TRC #326: Bates Method + Outlet Malls + Does Roomba Map a Room + Hope & Resurrection

Sale-SignsThis week’s awesome episode kicks off with Pat focusing on The Bates Method. Cristina shops for facts about outlet malls, while Adam cleans up with a segment about Roombas. Lastly, Darren raises our awareness with a recent troubling news story.

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SHOW NOTES

The Bates Method

QuackWatch:  Eye Related Quackery

All About Vision: Do Eye Exercises Work?

The Bates Method: Perfect Sight Without Glasses

Wikipedia: Behavioural Optometry

Philip Pollack: The Truth About Eye Exercises

Philip Polack Excerpt on QuackWatch

Company Selling Bates Related Material

Wikipedia: Sungazing

Are Outlet Malls What They Seem?

Huffington Post: The Ugly Truth About Outlet Stores Will Break Your Heart

L.A. Times:  Outlet malls are growing bigger, more popular

Sens. & Rep. to FTC: Outlet Stores May Be Misleading Consumers

Outlet mall values not always the bargain you think

Crew Group Form S-1 Filing

Wiki: Form_S-1

Outlet Malls Aren’t What They Used To Be

Value Retail News: State of the outlet industry

How Stuff Works: Is Black Friday the biggest shopping day of the year?

The International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)

2012 State of the Outlet Industry: Outlets find the happy place

BBB: Do You Know What you are Buying at Factory Outlet Malls?

Six Examples of How Overstock.com Ripped Off Consumers

Blumental Warns of Deceptive Marketing

How does a Roomba Map a Room

Roomba Navigation – HowStuffWorks

Roomba – Wikipedia

Hope and Resurrection

Toronto Star

CBC

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5 Responses to TRC #326: Bates Method + Outlet Malls + Does Roomba Map a Room + Hope & Resurrection

  1. Nick says:

    Another great episode! Just wondering if Cristina is going to “officially” become a panellist. It would be nice to see her on the website’s banner image.

  2. Nick says:

    Funny, my name is also Nick and I too was coming here to ask if Christina’s dulcet tones would be a permanent addition to the cast. I hope so, I think having a woman’s perspective brings a lot to many of the discussions.

    • Pat says:

      Hey Nick and Nick. The answer is: We don’t really know. Cristina has agreed to ‘try it out’ for a while. Dina, who has been on the show a few times, is also going to come on more often. We all agree that a female on the panel would be good for the podcast. So in the short term, the Toronto crew will be some combination of the 3 of us. I expect Elan may show up once in a while too.

      • Nick says:

        Sounds good, thanks Pat! Let her know she’s doing a great job, and I look forward to hearing from Dina and Elan in upcoming episodes.

  3. Zac Bond says:

    Cristina repeatedly commented on the “lower quality” of clothes at outlet stores, but I didn’t hear any quality metrics quoted. Is she just saying they aren’t identical to retail? Fair enough, but calling that “quality” makes assumptions about what a consumer should value about their clothes. It always seemed to me that outlet stores are probably an example of price discrimination: targeting a different, lower-income market using very similar products.

    I agree with the gist of the show though–it is fairly misleading to imply the products in the outlets were at one point sold in the retail stores. Anecdotally, though, my wife was entirely aware of this: To her, a Kate Spade outlet is just a way to find more Kate Spade stuff, not a way to get the retail stuff cheaper.

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