Here’s The Official List Of Payless Stores That Are Closing Next

While Payless ShoeSource is waiting to hear back from the court and its landlords about more than 400 stores that it may close without a break on rent, the discount shoe chain has released a list of 112 stores that definitely are closing next.

The chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy at the beginning of April, closing 400 of its approximately 4,000 stores at that time. As consumers do less apparel shopping in malls, the chain no longer needs as many stores as it once did. Will shoppers bother to drive a few miles to the next mall over to buy their Chuck Taylor-style sneakers after their nearest store closes? The management of Payless hopes so.

Here are those 112 stores slated for closure. If your nearest store isn’t on this list but was on the possible closure list last week, it’s still under negotiation and may or may not stay open.

Location	Town	State
9256 PARKWAY EAST	BIRMINGHAM	AL
8319 ROGERS AVE	FORT SMITH	AR
10101 MABLEVALE PLAZA DRIVE	LITTLE ROCK	AR
202 ARKANSAS BLVD	TEXARKANA	AR
1615 E INDIAN SCHOOL RD STE E	PHOENIX	AZ
8940 E TALKING STICK WAY	SCOTTSDALE	AZ
4140 E 22ND ST	TUCSON	AZ
2440 SAND CREEK ROAD	BRENTWOOD	CA
2310 CALIFORNIA AVE	CORONA	CA
700 N MAIN ST	CORONA	CA
1255 E MAIN ST	EL CAJON	CA
3172 E TULARE AVE	FRESNO	CA
6845 CAMINO ARROYO 60	GILROY	CA
11825 HAWTHORNE BLVD	HAWTHORNE	CA
4160 HIGHLAND AVENUE SUITE 7	HIGHLAND	CA
9842 ADAMS	HUNTINGTON BEACH	CA
3282 E ANAHEIM ST	LONG BEACH	CA
536 E MANCHESTER AVE	LOS ANGELES	CA
1822 W OLIVE AVE	MERCED	CA
2601 OAKDALE RD STE A	MODESTO	CA
3900 SISK ROAD	MODESTO	CA
30606 SANTA MARGARITA PKWY	RANCHO SANTA MARGARI	CA
681 E FOOTHILL BLVD	RIALTO	CA
5095 STOCKTON BLVD	SACRAMENTO	CA
1010A BLOSSOM HILL RD	SAN JOSE	CA
1150 S BRISTOL ST	SANTA ANA	CA
701 S HARBOR BLVD	SANTA ANA	CA
627 STATE ST	SANTA BARBARA	CA
1215 SANGUINETTI ROAD	SONORA	CA
1780 DECOTO RD BLDG F	UNION CITY	CA
17080 BEAR VALLEY ROAD	VICTORVILLE	CA
1841 UNIVERSITY DRIVE	VISTA	CA
771 IKEA COURT SUITE 140	WEST SACRAMENTO	CA
6850 W 12TH AVE	HIALEAH	FL
6600 INTERNATIONAL DRIVE	ORLANDO	FL
400 BATTLEFIELD PKY	FORT OGLETHORPE	GA
5445 FAIRINGTON RD	LITHONIA	GA
45-480 KANEOHE BAY DRIVE B17	KANEOHE	HI
1196 W BOUGHTON	BOLINGBROOK	IL
102 BROADVIEW VILLAGE SQUARE S	BROADVIEW	IL
2800 N MILWAUKEE AVE	CHICAGO	IL
2909 W ADDISON ST	CHICAGO	IL
4547 N BROADWAY	CHICAGO	IL
4755 W CERMAK RD	CICERO	IL
3190 N WATER STREET	DECATUR	IL
1C CLOCKTOWER PLAZA	ELGIN	IL
3255 BROADWAY	QUINCY	IL
6096 BROADWAY	MERRILLVILLE	IN
227 E MCGALLIARD RD	MUNCIE	IN
1900 NORTH JOHNSON	DERBY	KS
2570 S BROADWAY ST	WICHITA	KS
3928 7TH STREET RD	SHIVELY	KY
1715 ELTON ROAD	JENNINGS	LA
4325 VETERANS MEMORIAL BLVD	METAIRIE	LA
715 CRESCENT ST	BROCKTON	MA
786 DUDLEY ST	DORCHESTER	MA
1534 HANCOCK ST # 38	QUINCY	MA
12850 MICHIGAN AVENUE	DEARBORN	MI
3210 E MICHIGAN AVENUE	JACKSON	MI
32107 JOHN R RD	MADISON HEIGHTS	MI
688 HIGHWAY 6 EAST	BATESVILLE	MS
408 E SUNFLOWER RD	CLEVELAND	MS
615 WEST PARK AVE	GREENWOOD	MS
2243 HIGHWAY 15 N	LAUREL	MS
2601 LAWNDALE DR	GREENSBORO	NC
1705 WILDWOOD BLVD	RIO GRANDE	NJ
2270 MAIN STREET NW	LOS LUNAS	NM
459 FULTON ST # 461	BROOKLYN	NY
1713 CHURCH AVENUE	BROOKLYN	NY
3964 VINEYARD DR	DUNKIRK	NY
3122 FARRINGTON ST	FLUSHING	NY
71 FOREST AVENUE	GLEN COVE	NY
3137 MAIN ST	MOHEGAN LAKE	NY
62 E MAIN ST	SMITHTOWN	NY
4071 LEE RD	CLEVELAND	OH
71 S SPRINGBORO PIKE	MIAMISBURG	OH
2332 GALLIA STREET	PORTSMOUTH	OH
820 ARLINGTON CTR	ADA	OK
2724 S TELEPHONE RD	MOORE	OK
5924 SW 3RD ST	OKLAHOMA CITY	OK
1413 W I240 SERVICE RD	OKLAHOMA CITY	OK
3815 DEVONSHIRE AVE NE	SALEM	OR
1836 E. RIDGE PIKE STE # 104	ROYERSFORD	PA
500 CARR 693	DORADO	PR
CALLE FORTALEZA 254	SAN JUAN	PR
465 N GERMANTOWN PARKWAY	CORDOVA	TN
500 HIGHWAY 46 S	DICKSON	TN
2700 LAKE RD	DYERSBURG	TN
210 CENTRAL EXPRESSWAY SOUTH	ALLEN	TX
1064 FM 802	BROWNSVILLE	TX
500 S EL PASO ST	EL PASO	TX
7845 N MESA ST	EL PASO	TX
3310 MANSFIELD HWY	FORT WORTH	TX
5986 BROADWAY BLVD	GARLAND	TX
2001 KATY MILLS BLVD SUITE Q	KATY	TX
2400 E SAUNDERS ST	LAREDO	TX
4324 NORTH CONWAY	PALMHURST	TX
2650 PEARLAND PARKWAY SUITE 12	PEARLAND	TX
5049 NORTH CENTRAL EXPWY	PLANO	TX
824 STEGER TOWN DR	ROCKWALL	TX
8223 MARBACH ROAD	SAN ANTONIO	TX
100 S ZARZAMORA ST STE 208	SAN ANTONIO	TX
11915 PERRIN BEITEL RD	SAN ANTONIO	TX
3030 E MAIN ST	UVALDE	TX
8353 LEESBURG PIKE	VIENNA	VA
751 HILLTOP NORTH SHOPPING CEN	VIRGINIA BEACH	VA
4640 MONTICELLO AVE	WILLIAMSBURG	VA
16929 SE 270TH PLACE	COVINGTON	WA
14991 N KELSEY ST	MONROE	WA
2401 W WELLESLEY AVE	SPOKANE	WA
6400 N 76TH ST	MILWAUKEE	WI
1925 S KOELLER STREET	OSHKOSH	WI

 

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

Out-Of-Order Birth Control Pills Not Great At Preventing Pregnancy, Prompt Recall

As anyone who’s ever used an oral contraceptive knows, it’s important to take the pills in the right order, because each dose is different: Some pills contain hormones and some are inert and don’t do anything. Mixing up those up could mean the difference between remaining unpregnant and getting pregnant. To prevent the latter, the maker of one birth control product is recalling pills that are packaged incorrectly.

Lupin Pharmaceuticals is recalling one lot of Mibelas 24 Fe (Norethindrone Acetate and Ethinyl Estradiol 1 mg/0.02 mg chewable and ferrous fumarate 75 mg) tablets.

They’re packaged in blister packs containing 28 tablets: 24 white to off-white tablets of active ingredients debossed with “LU” on one side and “N81” on the other; and 4 tablets of inert ingredients debossed with “LU” on one side and “M22” on the other side.

The pills were distributed nationwide in the U.S. to wholesalers, clinics and retail pharmacies.

The recall was prompted by a consumer complaint about the error, in which the blister pack has been rotated 180 degrees, reversing the weekly tablet orientation.

“The reversing the order may not be apparent to either new users or previous users of the product, increasing the likelihood of taking the tablets out of order,” the Food and Drug Administration said.

This means you’d be taking the four placebo pills in the first week instead of the fourth, which could have big implications.

“As a result of this packaging error, oral contraceptive tablets that are taken out of sequence may place the user at risk for contraceptive failure and unintended pregnancy,” notes the FDA.

If you have the affected product, notify your doctor and return it to the pharmacy or place of purchase. Questions? call Lupin at 1-800-399-2561, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST, Monday through Friday.

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

A Computer Will Be Better Than You At Your Job Soon, But Not Very Soon

When will a piece of software be better at your job than you are? While it’s hard to scientifically quantify things that haven’t happened yet, experts in machine learning predict that in the next 200 years or so, computers or robots will be able to beat humans at our jobs and even most of our hobbies.

The methods of this study [PDF] were not very scientific. Instead, the author asked experts in the field attending a major conference in a survey when they thought certain jobs or tasks would be performed better by AI than people. These ranged from mobile phone games to robots winning bicycle races to jobs like “AI researcher.”

Here’s a chart from the article spanning the next 40 years. The horizontal lines on the graph show the ranges that experts predicted. For example, the chart shows that experts expected machines to be able to fold laundry between two and 14 years from now, with the answer in the middle being six years.

At the time the survey was taken, in 2015, the participants expected that AI might be better than humans at playing the mobile game Angry Birds in one to nine years, and better at the strategy game Go in five to 37 years, with a median of 12 years. Instead, Google’s DeepMind learned how to beat even the best humans at the game within only two years.

Naturally, the AI researchers also predict that their own jobs won’t be performed better for another median 87 years, the longest time frame of any job in the survey.

What humans really need to worry about is when our bosses will decide that artificial intelligence does a “good enough” job, not a better job. Interactive voice agents and chat bots are generally inferior to live people, but they do a good enough job and are significantly cheaper than humans.

In summary, perhaps our college-age readers should consider going into AI research so the robots will keep them gainfully employed a little longer than the rest of us.

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

Digital Rights Advocates Sue Justice Dept. To Learn More About FBI Paying Off Best Buy Informants

A child pornography case in California has grown into a strange thing over the years, as lawyers for the defendant argued — and later proved — that the FBI had been paying Best Buy employees after they found illegal content on customers’ devices. Now the EFF is suing the Justice Department to find out just how the feds found, recruited, and trained these informants, and just how widespread the practice is.

The EFF, a major digital rights advocacy group, has now filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Justice Department to learn more about how the FBI attracted, trained, and used Geek Squad employees.

This challenge is several years in the making.

About a year ago, in 2016, a California man facing charges for possessing child pornography claimed that his case should be thrown out. Why? Because, his lawyer alleged, the Best Buy Geek Squad employee that found and reported the images on his computer had been paid by the FBI after he reported them. That, the lawyer argued, meant the employee was a government agent who searched the computer without a warrant, violating the defendant’s Fourth Amendment rights.

In January of this year, documents surfaced in that case confirming that multiple Geek Squad staffers did indeed receive money from the FBI after finding unlawful content on customers’ devices.

Sworn statements from both Best Buy Geek Squad employees and FBI agents showed that several different employees received payouts after telling the FBI what they’d found. Documents also showed that some Best Buy managers were named “confidential human sources.”

One former employee, who had been in charge of Data Recovery at Best Buy’s “Geek Squad City” said that he’d received money from the FBI in 2008 but said he was “extremely reluctant and irritated that the FBI gave [him] money, and tried to give it back.”

Best Buy said at the time that, “Any circumstances in which an employee received payment from the FBI is the result of extremely poor individual judgment, is not something we tolerate and is certainly not a part of our normal business behavior.”

MORE: FBI Paid Multiple Best Buy Employees After Finding Illegal Content on Computers

The EFF sent a FOIA request to the Justice Department in February, asking for documents relating to paid informants at Best Buy. The FBI denied the request, however, saying it wouldn’t confirm or deny that it has records revealing whether someone is under investigation.

So now, the EFF is suing.

In the complaint [PDF], the EFF requests the FBI turn over all “internal memoranda or other documentation” regarding the feds’ use of informants or cooperating human sources from Best Buy, as well as anything related to recruiting or training of Best Buy personnel “in the detection and location of child pornography or other material on computers brought to Best Buy for repair.”

And, just for good measure, the EFF requests the same related to “any computer repair facilities in the United States,” not just ones operated by Best Buy.

“The public has a right to know how the FBI uses computer repair technicians to carry out searches the agents themselves cannot do without a warrant,” EFF Senior Counsel David Sobel said in a statement. “People authorize Best Buy employees to fix their computers, not conduct unconstitutional searches on the FBI’s behalf.”

“Informants who are trained, directed, and paid by the FBI to conduct searches for the agency are acting as government agents,” EFF Civil Liberties Director David Greene added. “The FBI cannot bypass the Constitution’s warrant requirement by having its informants search people’s computers at its direction and command.”

by Kate Cox via Consumerist

Here’s What To Buy On Sale In June

Although you might think June is a bad time to stock up on seasonal products you can use this summer, there are big discounts to be had this time of year.

Our colleagues at Consumer Reports track the prices of every product they test, so they know when things will be on sale. They’ve highlighted a few items ripe for the picking this month.

What kind of stuff is on deep discount? Here are a few examples:

Windows: No, not the operating system, the things you use to see what’s outside. Replacing your windows with Energy Star certified products can lower your energy bills by an average of 12%, CR notes, though it usually takes about a year to recoup the cost. Need help? Peruse CR’s home window buying guide.

Sunscreen: Yes, this stuff goes on sale when you actually need it. Bargains started in April and will last through August, so if you spot a good deal, stock up. It’s a lot better than trying to make the stuff yourself.

Wireless speakers: Thinking of having a party on the deck or bumping some sweet jams on the beach? Many models of portable speakers will be on sale this month. If you want to be truly wireless, Bluetooth speakers are usually battery-powered, notes CR, while WiFi speakers need an outlet. Check out Consumer Reports wireless speakers ratings here.

(And remember: Drinkable sunscreen is not safe.)

Decking materials: Speaking of that backyard barbecue, this month is a good time to replace or add a deck. You may have to fork over some cash for labor, but you can save on materials. Don’t forget to figure in the cost of railing, stairs, and support structure.

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

Do You Use OneLogin? Change Your Password Now

If you use OneLogin to keep all your, well, login information straight, it’s time to change your password, as the password manager’s U.S. data centers are at the center of the latest hack attack. 

OneLogin revealed the breach in a blog post Wednesday, noting that it detected unauthorized access to information stored in its U.S. data region.

The company, which allows users to access multiple web application, sites and services with one password, says that it is working with law enforcement and an independent security firm to determine how the access occurred and to verify the extent of the impact.

So far, the company has not provided information on how many people were affected by the breach, what information was exposed, or how hackers gained access to the data systems.

However, ZDNet reports that OneLogin revealed in an email that sensitive customer data was affected.

“OneLogin believes that all customers served by our US data center are affected and customer data was potentially compromised,” the email to ZDNet states.

The company says in its announcement that it has contacted affected users. ZDNet obtained the email notification to users, reporting that the company warned that hackers may be able to decrypt stored encrypted data.

For this reason, customers were advised to change their passwords, generate new API keys for their services, and create new tokens used for logging into accounts.

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

Literal Hamburglar On The Loose: Guy Accused Of Selling $20K Worth Of McDonald’s Food To A Bodega

A delivery driver tasked with trucking around food for McDonald’s is a real-life Hamburglar in the eyes of the law: Police say instead of dropping off his haul where it was supposed to go, he diverted $20,000 worth of the chain’s food to a local bodega to line his own pockets.

According to the New York City Police Department, an employee of delivery and distribution company Martin Brower diverted frozen hamburger patties, nuggets, fries, and apple pies to a deli in Harlem on May 2, reports DNAinfo. He also sold stolen sausage, bacon, cheese, hot cakes, eggs, ketchup, butter, and sugar, police say.

As of Wednesday, the suspect is still at large.

Martin Brower has worked with McDonald’s for 50 years, starting with deliveries to Ray Kroc’s first restaurant in 1956, according to the company site.

“Martin Brower is aware of the incident involving a former employee and alleged theft of customer merchandise,” a company spokeswoman said in a statement. “Once we learned of this incident, we immediately terminated the employee for cause and continue to work closely with law enforcement during its investigation.”

We reached out to McDonald’s for comment and will update this post if we hear back.

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist