throat, and accompanied her mother to Walmart to pick up some groceries. While Baxter’s mother shopped just a few aisles away from the child, police say that suspect Thomas Woods approached the girl and grabbed her.

While little Brittney must have been terrified by the snatching attempt, store surveillance video shows the man carrying the struggling child through a toy section of the Atlanta Walmart. But she fought back, kicking and screaming, and eventually the man released her, allowing the child to escape back to her mother. As Brittney resisted the attack, her assailant attempted to stop her calling for help. (Watch the clip of Brittney Baxter fighting her kidnapper, below.)

Just a few hours after the terrifying incident, Baxter told reporters:

“I was screaming and kicking and trying to get away and he put his hand over my mouth… He just dropped me and went and ran off.”

Although Brittney’s mom Georgeann is still very upset over the incident, her daughter has advice for other kids who may find themselves in the same scary situation. She says to “always scream, try to scream and kick as hard as you can and go get someone you can trust.”

Brittney’s alleged captor was arrested and charged with attempted kidnapping, but denies being present at the store when the incident occurred. In the past, he served four years in prison for voluntary manslaughter.

Girl Fights Kidnapper at Atlanta Walmart, Escapes is a post from: The Inquisitr

Wal-Mart is looking for the next hot product and they’re hoping that you have it. The super-retailer just launched “Get On The Shelf,” an “American Idol”-like contest for inventors.

CNN reports that Wal-Mart is typically very strict about its product selection. Venky Harinarayan, senior vice president of Wal-Mart’s global e-commerce unit, said:

“For a long time, the ability to get a product into a retail store was at the sole discretion of the store buyer. Today we are removing these barriers by giving anyone the chance to launch their product at Wal-Mart and reach millions of shoppers nationwide.”

People will get to vote for their favorite products on GetOnTheShelf.com. The three top items will earn a place on Wal-Mart shelves around the country. Wal-Mart announced the contest today but they have been gathering entries for months. Currently, an iPad pillow, boots for dogs, an auto pet dish, pills that promise to get rid of grey hair, beach crutches,  a soda bottle lock, and a holiday card display stand are fighting for shelf space.

Entrepreneurial hopefuls can pitch their products with a video until February 22nd. The first round of voting will happen between March 7th and April 4th. 10 finalist will be chosen and those products will be voted on from April 11th to April 24th. The top three products will be produced, shipped, and stocked at Wal-Marts around the country.

Here’s a promo for “Get On The Shelf.”

Do you have a product that Wal-Mart should sell?

Get On the Shelf: Wal-Mart Starts Contest for Inventors [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

A Batavian woman is sitting in Genesee County jail after she punched a 70-year-old Walmart greeter in the face on Saturday after the greeter asked to see the woman’s receipt as she left the store.

Batavia resident Jacquetta Simmons, 26, was arrested and charged with two counts of second-degree assault. State Police Trooper Tracy Patterson told the Democrat And Chronicle that the second count was added because Grace Suozzi, 70, was older than 65.

The incident which occurred at 11:23 a.m. left Suozzi laying on the ground while customers quickly surrounded the criminal before she could make her escape.

Grace suffered fractures to the left side of her face and swelling.

Simmons is being held on $20,000 bail, as for her items, they were all paid for and inside Walmart bags.

It’s still unclear if Jacquetta believed the stop was an act of racism or if she was just a cracked out junkie who hadn’t had a fix in a while. As a clean cut white male who has been stopped by Walmart greeters on several occasions as part of the company’s receipt checking policy I’m guessing the latter.

There’s a reason the “People of Walmart” website exists and Jacquetta is a shining example of that premise.

Walmart Shopper Punches 70-Year-Old Greeter In The Face is a post from: The Inquisitr

Add this to Walmart’s displays offering “Delicious for Channukah” ham.  While not all Jews keep a kosher home, it is fairly well known that Jews are not supposed to eat pork.  CVS is not immune either, painting their Hanukkah display with Shofars, the rams horn which is typically associated with Rosh Hashannah.

No one is accusing these large retailers of antisemitism or anything, but maybe a little bit of plain old stupidity?  It isn’t very hard to find a Jew and ask about Holiday displays.  Maybe even just spend a few minutes online or make a call to a local synagogue?  A study released in 2003 showed more than 200,000 Jews living in the DC area.  Many more commute into the capitol for various reasons.  You would think these retailers would want to appeal to this market?

The same complaints have also been lodged my Muslims, Hindus and many other minorities in America.  Do you think these large chains should be more sensitive?

Whole Foods, Walmart and CVS Culturally Insensitive to Jews? is a post from: The Inquisitr

Dozens of holiday shoppers using layaway programs all over the country have been experiencing a little holiday miracle of their own as secret santas have been paying off their in-store debt.

According to NPR the random acts of kindness have so far been reported at Kmart and Walmart locations in California, Nebraska, Michigan, Iowa, Indiana, South Carolina and Montana.

At one Kmart store in Michigan a woman reported to be in her 30s walked into the store and asked if she could help pay off several accounts that had toys included in them. She then proceeded to pay $500 while leaving just $10 to be paid in each of the three accounts.

Hopefully each of the people with $10 left in their accounts head into the store to make payments or Kmart could walk away with a lot of secret Santa forfeited cash.

While she did not reveal her identity to store workers or the family’s she helped she did leave a message that simply read:

“Happy Holidays from a friend.”

That isn’t the only story from this particular KMart, according to workers they have received at least $150 in secret Santa donations every day since the first mysterious shopper entered their store.

Time reports that in California one man even dropped off $2,000 and asked that it be used to pay off layaway plans for shoppers.

According to one of the lucky KMart shoppers who had $200 worth of toys paid off for her son David the secret Santa “restored her faith in people.”

What do you think of the secret layaway Santa shoppers?

[Image via ShutterStock.com]

Secret Santas Paying Off Layaway Debts All Over The Country is a post from: The Inquisitr

Can we say ooppps.

It seems that Walmart has decided that it’s going to be an early Christmas Grinch this year as we get word of them losing, or deleting, an “unspecified amount” of pre-orders for the Star Wars: The Old Republic game. Apparently some customers have been getting emails from the retail giant letting them know about the issue using the old “temporary shipping issue” excuse.

BioWare has stepped in to let purchasers know that this will not effect Early Access to the game, except that players don’t have any guarantee that their pre-order will still be available to them. As well, according to a report over at the PikiGeek blog there are reports popping up on a lot of forums of players who are just a tad upset about the sudden disappearance of their pre-orders.

A quick look at the threads also show a large number of customers who are stating that Walmart has erroneously claimed to have refunded the amount currently paid off for the game. The automated messages says one thing, but their bank statement says another.

Senior Online Community Manager Stephen Reid from Bioware did issue a brief statement in the thread. Unfortunately, since he can’t speak for a distributor, all he was able to assure was players’ Early Access status.

via PikiGeek

Oh Walmart don’t you know that it’s never a good idea to mess with a geek’s pre-order, especially just before Christmas. Tsk tsk.

image courtesy of PikiGeek

Walmart loses “unspecified amount” of Star Wars: Old Republic pre-orders is a post from: The Inquisitr

Okay, America, you can take a deep breath.

The great criminal mastermind of the 2011 holiday season- a woman that pepper sprayed twenty people at a California Walmart in a video game buying frenzy dubbed amusingly by my colleague James as a “competitive shopping incident”- has surrendered to local authorities. (Can we also say at this point that California needs to lay off the weed and the pepper spray already?) The woman in question remained unidentified for an entire day, as the viral story traveled across the globe and embarrassed the hell out of us as a cautionary tale about American consumerism. Despite the presence of many pepper sprayed victims and surveillance video, the woman- who remains unidentified publicly- was at large for most of the day and through most of last night as news outlets ceaselessly covered the tale of “Black Friday violence.” One maced victim described the melee to press:

“People started screaming, pulling and pushing each other, and then the whole area filled up with pepper spray.”

Officer Bruce Borihahn confirmed to press that the woman in question turned herself in at around 8:30 pm local time last night at the LAPD Devonshire station, and that more details are to come pending charges. He said:

“The investigation is still ongoing… We have several victims and witnesses that need to be interviewed to determine what appropriate actions need to be taken.”

In a separate incident, riots broke out among an assembled group of people who apparently really, really effing love waffles. The availability of $2 waffle makers in Little Rock, Arkansas set off the already excited Black Friday crowd gathered in that store.

Walmart Pepper Sprayer Turns Herself In, Shoppers Breathe Collective Sigh of Relief is a post from: The Inquisitr

Seriously people? Has America become so fat and obsessed with waffles that a Walmart riot is necessary when attempting to buy a $2 waffle maker.

A frenzy broke out in a Walmart near Little Rock, Arkansas on Black Friday when shoppers formed a riot over the possibility of picking up $2 waffle makers from the retail giants location.

If that isn’t bad enough one shopper at a Los Angeles Walmart pepper sprayed 20 shoppers over an Xbox 360 sale, while another person was shot outside a northern California Walmart.

Here’s the riot, just be warned there’s a good deal of People of Walmart type butt crack to be witnessed:

When will people realize that a $2 waffle maker and other super cheap products last about four seconds before breaking down.

Do you think this riot is one of the dumbest displays of consumerism to come about from this years various Black Friday sales events?

People Of Walmart Unite! $2 Waffle Makers Lead To Black Friday Riot is a post from: The Inquisitr

Once a year on black Friday, people flock to shopping mall parking lots across the country to take part in America’s favorite sport. Competitive shopping. Fully loaded with a belly of turkey and wine, deal seekers fight, claw, stampede, and occasionally pepper spray their opponents in order to win the opportunity to pay for things.

A woman at a Walmart in San Fernando Valley used mace against 20 other shoppers after a scuffle broke out on Thursday night. CBS reports that the incident occurred shortly after the Walmart opened for Black Friday at 10:20 pm.

One shopper said:

“People started screaming, pulling and pushing each other, and then the whole area filled up with pepper spray.”

According to the Los Angeles Times, the “competitive shopping” incident occurred in the video game aisle. Apparently the woman was trying to get a competitive edge on the other customers.

In the woman’s defense, Walmart was selling a blue Wii for less than $100. Clearly a good enough deal to justify an attack on fellow customers. I mean opponents.

Another customer said:

“I heard screaming and I heard yelling. Moments later, my throat stung. I was coughing really bad and watering up.”

The LA Times reports that despite the pepper-spray incident, the Black Friday sale at Wal-Mart continued. One customer, who arrived an hour after the pepper spray incident, went into the store with a “pepper spray schmepper spray attitude. The woman said:

“I don’t care. I’m still getting my TV. I’ve never seen Wal-Mart so crazy, but I guess it could have been worse.”

Next year, let’s keep “competitive shopping” where it belongs. On TV.

Did you attend a Black Friday sale? Did you have to fight for your deals?

Black Friday Shoppers Pepper-Sprayed in ‘Competitive Shopping’ Incident is a post from: The Inquisitr

One of the few days in American culture that the retail workforce grinds to a halt in order for workers to spend time with their families is Thanksgiving, but as strapped retailers seek ways to eek more profit out of the spending orgy that is Black Friday, that tradition may be set to change.

Unsurprisingly, retail employees aren’t happy with the decision. While many people adopt the “be grateful you have a job at all” mindset, some workers have stood up to complain after stores announced shopping hours beginning as early as 10 PM on Thanksgiving night. One employee of Target is organizing a campaign to protest the decision to open the nationwide retailer at midnight on Black Friday, requiring some employees to be present as early as 11PM on Thanksgiving day. Anthony Hardwick says:

“All Americans should be able to break bread with loved ones on Thanksgiving. With the midnight opening, employees like myself will have to leave for work right in the middle of Thanksgiving dinner. We don’t mind hard work, but cutting into our holidays is a step too far.”

Hardwick added:

“If Target doesn’t reverse its decision and allow associates to spend Thanksgiving holidays with their family, they might suffer from a fast-growing consumer backlash.”

While Walmart is going a step further and opening at 10PM on Thanksgiving Day, some retailers have bucked the trend and allowed employees the holiday to spend with their families before the crush of the holiday season sets in in earnest.

JC Penney’s senior VP for marketing Bill Gentner commented:

“We wanted to give our associates Thanksgiving Day to spend with their families.”

Do you think stores should be open Thanksgiving night for shoppers, or should retail workers be allowed to have a day off, too?

[Image: Shutterstock]

Thanksgiving Black Friday Hours Have Retail Workforce Raging is a post from: The Inquisitr

Walmart isn’t satisfied cutting your hair, handling your bank account and providing you with food, clothing and eye glasses, now the company wants to become the nation’s largest provider of health care.

In a letter of inquiry passed along to various health insurance providers Walmart revealed that they intend to:

“Dramatically … lower the cost of healthcare … by becoming the largest provider of primary healthcare services in the nation.”

The company hopes to compete with the likes of Walgreens and CVS, both which offer their own in-store clinics. However opponents of the program, namely doctors, suggest that seeing a consistent physician who understands your medical history is a better approach for care.

In the meantime Walmart is hoping to turn their clinics into one-stop shops for everything from depression and flu shots to HIV support and diabetes.

Some critics also point out that expanding on the 140 in-store clinics Walmart already operates doesn’t necessarily mean lower price, however as one analyst points out:

 ”If you get someone in the door, you can also sell them milk and a shotgun.”

In the meantime the company’s announcement for “more affordable health care” comes during the same week in which they drastically raised health care premiums for their employees while removing coverage for part-time employees who were already struggling to get by.

I can see the benefit of such a program for quick flu shots or vaccinations but I don’t think I’ll be trusting a Walmart doctor with any major issues I might run into in the future. Would you be willing to use a Walmart in-store clinic for your healthcare needs?

Walmart Plans To Become Nations Largest Healthcare Services Provider is a post from: The Inquisitr

After nearly ten quarters of declining profits, America’s most prolific retailer is hoping the coming holiday season marks a turnaround.

Mega-retailer Wal-Mart has, according to the Washington Post, been working hard to reverse losses in recent months with mixed success after a few policies seem to have caused the sales woes. The paper details:

Wal-Mart’s U.S. business has been in a slump because of mistakes it made on price and selection. The company is reversing that weak trend and has seen three straight months of revenue gains, starting in July, as it finishes up restoring thousands of products it culled during an overzealous bid to de-clutter its stores… But reclaiming its reputation as the lowest-prices leader is critical to sustain the improving sales trend. The company, based in Bentonville, Ark., strayed from its bedrock philosophy of “everyday” low prices, and late last year, switched back to emphasizing low prices across the whole store, instead of promoting select items.

And while the retailer has been more aggressively pursuing price matching on the store level- encouraging team members to keep abreast of competitors’ deals to make the practice easier- a new holiday initiative takes the service a level further for consumers. There is a little catch, though.

In order to quell the somewhat casino-like aspect of Christmas shopping- when prices fluctuate without warning and deals can go either way after Black Friday- the retailer is implementing a price matching strategy to encourage shoppers to jettison worries of future discounts. Between November 1st and December 25th, Wal-Mart customers can receive a refund of the difference of any items purchased during that period if a lower price is found anywhere- which will be given in the amount of a Wal-Mart gift card.

Do you think such a policy will encourage you to shop more freely at Wal-Mart this holiday season?

Wal-Mart Announces Aggressive Holiday Price Matching Initiative is a post from: The Inquisitr

Critics of the health care reform act passed under President Obama have generally gone one of two ways: either saying that the reforms don’t go far enough and should have obliterated profit-centric insurance companies entirely, or contending that due to the law, companies will be “forced” to pass rising costs on to workers or otherwise compensate by trimming workforces or benefit levels.

It seems Wal-Mart is feeding the latter group’s grumblings, despite an original assertion the mega-retailer favored health care reforms. The company has announced a shift in coverage burden to its notoriously poorly-paid workforce, as well as some cuts to coverage for employees who work fewer hours. Wal-Mart has come in for criticism in the past for passing its insurance costs on to taxpayers with a workforce eligible for and often reliant on programs like Medicaid, but it doesn’t seem this factored into the decision of one of the largest employers in the US.

Spokesman for Wal-Mart Greg Rossiter told the New York Times:

“Over the last few years, we’ve seen our health care rates increase and it’s probably not a surprise that this year will be no different. We made the difficult decision to raise rates that will affect our associates’ medical costs. The decisions made were not easy, but they strike a balance between managing costs and providing quality care and coverage.”

While it seems the problem can’t be tackled until Americans face the fact that a for-profit healthcare system has become unaffordable for a growing number of Americans, many still believe that moves to reform health care and make access more affordable are a step in the wrong direction. However, it seems that Wal-Mart’s decision to drop some employees- part-timers at over 30 hours per week- may be changed by law when the reforms go into effect in 2014.

Health Care Benefits Cost Being Passed On to Employees By Wal-Mart is a post from: The Inquisitr

Thanks to America’s largest employer a considerable amount of people may soon be without health care. Walmart employees revealed on Friday that the company would be jacking up health care premiums by as much as 40% while eliminating coverage completely for many of their part-time workers.

Speaking about their decision Walmart told the New York Times that their decision was made because of the rising costs associated with health care. According to one spokesman:

“The decisions made were not easy,” while they added, “but they strike a balance between managing costs and providing quality care.”

Under the new plan employees who work less than 24 hours per week will not be eligible for coverage. New hires who work 24 to 33 hours will be able to receive benefits but they won’t be able to add their spouse to the plan, although children can be added.

One employee in Placerville, California told The Times that her premiums will increase from $260 annually to $468. That same employee also revealed that her deductible will now jump from $1,000 to $5,000. When you consider that the employee who revealed their premium increase only earns $19,000 per year from Walmart it’s a considerable chunk of income that’s being taken away.

The company will also require that employees who smoke pay a significant penalty to begin receiving health insurance, a penalty that ranges anywhere from $260 to $2,340.

The fact that Walmart is slashing coverage comes just a few years after they initially expanded their health care coverage to more part-time employees. Walmart initially extended coverage after pressure from various states who no longer wanted Walmart employees using their Medicaid programs.

Do you think this is another example of Walmart taking advantage of their employees? This would be the perfect time for Walmart employees to form that union their company keeps busting.

Walmart Deals Huge Blow To Employees, Slashes Health Care Benefits is a post from: The Inquisitr

A Walmart bleach fight caused a Baltimore store close on Saturday after several patrons began throwing bleach and other disinfectants at one another.

Because of the dangerous chemical fight store managers were forced to deem the situation a hazmat hazard while calling in police to arrest the guilty parties.

Baltimore County Police responded to a call on Saturday morning and learned that two women had been engaged in an altercation.

According to reports the amount of chemicals thrown caused toxic fumes which forced the immediate evacuation of the Arbutus store which remained closed for several hours while the chemicals were cleaned.

Responding to the situation were EMS, Fire and hazardous materials units along with 10 medics.

The situation led to 19 people receiving treatment which included three Walmart employees. One store visitor was also taken to the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Arrested for their part in the altercation was  Theresa Monique Jefferson, 33. Theresa turned herself into authorities and was charged with first-degree assault, second-degree assault, theft under $100 and malicious destruction of property and she is being held on $350,000 bail.

Theresa revealed that the dispute arose from a fight she was having because of the other parties boyfriend who happens to be the father of Jefferson’s child.

In a statement to their customers Walmart released the following statement:

“This is obviously not the type of behavior we would expect from people at our stores. We apologize for any inconvenience this caused to our customers.”

The other participant in the Walmart bleach fight has not yet been arrested.

Walmart Bleach Fight Forces Baltimore Store To Shut Down is a post from: The Inquisitr

When you buy sausages costing ninety eight cents, how much do you expect to pay? Ninety eight cents.

So, when Mary Bach, a consumer activist, was asked to pay $1 by Walmart in Pennsylvania for sausages priced at 98 cents, she decided to take the giant warehouse store to court.

Walmart argued that it was a price packaging mix-up. Bach thought otherwise and said that it was intentional.

Judge Charles Conway agreed with Bach, ruling that Walmart breached trade laws. In the end, Back was awarded $100 in damages and $80 for legal fees.

The Pittsburg Tribune-Review reported that Greg Rossiter, Walmart spokesman, disagreed with the ruling, and is considering its options. Even the company’s attorney Timothy Nieman contends that Bach has a 17-year history of battling it out with the company over pricing faults.

But for now, Bach got her two cents worth.

Walmart Loses Lawsuit Over Two Cents is a post from: The Inquisitr

The more you know: if you shop at Walmart, make sure to keep polishing supplies and pancake supplies way separate.

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PSA: Pancake Safety is a post from: The Inquisitr

Netflix angered many of their loyal customers last month when they raised pricing for their DVD-by-mail and Streaming services by 60 percent and now it appears Walmart and their Vudu service are reaping the benefits of that decision.

According to a recent study conducted by the IHS Screen Digest Media Research Vudu now has more subscribers than Amazon and the Sony Playstation store in terms of online store rankings.

Walmart.com has prominently been featuring Vudu on their homepage, while various DVDs sold by the retail giant have come with free trial certificates for the service which rents movies on a one-by-one basis. Walmart’s aggressive advertising and Netflix’s faltering user base appears to be working, in the first half of 2010 Vudu controlled less than one percent of the online U.S. movie market with that number climbing in the first half of 2011 to 5.3 percent.

While the system doesn’t compete directly with Netflix and their monthly subscription plan, their a la carte system does allow users to pick up DVDs in the company’s stores or have them delivered to their home for viewing with prices ranging from $1 to $5.99 per title.

Blockbuster Video also offers a DVD by mail service, however they do not currently give customers the option to stream movies from their platform.

For some situations I still find Netflix useful, for example they stream a good selection of television shows and miniseries and as a movie junkie I gain far more value out of the sites unlimited rentals than I would renting 8-10 movies each month at $5 a piece. Where do you stand when it comes to choosing Netflix as a monthly service provider or ordering your movies a la carte from Vudu?

Netflix Losing Ground To Walmart Vudu Service is a post from: The Inquisitr

A recent survey of Netflix customers has shown that nearly 2 million people plan to cancel the service after Netflix changed their DVD and streaming pricing structure, separating the two services and now it looks like the company is gaining some competition from an unlikely competitor, Walmart.

The retail giant purchased video on demand service Vudu 18 months ago and yesterday the company launched the program on their retail website.

Unlike Netflix which offers a monthly subscription fee for video streaming, often on sub-par movie titles and TV shows, Vudu offers more than 20,000 titles that can be rented and then streamed immediately for prices ranging from $1 to $5.99, while some movies can be purchased for as little as $4.99.

Vudu also has another deal up their sleeve’s, their streaming and downloadable movies are available the same day they arrive on DVD, while Netflix customers must wait a full month before they can request a DVD be delivered at their homes, while popular titles may see a delay in shipping times to some customers.

It will be interesting to see if Walmart ends up offering any super cheap movies below retail sales prices as part of their Vudu promotions, the company has a history of selling CDs for less than they purchased them for, driving customers into their stores, that type of promotion could get people interested in the video on demand and purchase or stream more titles offered by Vudu.

Do you prefer the Netflix unlimited streaming service or a video service with more up-to-date titles with the option to buy?

Walmart To Compete With Netflix, Launches Vudu Service On Their Website is a post from: The Inquisitr

Walmart on Tuesday announced that various stores had dropped the price of the iPhone 4 16GB version to just $147, slightly more than a 25% drop from the phones original $197 pricing structure.

The new pricing is available through June 30 and applies to both the black and white models of the phone. Our own Kim LaCapria picked her device up from a Walmart just outside New York City and she learned that it was the last white version of the product at that location which means they are going fast.

The offer “available only in select stories” requires a new AT&T or Verizon two-year contract and it is not available through the retail giants website.

It’s still unclear why Wal-Mart dropped the devices pricing, however with WWDC kicking off Apple hasn’t announced any price drops of their own.

Walmart Drops iPhone 4 To $147 In Select Stores is a post from: The Inquisitr