<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5413086f6bb3f753349d1191-1184-888/jeff-smith-starboard.png" alt="Jeff Smith, Starboard" border="0"><p class="source"><span>Reuters/ Rick Wilking</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div>Activist investor Jeff Smith, who runs hedge fund Starboard Value, is starting to become a household name on Wall Street.</p>
<p>Smith <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/yahoo-exploring-deal-with-aol-2014-9">has sent a letter to Yahoo!</a> urging that they consider combining their business with AOL. Both of the stocks jumped on the news.</p>
<p>Yahoo! was once the target of well-known activist investor Daniel Loeb of Third Point LLC.  </p>
<p>A couple weeks ago, Smith made headlines for his monster presentation demonstrating that Olive Garden should change its <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/darden-olive-garden-presentation-2014-9#">famous unlimited breadsticks and salad</a>.</p>
<p>Smith, who owns an 8.8% in the restaurant group's stock, believes that by eliminating the endless menu option the restaurant will be able to save $5 million per year. He points out that there are too many breadsticks on the table, and they're being wasted.</p>
<p>Some customers freaked out because they thought that Smith wanted to get rid of breadsticks all together. That's not the case. </p>
<p>As an activist fund, Starboard's main investment thesis is to find undervalued small-cap companies and actively engage with management and boards to unlock value. </p>
<p><span>Smith's Starboard Value launched in 2002. The fund currently manages around $2.3 billion in assets.</span></p>
<p>He's had some noteworthy shareholder activism campaigns. He took on AOL, but <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/tim-armstrong-patch-aol-2013-10?op=1">lost his proxy fight</a>. He also took an activist stake in Office Depot with later merged with OfficeMax (<a href="http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2014/09/10/office-depot-says-starboard-value-jeffrey-smith-stepped-down-from-its-board/">He resigned from the Office Depot board the other day</a>). </p>
<p>According to Institutional Investor, Smith has made money <a href="http://www.institutionalinvestor.com/Article/3363876/Asset-Management-Hedge-Funds-and-Alternatives/Jeffrey-Smith-Looks-to-Package-Profits-Through-Activism.html#.VBMLxXNes1c">on 84% of his fund's activist campaigns.</a> </p>
<p><span>Before launching his own fund, Smith was a managing director at Ramius LLC (both the head of risk management and head of research at Starboard also worked at Ramius). Before that, he was a Vice President of Strategic Development for The Fresh Juice Company. He began his career in finance working in M&amp;A at SocGen. </span></p>
<p><span>He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business. </span></p>

Meet The Hedge Fund Manager Who Wants Yahoo To Buy AOL

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/528cf2f3eab8ea7859969d3a-3000-2250/black-friday-sale.jpg" alt="Black Friday sale" data-mce-source="Jonathan Alcorn/Reuters" /><p class="source"><span>Jonathan Alcorn/Reuters</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>The biggest shopping blitz of the year, Black Friday, is quickly approaching.</p><p>Ahead of the holiday, <a href="https://wallethub.com/edu/best-worst-retailers-for-black-friday/8385/#detailed-findings">WalletHub</a> has analyzed 8,000 Black Friday deals across 30 major US retailers to find out who is offering the deepest discounts this year.</p><p>The average discount on the holiday this year, which is held annually on the Friday after Thanksgiving, is 40% off. </p><p>Here are the five retailers with the best deals and their average discount rates for the holiday:</p><h3>5. Belk (60%)</h3><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/564b9830112314ae008b5e86-2000-1333/ap_101126012836.jpg" alt="Belk" data-mce-source="AP" /><p class="source"><span>AP</span></p></div><p></p></div></div><span>Belk is offering its steepest discounts (about 60% off) on toys this year, followed by apparel and accessories (57% off), consumer packaged goods, (53% off), appliances (49% off), and consumer electronics (48% off).</span></p><h3>4. Groupon (64%) </h3><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/553507d35afbd3431b8b4568-800-545/groupon-to-sell-46-percent-stake-in-ticket-monster-for-360-million-2015-4.jpg" alt="People enter and leave Groupon Inc corporate office and headquarters in Chicago, Illinois, November 4, 2011.  REUTERS/Frank Polich" data-mce-source="Thomson Reuters" data-mce-caption="People enter and leave Groupon Inc corporate office and headquarters in Chicago" /><p class="source"><span>Thomson Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">People enter and leave Groupon Inc corporate office and headquarters in Chicago</p></div><p></p></div></div>Groupon is offering massive discounts in apparel and accessories, averaging about 84% off. It's also offering discounts of roughly 63% on consumers electronics and 40% off toys.</p><h3>3. Stage Stores (64%)</h3><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/564b9aee2491f9bf008b5ea7-2048-1152/11143526_942437702469330_1822867592666358133_o.jpg" alt="Stage Stores" data-mce-source="Facebook/Stage" data-link="https://www.facebook.com/StageStores/photos/pb.100765949969847.-2207520000.1447795325./942437702469330/?type=3&amp;theater" /><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/StageStores/photos/pb.100765949969847.-2207520000.1447795325./942437702469330/?type=3&amp;theater">Facebook/Stage</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div>Stage Stores, which operates the brands Stage, Goody's, Bealls, Palais Royal, and Peebles, is offering discounts of 63% in clothing and accessories and 60% in consumer electronics and appliances.</p><h3>2. Kohl's (67%)</h3><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/564b992e112314a3028b5e38-3000-2000/ap_3974381869.jpg" alt="Kohl's" data-mce-source="AP" /><p class="source"><span>AP</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>Kohl's is offering its steepest discounts (about 60% off) on clothes and accessories this year, followed by toys (49% off), appliances (43% off), and consumer electronics (41% off).</p><h3>1. JCPenney (68%)</h3><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/564b997611231432008b5ed0-3000-2150/ap_177817575964.jpg" alt="JCPenney" data-mce-source="AP" /><p class="source"><span>AP</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>The best deals at JCPenney can be found in apparel and accessories, where the department store chain is offering discounts averaging 63% off, according to WalletHub. JCPenney is also offering 51% discounts on appliances, 41% on toys, and 45% on consumer electronics.</p><p>The WalletHub study also found that jewelry <span>is the most discounted category across all retailers, with an average discount of 73%, whereas computers and phones are the least discounted at 31%.</span></p><p><strong>Here's the full list of retailers and their average Black Friday discounts from WalletHub:</strong></p><ol><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">JCPenney </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">(</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">68.0%</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">)</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Kohl's </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">(</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">66.7%</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">)</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Stage </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">(</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">63.9%</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">)</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Groupon </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">(</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">63.7%</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">)</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Belk </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">(</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">59.5%</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">)</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Macy's </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">(</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">56.0%</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">)</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Kmart </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">(</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">50.1%</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">)</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Panasonic </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">(</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">47.0%</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">)</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Fred Meyer </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">(</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">45.3%</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">)</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Office Depot and OfficeMax </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">(</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">42.8%</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">)</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Sears </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">(</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">41.7%</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">)</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Meijer </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">(</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">39.1%</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">)</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Hhgregg </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">(</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">38.5%</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">)</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">CVS Pharmacy </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">(</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">37.8%</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">)</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Target </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">(</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">37.3%</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">)</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Modell's </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">(</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">35.5%</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">)</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Dell </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">(</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">35.3%</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">)</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Staples </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">(</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">34.4%</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">)</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Ace Hardware </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">(</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">34.2%</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">)</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Best Buy </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">(</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">33.5%</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">)</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Home Depot </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">(</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">31.4%</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">)</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">BJ's </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">(</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">30.6%</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">)</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Walmart </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">(</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">30.1%</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">)</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">GameStop </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">(</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">29.2%</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">)</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Toys R Us </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">(</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">28.9%</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">)</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Walgreens </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">(</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">28.7%</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">)</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Big Lots </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">(</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">27.1%</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">)</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Amazon </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">(</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">25.8%</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">)</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Sam's Club </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">(</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">24.9%</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">)</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Costco (19.5%)</span></li></ol>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mcdonalds-new-mozzarella-sticks-2015-11">We tried McDonald's brand new mozzarella sticks that are going national next year</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="M5MXdzeDrxn_Fii4sfFvertslZWqOG-i" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'M5MXdzeDrxn_Fii4sfFvertslZWqOG-i',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

The 5 retailers with the best Black Friday discounts

<p><table class="image-container float_right" width="200"><tr><td><div class="image"><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/5052043869beddb61700000e-400-300/best-buy-2.jpg" border="0" alt="Best buy" /></div><p class="source">Lynn Watson / Shutterstock.com</p></td></tr></table><keyword id="161142" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Best-Buy">Best Buy</keyword> is going through a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/best-buy-holiday-sales-2013-1">major re-vamp</a> after years of declining sales. </p>
<p>While new CEO Hubert Joly was able to stop a longtime sales decline, the company is still facing competition from <keyword id="18635" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Amazon">Amazon</keyword> and others. </p>
<p>But there's one sign that Best Buy is better-positioned than other struggling companies like RadioShack or GameStop. </p>
<p>Consumers are much more likely to consider buying a product at Best Buy than at other distressed retailers, according to a study by <a href="http://www.brandindex.com/article/retailers-close-brick-and-mortar-storefronts">YouGov BrandIndex</a>. </p>
<p>Customers also have a good opinion of Best Buy, which helps its position, according to YouGov. </p>
<p>The company asked respondents <span>"If you've heard anything about the brand in the last two weeks, through advertising, news or word of mouth, was it positive or negative?"</span></p>
<p><span>Best Buy came out better than any of the other brands YouGov studied, including JCPenney, Sears, OfficeMax, RadioShack, and Gamestop. </span></p>
<p><span>Here's the chart showing how well the brands fared based on consumer opinions: </span></p>
<p><span><table class="image-container" width="200"><tr><td><div class="image"><img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/511d2428ecad04fa7d000017-593-379/screen shot 2013-02-14 at 12.48.41 pm.png" border="0" alt="chart yougov brandindex best buy " /></div><p class="source"><a href="http://www.brandindex.com/article/retailers-close-brick-and-mortar-storefronts">YouGov BrandIndex</a></p></td></tr></table> </span></p>
<p><span><br /></span></p><p class="tagline">Disclosure: Jeff Bezos is an investor in Business Insider through his personal investment company Bezos Expeditions.</p>

One Sign That Best Buy Is In Better Shape Than Other Struggling Retailers

<p><strong><div class="image-container float_right" style="width:350px"><div class="image"><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/512e2abc69beddca16000005-1024-738/3298972080_40ab9227b4_b.jpg?maxX=350" border="0" alt="Twitter blue bird" width="350" /></div><p class="source"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dariosanches/3298972080/sizes/l/in/photostream/">Dario Sanches / Flickr, CC</a></p></div>The FTC</strong> has <a href="http://mashable.com/2013/03/13/ftc-online-advertising/">a solution for Twitter advertisers</a> who have been freaking out at the idea of trying to squish legal disclaimers into tweets. Just use "Ad:" at the beginning of a tweet.<strong><br /></strong></p>
<p><strong>Twitter</strong> launched <a href="http://advertising.twitter.com/2013/03/The-new-Twitter-Ads-center.html">a big update to its ad center</a>, which marketers use to see the performance of the campaigns.<strong><br /></strong></p>
<p><strong>Vodafone</strong> has <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-14/vodafone-ends-formula-one-sponsorship-with-mclaren-racing-team.html">ended its sponsorship of Formula 1</a> racing.</p>
<p><strong>Uh oh:</strong> There's now a <a href="http://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/a-yelp-service-cmos-rate-agencies/240335/">Yelp for ad agencies</a> where CMOs can rank and rate their marketing vendors. Members include Kim Fell of OfficeMax, James Brown of Shell, Julie Lyle of Prudential and Susan Helstab of Four Seasons hotels.</p>
<p><strong>Ford</strong> claims it's <a href="http://adage.com/article/news/ford-dealer-ads-trumpet-selling-brand/240336/">America's best-selling brand</a>, when in fact it's not.</p>
<p><strong>[x+1]'s</strong> Origin data management platform is the first to fully integrate with Google's DoubleClick Bid Manager buying platform. The company says this makes [x+1] the only data management platform with direct access into every major demand side platform (DSP) for buying online web ads in real-time bidding auctions. This means marketers can target audiences across all inventory, regardless of which DSP it is managed by, the company tells us.</p>
<p><strong>Everyone</strong> who gets <a href="http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/ad-agency-welcomes-new-hires-carving-their-likenesses-crayons-147901">a job at Red Tettemer</a> gets his or her likeness carved onto a crayon.</p>
<p><strong>Poland</strong> has <a href="http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/fake-george-clooney-stars-awesomely-bad-polish-ads-seeking-foreign-investors-147894">a fake George Clooney</a> who appears in ads for brands too cheap to pay for the real one.</p>
<p><strong>You</strong> didn't know you needed to see <a href="http://jezebel.com/5990473/what-if-game-of-thrones-was-a-90s-sitcom">HBO's 1995 version of Game of Thrones</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Previously on Business Insider:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/samsungs-advertising-for-the-galaxy-s4-has-been-weirdly-deliberately-awful-2013-3" class="title">Samsung's Advertising For The Galaxy S4 Has Been Weirdly — Deliberately? — Cheesy</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/jeff-gordon-test-drive-pepsi-2013-3" class="title">Jeff Gordon Puts On A Disguise, Takes Innocent Car Salesman On A Suicidal Test Drive</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/carlsberg-poker-game-ad-puts-friends-to-the-test-2013-3" class="title">A Friend Calls at 3AM, Needing $400 For A Gambling Debt To Some Thugs. Do You Help?</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/groupm-irwin-gotlieb-on-agency-trading-desk-transparency-2013-3" class="title">Head Of World's Largest Ad Buyer Says Not Everything His Agency Does Should Be 'Fully Disclosed' To Clients</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/hooters-campaign-to-persuade-women-to-like-it-more-is-working-kinda-2013-3" class="title">Hooters Campaign To Persuade Women To Like It More Is Working (Kinda)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/general-motors-is-poised-to-fire-its-ad-agency-the-brief-2013-3" class="title">General Motors Is Poised To Fire Its Ad Agency [THE BRIEF]</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/linkedin-tells-all-how-to-get-engage-users-and-build-a-following-2013-3" class="title">LinkedIn Tells All: How Businesses Engage Users And Build A Following</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/anti-islam-ads-run-on-san-francisco-buses-2013-3">Extreme Anti-Islam Ads Are Now Running On San Francisco's Buses</a></li>
</ul>

Here's The FTC's Solution For Twitter Advertisers Who Can't Fit Legal Disclaimers Into Tweets [THE BRIEF]

<p><div class="image-container float_right" style="width:400px"><div class="image"><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/5121c31169bedd7664000013-751-563/best-buy-showrooming.jpg?maxX=400" border="0" alt="best buy showrooming" width="400" /><p class="source"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/intelfreepress/8164405406/">By IntelFreePress on Flickr</a></p></div></div><keyword id="161142" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Best-Buy">Best Buy</keyword> is confident that its latest policy change will kill "showrooming" in its stores for good.</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Starting on March 3, the <keyword id="6354851" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Retail">retail</keyword>er will price match all local retail competitors, along with 19 "major online competitors" in all product categories, whenever a customer asks for it, </span><a href="http://pr.bby.com/best-buy-ends-showrooming-with-low-price-guarantee/">the company announced</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span>“There is no doubt that this new policy ends showrooming for Best Buy customers,” </span><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-15/best-buy-makes-price-match-permanent-to-win-back-clients.html">company spokesman Matt Furman told Bloomberg</a><span>.</span></span></p>
<p>Back during the holiday rush, Best Buy <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/best-buy-match-amazon-online-prices-2012-10">announced a temporary price-matching initiative</a>. This is its permanent version.</p>
<p>Showrooming, the practice of looking at items in a physical store then going online to make the actual purchase, has been <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">a big worry for consumer electronics stores. Customers showroom electronics items more than any other category, </span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/showroomings-consumer-electronics-best-buy-2012-6">according to data from comScore</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Chris Morran at the </span><a href="http://consumerist.com/2013/02/15/best-buy-confirms-price-matching-policy-change-with-low-price-guarantee/">Consumerist obtained an internal document from Best Buy</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> that announces the change and has more details. Here's what it says:</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">Starting March 3, 2013 Best Buy will price match the current pre-tax price for new, identical, immediately available products from local retail competitors and select designated major online retailers at the time of purchase only. (No subsequent price matching of competitors is allowed)</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">If Best Buy lowers a price on a product (online or in-store) we will allow price-matching up to 15 days following the original purchase. This applies to all customers including Reward Zone Premier Silver members. Please note: After a transition period for Reward Zone Premier Silver members through April 18, 2013, the 15 day period of the Price Match policy goes into effect (post-purchase – Best Buy only).</p>
<p>There has also been one major change to Best Buy's return policy.</p>
<p>The "Return and Exchange" period is being cut in half to 15 days from its previous length of 30 days. <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">All returns will still require a receipt and I.D., plus </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Reward Zone Premier Silver members will retain their 60-day return eligibility.</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Here is the full list of big online competitors that are included in the price-matching guarantee:</span></p>
<ul>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Amazon.com</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Apple.com</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Bhphotovideo.com</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Buy.com</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Crutchfield.com</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Dell.com</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Frys.com</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">hhgregg.com</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">HP.com</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">HomeDepot.com</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Lowes.com</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Newegg.com</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">OfficeDepot.com</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">OfficeMax.com</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Sears.com</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Staples.com</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Target.com</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">TigerDirect.com</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Walmart.com</span></li>
</ul>
<h3><strong>Now Watch:</strong> How To Get The Amazon Appstore On Your Phone<br /><br /></h3>
<script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e" type="text/javascript"></script>
<div id="ooyalaplayer" style="width: 618px; height: 347px;"> </div>
<script type="text/javascript">// <![CDATA[
OO.ready(function() { OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer', 'R0aHZnOTq_tM8DaUgFVes98Ad71etYcs'); });
// ]]></script>
<noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript>

Best Buy Says It Has Killed 'Showrooming' For Good

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/564f6debecad04300cf0e201-799-599/stockpilein-store.jpg?maxX=600" alt="Stockpile_In Store" width="600" border="0" /><p class="source"><span>Courtesy of Stockpile</span></p><p class="caption">A view of Stockpile gift cards in stores.</p></div><p></p></div>The next time you're in a Kmart, OfficeMax, Wegman's, Safeway, or another major <keyword id="6354851" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Retail">retail</keyword> chain, take a minute to peer at the gift cards by the register.</p><p>Some might be for stock.</p><p>Since early October, California-based company <a href="https://www.stockpile.com/">Stockpile</a> has offered physical gift cards in stores to present loved ones with $25, $50, or $100 of stock ownership.</p><p>"We're making it easy and affordable for anybody to give, get, and own stock in their favorite companies," says Avi Lele, Stockpile's cofounder and CEO.</p><p>Here's how it works: You spot a Stockpile gift card at the store (or choose a virtual version online), and buy a card that's worth $50 of Apple stock for your niece's graduation. She goes online, creates an account by entering basic information including her date of birth and Social Security number, and types in a code from the card to redeem her stock.</p><p>If Apple closes that day worth $100 a share, she'll own half a share of Apple stock, which she can watch rise and fall through Stockpile's online interface. If for some reason she decides she doesn't want Apple stock, she can select the same denomination of stock in another of the 1,000 investments Stockpile offers, including a gold or market index ETF.</p><p>If she's uninterested in having a stake in the market, she can trade it for an old-school retailer gift card that functions like cash. If she ends up extremely interested in the market, she can later start buying and selling stocks through the interface for 99 cents per trade. She doesn't pay anything for Stockpile to simply hold her investments.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image"><a title_source="Courtesy of Stockpile" title_caption="A Stockpile gift card." class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/564f7133ecad04dc71f0e203-960/giftcard_50dollars copy.png"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/564f7133ecad04dc71f0e203-637-825/giftcard_50dollars copy.png" alt="GiftCard_50Dollars copy" border="0" /></a><p class="source"><span>Courtesy of Stockpile</span></p><p class="caption">A Stockpile gift card.</p></div><p></p></div></div>A $25 physical card costs you $29.95, a $50 card costs $56.95, and a $100 card costs $107.95.</p><p>A virtual card that you buy online instead <span>- they're available up to $1,000 - </span>costs the value of the gift card (in this example, $50) plus a $2.99 fee and 3% of the card's value: $54.49.</p><p>"It's something that's never been done before," Lele explains. "You can walk in and buy a card for stock like any other gift card you could have purchased in the past. Our whole mission here is to make investing accessible to anyone. Right now it's too expensive, and too complicated, to give someone else stock."</p><p>Lele, his cofounder Sanj Kulkarni, and their team built their own fractional share brokerage from scratch, and worked closely with regulatory bodies FINRA and the SEC to remove and amend steps to the existing process of gifting stocks.</p><p>Traditionally, to give stock, both the gifter and recipient must have an account with the brokerage, and to open that account and buy the stock in the first place, the gifter has to fill out a stack of paperwork that takes a few days to be approved.</p><p>"Other brokerages ask for everything, hoping you might do more with them later on," Lele explains. "We do the opposite - we only ask for what we really need." Once the recipient enters her basic information, she'll be verified through the system and approved immediately, barring any issues with her identity.</p><p>Stockpile, which offered online gift cards for about a year before getting regulatory clearance to sell them in stores, doesn't share how many cards it's sold total. Lele does share that they've noticed two buying patterns they didn't expect: Instead of buying just one card at a time, people are buying them "by the fistful" - presumably because they don't have just one child or grandchild or friend to gift at a time - and they're buying them for themselves.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image"><a title_source="Courtesy of Stockpile" title_caption="A view of the Stockpile interface when an investor logs on." class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/564f77ca69bedd337545b6d2-960/stockpile interface.png"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/564f77ca69bedd337545b6d2-1046-1010/stockpile interface.png" alt="Stockpile Interface" border="0" /></a><p class="source"><span>Courtesy of Stockpile</span></p><p class="caption">A view of the Stockpile interface when an investor logs on.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Federal regulations say that "closed-loop" gift cards, those that are offered and redeemed only by a single company, cannot exceed $2,000, so Stockpile capped its offerings at $1,000 per card (digital cards hold more value than physical cards) to be safe. That doesn't mean you can't buy more than one, if you intend to gift more than that.</p><p>Note though, "If we see you buy five cards and the circumstances are weird, like you're buying at 2 a.m., all of your cards are going to the same person and it happens repeatedly, or the recipient immediately sells and pulls out the money as cash, we step in because we have a responsibility as a financial institution to make sure that people aren't using them for bad purposes like money laundering," Lele says. "We have a sophisticated risk detection system in place that can discriminate between good and bad activity."</p><p>Doesn't this little gift card have the potential to cause a major tax headache? Stockpile has thought of that. The gifter's taxes are completely unaffected, as they're simply buying a gift card with prepaid value. When the recipient redeems the stock, his or her taxes are also unaffected until they sell it or receive a pro-rated dividend. The site keeps track of the activity and at the end of the year, presents the investor with a pre-printed, filled-out 1099 form that can be printed and included in his tax filings.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right click-to-enlarge"><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Courtesy of Stockpile." title_caption="Stockpile cofounder and CEO Avi Lele." class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/564f782aecad04ac04f0e20d-960/stockpileavi-lelehighres.jpg"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/564f782aecad04ac04f0e20d-955-716/stockpileavi-lelehighres.jpg" alt="Stockpile_Avi Lele_HighRes" width="600" border="0" /></a><p class="source"><span>Courtesy of Stockpile.</span></p><p class="caption">Stockpile cofounder and CEO Avi Lele.</p></div><p></p></div>"It's no secret you need to get started building wealth early, but when you're young, it's hard to get started investing," Lele says. "I had to wait until I was 30. Here, you can start as a high school student. You can put yourself on the road to financial empowerment early on and build a massive amount of wealth on the way. You have time on your side."</p><p>Lele says the cards are largely given by people over age 30 to people under age 30. "Normally if you're under 18 you sign up for a custodial account with mom or dad, and they hold the keys to the account. With my kids, for example, I'd have the login and my kids barely know the accounts exist. We allow the kid to have their own separate login so they can come in any time they want to see their stuff."</p><p>Kids can log in whenever they want, but the account's custodian gets an alert about any activity. "Once you have the account, if you're a kid, you can place trades that your parents approve or decline," Lele explains. "I approve or deny, but as far as kids can tell, they're placing a trade right to the market." Stockpile's chief commercial officer Dan Schatt even sends his kids allowance through the site.</p><p>"Also, it starts a conversation," Lele, a father of two, says. "My kids have started owning Apple and Disney and Tesla, and they're starting to pick up the paper to check out their companies. I never thought they'd ever open the business section of the New York Times."</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/hiding-place-strategy-zombie-apocalypse-2015-11">Scientists have figured out the best place to hide in a zombie apocalypse</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="03d2JveDqdOx_Tt1sTZ8lED3huY4h_R3" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', '03d2JveDqdOx_Tt1sTZ8lED3huY4h_R3',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

You Searched For "OfficeMax" and got 6 results

Meet The Hedge Fund Manager Who Wants Yahoo To Buy AOL

Julia La Roche

The 5 retailers with the best Black Friday discounts

Hayley Peterson

One Sign That Best Buy Is In Better Shape Than Other Struggling Retailers

Ashley Lutz

Here's The FTC's Solution For Twitter Advertisers Who Can't Fit Legal Disclaimers Into Tweets [THE BRIEF]

Jim Edwards

Best Buy Says It Has Killed 'Showrooming' For Good

Kim Bhasin

You can now buy shares of companies like Apple and Google in the grocery store checkout line

Libby Kane