Kai Ryssdal: This final note on the way out, a chance to hit the news that didn’t make the headlines. It comes to us courtesy of Brendan Francis Newnam, Rico Gagliano, and the rest of the Marketplace staff.
Brendan Newnam: Gina Delvac, producer for Marketplace, what story are you going to be talking about this weekend?
Gina Delvac: So 85 percent of Walmart shoppers pay in cash and now you can do that at Walmart.com, too.
Newnam: Wait a second, how does that work? Do you scan in your bills?
Delvac: So you print out a receipt, take it to the store and you can have the items shipped to that store or to your house.
Newnam: That doesn’t seem really convenient though. Why wouldn’t you just buy it at the store if you’re at the store?
Delvac: Well Walmart says they have hundreds of thousands of products that aren’t even available in their stores.
Newmam: Walmart stores are so huge, what could possibly not be available in them — like endangered species?
Rico Gagliano: John Haas, editor, what story are you going to be talking about this weekend?
John Haas: So I read this in Reuters. This investment firm laid off one of its employees and they sent him termination instructions, but they sent the email to every single employee at the company.
Gagliano: How many employees is that?
Haas: 1,300 workers.
Gagliano: Oh my god.
Haas: And the kicker is they actually announced in January that there would be a big round of layoffs, so…
Gagliano: So everyone’s relieved that it’s a mistake. Except for the one guy who’s actually getting fired. Boss is like, ‘Everyone’s cool, except you Bob.’
Newnam: Adriene Hill, reporter at Marketplace, what’s your story?
Adriene Hill: Well you probably have heard that in China there are all these knock-offs of Apple products. There was an iPhone stove recently, but this new one really caught my eye. An electronics company in China is making a television that has Ciri — and it’s a virtual television fairy that lives inside your TV.
Newnam: So this is like the natural progression, right? Because now you can play your pirated DVD without leaving your knock-off couch.
Hill: It’s all set up for you.
Ryssdal: Rico and Brendan do a radio show as well. It’s called The Dinner Party. Click here to visit the website.
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