Laura Northrup

4.10.13 9:51 AM EDT By Laura Northrup@lnorthrup For brick-and-mortar retailers, getting customers to walk into their stores has always been a challenge. Today, it’s even more so. But the secret to success in the third decade of the e-commerce era probably isn’t making digital downloads “In-Store Purchase Only.” “I wanted to buy some Microsoft points for Xbox…..ummm, I’m not quite sure I understand this one Best Buy,” reader Aaron writes.

Updated: 4.29.14 2:25 PM EDT By Laura Northrup@lnorthrup (AMP_ion_Photography – Not Tonka) Insurance is always a gamble. Pet health insurance, much like human health insurance, is a bet that your pet’s covered medical expenses over its lifetime will add up to more than the premiums you pay. Following that logic, Howard got a health insurance plan through VPI for his late pet Chihuahua, Tonka.

People might have freaked out when a Starbucks opened within the Main Street Bakery at Walt Disney World, but how soon we forget. Cross-branding is nothing new. When Disneyland opened, it featured a Mexican(ish) restaurant called Casa de Fritos run by the Frito company. It was on New Orleans Street, near another product-placement eatery: Aunt Jemima’s Pancake House. It at the Casa de Fritos that the beloved Dorito was invented. Yes, really.