Consumers like gift cards because they make the joys of obligatory generosity easier and thus more joyous. A recent survey noted that 80% of shoppers said they were going to purchase a gift card this holiday season, for an estimated total of $27.8 billion. Companies like them too, because companies like free money. According to the Wall Street Journal, from 2005 to the present, $41 billion worth of money on gift cards has been lost or will never be redeemed. This doesn't include any of the $800 billion cost of Iraq War that President Bush attempted to pay for with old gift cards to Applebee's. more ›

The story of the Pakistani woman allegedly killed by her husband and his mistress gets more depressing with news that the victim's family and her husband's family are fighting over custody of their young children. Nazish Noorani's grieving sister, Lubna Choudhry, told reporters, "I should raise them because of [their] father killing my sister." But murder suspect Kashif Parvaiz's sister said of Noorani's family, "They are all taking welfare. How will they take care of these kids? My father owns buildings and has income, and we will take care of them." more ›

Lady Gaga will be at Best Buy in Union Square on Monday night, so if you aren't one of her "monsters" then you may want to avoid the area completely until Tuesday. Currently her army of followers are camped outside of Rockefeller Center attempting to get stand-by tickets to SNL, which she'll be performing on tomorrow night. The fans have been camped out since Tuesday (related: it has been raining since Tuesday!), and at one point Gaga sent over pizzas to keep them nourished. One hopeful gal told the Daily News, "We are SNL fans and Lady Gaga is our idol. This is the perfect episode." What, no props for Justin Timberlake? more ›

Now that Black Friday is over, let's survey the damage some shoppers did. A 23-year-old student who had been camping outside at the Union Square Best Buy since Tuesday afternoon bought "a Sony laptop for $399, saving $300, and buy a 32-inch Samsung TV and Nintendo Wii, both for just $435, saving more than $300." He told the Post, "When I finally got in, it felt like the gates of heaven opened up. I had to miss a couple of days of school to be here." more ›

It's barely after 9 a.m. and many Americans have already gone to and come back from big retailers' Black Friday sales. Especially since some stores had their Black Friday sales start last night: One Queens resident was at the Times Square Toys 'R' Us, which was opening at 10 p.m.; she told the AP, "I thought, good, we'll come here and I won't have to go tomorrow," but then admitted she would also be getting up at 6 a.m. for more bargain hunting. more ›

Yesterday, twenty Apple laptops were stolen from a Best Buy in South Brunswick, NJ by a crew of very craft thieves: A detective said there was a "High level of sophistication... They never set off any motion sensors. They never touched the floor. They rappelled in and rappelled out." more ›

The 54-year-old crash victim died a week later, never having had the opportunity to discover his cards were missing. Later, reports the AP, Vassell and his girlfriend Lisa Dacosta racked up a $2,000 bill at Armani Exchange, Best Buy, gas stations and other stores. Police tracked them down yesterday and charged them with grand larceny and identity theft. But Longworth and county police agree that this wasn't an isolated incident. According to the Mid Hudson News, investigators have tied Vassell's name to an October of 2009 credit card theft from a patient in the ER. more ›

A 24-year-old woman says she was handcuffed and thrown into a police holding cell when she tried to use a valid gift card at a NoHo Best Buy. Llona Klaver wanted to buy a DVD player with American Express gift cards she received from her father and brother, but she claims a cashier told her one wasn't valid because it didn't have raised numbers, while another was deemed unacceptable because it was connected to a different person's credit card. Then the cashier accused her of credit card fraud. more ›

Theft among retail workers is up — particularly the fraudulent use of gift cards, the Times reports. According to a recent study, store workers, not shoplifters, are responsible for the majority of the estimated $36 billion per year that is heisted from retail establishments, and a growing number of thieving employees are using gift certificates to commit their crimes. more ›

Since Best Buy is constantly looking to build on its existing culture of innovation and tailor its stores to the needs of local customers, the electronic retail powerhouse figures, "Heck, why not open a 24-hour spot down there in New York City's Union Square?" That's right, Best Buy's CEO Brian Dunn announced today that a 24-hour, 48,000 square-foot location (the old Circuit City) will open its doors at the corner of 14th Street and 4th Avenue, the heart of historic "please don't run into me with your skateboard" Union Square, on Nov. 13. more ›

Sigur Ros played two nights up at The United Palace Theater this week. While the Icelandic group is often known for their overwhelming live shows, sometimes featuring dozens of performers on stage at once, this time around they've stripped down mostly to a core quartet. The atmosphere was somewhat restrained from your typical show, as the swooning and soaring accompaniment was minimized for the most part. For anyone familiar with their latest album, this fits with their current approach, seeing that the new stuff is far less abstract and more tightly constructed than the open ended opuses of the past. By no means a disappointing couple of shows, the full experience is on a completely different plane, but many seemed a bit let down compared to some of their recent performances over the last couple years. For excellent pictures from both nights, check out Brooklyn Vegan here and here. more ›

Recently landmarked Webster Hall is undergoing some renovations, building a venue inside the venue called The Studio. The new downstairs performance space will hold around 275 people, and is set to open just in time for CMJ (around October 21st). A venue rep tells us that they plan on having shows "every night of the week" but would like to include a party night on Mondays and a comedy night on Sundays. Don't fear, B&T crew, the club nights upstairs will still go on. more ›

A Grinch has crossed state lines! Some NJ residents didn't receive their deliveries when a New Springville resident swiped packages from doorsteps during the holiday season. more ›

Activists trying to turn Black Friday into Buy Nothing Day have their work cut out for them when it comes to consumers like Tom Shea, who waited in line outside a midtown Manhattan Best Buy for 35 hours so he could be the first one inside when the store opened at 4am today. “"If they were selling it, we were buying it," Shea proudly told the Post. His attitude was far from unique; shopoholics like... more ›

ART: Tonight a group of artists take what one would normally put in the paper shredder, and look at it in a whole new light. The Dotted Line "presents work that assumes the form of official documents ubiquitous to everyday life. The participating artists seek to imbue these commonplace documents with new meaning and to consider the implications of those moments when we are asked to sign along a dotted line." Open through December 21st.... more ›

Last week Racked reported that there's word of an Apple store opening in Brooklyn. The question is, which neighborhood will iNvite them in. Dumbo NYC reports that Two Trees has reached out to Apple in the past, but they "weren’t ready". If they're ready now, their options in Dumbo would include the 6600 sq.ft space at 70 Washington Street and the 6700 sq.ft space across the street at Washington and Front Street. more ›

Let’s face it; you’re probably going to return the Santa sweater that is three sizes too big from your aunt that you see maybe twice a year. There is no shame in returning something that is wrong. Very wrong. It is this spirit of post-holiday grief that reminds us that the same thing applies to wine. If the wine is faulted, not unlike the sweater with holiday appliqué, then it is your right to return it. more ›

Kentile (again!) by Dalton Rooney. more ›

If you haven't showered in a few days, there is a good chance that you're probably waiting on a line trying desperately to score one of the new next generation console releases from Sony and Nintendo. more ›

Blame it on Diddy. Crain's reports that after Sean "P. Diddy" Combs opened his Sean John store at Fifth Avenue and 41st Street, building owners have been looking to make that stretch of Fifth more upscale (more than the Best Buy) and the owners of 500 Fifth Avenue is "forcing out" tenants, such as tobacconist to the world Nat Sherman. The owners are hoping to get a luxury retailer to pay $425 per square foot (pricey, but probably much less than whatever they pay on Fifth in the 50s or 60s). Anyway, we almost can't imagine Nat Sherman at that corner. Nat Sherman told Crain's they "are close to signing a lease at 12 E. 42nd Street," because their "roots are in this neighboorhood." more ›

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Better redeem any Tower Records gift certificates you have soon, because the company has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time in recent years. And what's more, many people have been speculating about its chances for survival, since various labels have stopped sending product because Tower hasn't been paying its bills. Huh, is that why we've been having trouble locating certain products, or is the BBC deluxe DVD of Pride & Prejudice just always sold out? Various publications have suggested that Trans World Entertainment, which owns the f.y.e. stores, Sam Goody, Coconuts, and Suncoast may buy Tower. more ›

As the public readies to ooh and aah over products at its spacious Fifth Avenue Apple Store, praise is being given to Apple vice president Ron Johnson for his retailing and merchandising innovations. The NY Times looks at his background, which includes Mervyns then 16 years at Target (when Steve Jobs told him Apple "is one of the biggest brands in the world," Johnson told him then the stores should be big) Forrester says that Apple Store revenue was $2489 per square foot, whereas it's $971 at a Best Buy; Apple says Target averages $300 per square foot. But Target isn't paying for sweet retail space. more ›

Charlie Todd and his ImprovEverywhere agents invaded the 23rd Street Best Buy with eighty people dressed in employee uniforms-- blue shirts and khaki pants. Hilarity ensued. Check out a bunch of other clips at Vimeo, or read the full acount at Charlie's site. more ›

Elliott Wilson, editor-in-chief, XXL magazine more ›

Man, we thought we were hardcore nerds-- but we're pussies compared to the freaks who stood outside Circuit City last night in the pouring rain, waiting for the Xbox360 to get released. Check out John's photoset on Flickr for all the soaking wet details. Did anyone manage to snag an Xbox360 last night? And if you did, how do our favorite NYC games (Warriors, True Crime NYC, etc) look on the new system? more ›

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our Twizzlers!), Gothamist has been Netflixing (when we get around to it) our DVD rentals or buying them on impulse at Best Buy ("Oh, my God, it's the third season of Columbo!"), but video stores like Movie Place on West 105th and Kim's on St. Mark's are great resources for those hard to find foreign films or films that are only available on video. Do you find yourself buying more and/or Netflixing DVDs or are you still visiting your local video place? more ›

How do you deal with crossing the street? more ›