Consumer and retail news: 10 things you need to know today

Advertisement

Shake Shack ChickenShack

Business Insider

1. Shake Shack just fired a shot at Chick-fil-A

Shake Shack launched a new chicken sandwich: the Chick'n Shack. It's a direct blow to Chick-fil-A with its crispy fried chicken, lettuce, pickles, and buttermilk herb mayo between two toasted buns. It will be available for $6.29 starting Thursday at all Shake Shack locations except for New York City's Theater District location, the JFK Airport Shacks, and stadium Shacks.

Advertisement

2. CHIPOTLE: 'It's going to be messy'

Chipotle says customer traffic and profit margins won't fully recover from recent food safety scares until 2017.

3. Buying this fashion status symbol is 'historically safer' than investing in the stock market

A new study suggests that purchasing the famously expensive Hermes Birkin handbag could actually be a smart move.

4. Here's the one clothing item that men should splurge on, according to Tim Gunn

In a recent interview with Business Insider, fashion guru Tim Gunn shared the one item that he thinks men should splurge on. "An overcoat, because it's not a trendy item that will go out of style, but one that you can wear for at least 10 years or more," Gunn told us.

5. Beer companies are using this counterintuitive method to get millennial customers back

The craft-beer boom is forcing Big Beer to reexamine its marketing techniques, but "cooler" marketing doesn't allow these mainstream brands to capture the independence of small, craft breweries.

Advertisement

6. This $2,095 dress that Michelle Obama wore is so popular that it's sold out

The Narcisco Rodriguez dress that Michelle Obama wore to Tuesday's State of The Union address drew so much attention, that by Wednesday, the dress was sold out on Neiman Marcus's website.

7. Popular lip balm EOS is under fire after a lawsuit emerges

Popular lip balm EOS is under fire, Time has reported. Time obtained a class action lawsuit from Rachel Cronin, who claimed the lip balm caused detrimental side effects, such as bleeding and cracking lips. EOS released a statement to Time claiming the allegations were "without merit." The company posted a notice on Facebook saying that the suit was "without merit," as well.

8. Chili's won't be eliminating tips anytime soon

Even though Danny Meyer famously eliminated tips from his restaurants, CNBC has reported that Chili's will not be nixing its tipping policy anytime soon. "We like it from the standpoint of it allows servers to really understand the importance of great service and what's in it for them when they provide great service," said Wyman Roberts, the CEO of Chili's parent compan, Brinker International, said in an interview Tuesday at the ICR Conference, according to CNBC.

9. A shirt made famous by a drug lord is flying off shelves

The shirts El Chapo wore in the pictures accompanying the Rolling Stone article are flying off both physical and digital shelves. The striped shirt sported by the drug trafficker in a photo with Penn was sold out at a store in Texas, and a blue shirt with a paisley print featured in a separate photograph was also in high demand.

10. Fresh food might be less healthy than you think - and it's bad news for Chipotle

Most people assume inexpensive, poorly-prepared meat is responsible for most food poisoning cases. However, fresh produce accounts for about half of the 48 million illnesses in the US per year that can be traced to contaminated foods, reports CNNMoney in a recent series called Raw Ingredients.

Advertisement