• GE Appliances, Electrolux, Whirlpool, Serta Simmons Bedding, and more than two dozen other suppliers are demanding that Sears return millions of dollars in goods that were shipped to the company in the 45 days leading up to its October 15 bankruptcy filing.
• The suppliers are prohibiting Sears from selling the items, which could severely impact the retailers' holiday sales.
• Sears filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month.

Major Sears suppliers including GE Appliances, Electrolux, Whirlpool, and Serta Simmons Bedding are demanding that the retailer immediately return their inventory of refrigerators, washers, dryers, mattresses, and other goods. 

The companies are demanding the return of inventory shipped to Sears and Kmart stores in the 45 days before Sears Holdings filed for bankruptcy, saying that Sears knew it was insolvent at the time of the shipments, according to court filings. 

Serta Simmons Bedding is asking for the return of $1.8 million in goods. GE Appliances, Electrolux, and Whirlpool did not disclose the value of the inventory they are requesting, citing concerns about confidential information. 

Read more: Eddie Lampert steered Sears into bankruptcy, but he's found ways to gain if it sinks

More than two dozen other suppliers have demanded the return of their inventory as well, including the snack-food company J.M. Smucker Company and power-tools manufacturer Great Lakes Technologies. The value of the inventory requested is more than $500,000 in several cases.

In letters sent to Sears, many of these suppliers have prohibited the retailer from selling, disposing, or using any of the reclaimed goods. That could severly impact Sears' sales during the critical holiday season.

Sears filed for bankruptcy in October, after years of closing stores and selling off assets amid crippling sales declines. 

SEE ALSO: Inside Sears' death spiral: How an iconic American brand has been driven to the edge of bankruptcy

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• The Alabama Crimson Tide are the best team in college football, thanks in no small part to head coach Nick Saban's attention to detail.
• In a recent SEC Network segment, Saban broke down an interception Alabama had against Ole Miss, still finding flaws in his defense's play despite the successful outcome.
• It's moments like this that make it obvious why Saban is one of the best coaches in football.

Alabama is the most dominant program in college football.

The Crimson Tide have won an astounding five national championships since 2009, and it's possible that the 2018 team is the best that the school has ever produced.

But even with their run of dominance, head coach Nick Saban can still find flaws in his team.

In a recent edition of the SEC Network's "Film Room," Saban sat down with David Greene to break down a few plays from Alabama's win over Ole Miss earlier in the year.

While talking about the play, Saban compliments his safeties on how they hid their coverage — a move that led to an interception and a huge return that set up an Alabama touchdown.

But despite the takeaway, Saban still saw room for improvement — Deionte Thompson, who picked off the Ole Miss quarterback, had taken the wrong route while returning the interception. While he managed to get the ball back to the Ole Miss 15-yard line, had he run to the numbers as Saban suggested, there's a good chance he could have made it to the end zone.

You can watch Saban break down the play below.

You might think that an interception would be enough for a defensive player — the goal of the defense is to stop opposing offenses from scoring — but for Saban, there's always room to be better.

Saban's attention to detail is one of the reasons he's considered the best coach in college football, and a big part of why the Crimson Tide is in the national title picture every year.

His keen eye for mistakes is famous even among his players — when quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was told after a game that Saban had said he exceeded expectations, he responded with disbelief.

"He has to be joking with you guys because that's definitely not what Coach Saban tells us," Tagovailoa said. "There's always room for improvement. Not only with Coach Saban but within our whole coaching staff and within ourselves, too. There's always room for improvement.”

The Alabama Crimson Tide are currently 8-0, their closest game being a 45-23 victory over Texas A&M. They look well on their way to another national title but don't expect Saban to be taking it easy any time soon.

SEE ALSO: The first College Football Playoff ranking has winners, losers, question marks, and one clear path to chaos

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• Los Angeles is known for its perfect weather, constant sunshine, and chilled-out locals.
• When it comes to the worst things about Los Angeles, locals define their “worst things” in several different ways.
• Here, 25 people share the worst things about Los Angeles, from cost of living to traffic.

You may remember the movie "LA Story," a 1991 comedy that Steve Martin wrote and starred in. In it, Martin plays Harris, a TV meteorologist who struggles with his romantic relationship, but also with his relationship with Los Angeles.

The movie's satirical descriptions of traffic woes, jokes about the weather being the same every day, and a humorous scene with a table of friends all ordering their coffee in different ways are likely relatable to many Los Angeles locals.

Of course, traffic in LA is a common complaint. In fact, the city has the worst traffic congestion in the world, according to a 2017 study by the Inrix Global Traffic Scorecard, beating out Moscow, NYC, and Sao Paulo, Brazil, respectively. But the city has challenges beyond commute congestion.

Here, I asked 25 residents for the worst things about Los Angeles. (Responses have been condensed and edited for clarity.)

SEE ALSO: I asked 21 people for the best things about living in Los Angeles — here’s what they said

1. Regina, 50s

One word: traffic! Friends visit me and look at the literal distance between places. I tell them miles are meaningless — it's all about time of day!

2. Jade, 31

I find that the lack of public transportation is the worst part about LA. It seems that the existing public transport goes everywhere I don't need to go, and construction for new train lines, etc. has been going on forever.

3. Mike, mid-40s

There are way too many homeless encampments, and I wish more could be done for the homeless.

A day at the spa can do wonders for your body and soul. So it should come as no surprise that, in our pet-obsessed society, spa treatments for our furry, feathered, and four-legged friends are becoming more and more popular.

Here are nine luxurious treatments that will truly pamper your pet. Note that most of these are for dogs, which makes sense given they're the most popular pet.

Keep your dog's nails in tiptop shape with a pawdicure.

Humans get pedicures, and dogs get "pawdicures" to keep their nails in ideal shape. This treatment will not only keep your dog's nails looking good but prevents them from getting too long, which can be unhealthy and lead to scratches, according to Rover.com. It will also trim any overlong hair on the dog's paws that may lessen traction.

Acupuncture can do wonders for your cat and dog.

Acupuncture, the ancient Chinese treatment, isn't just for people. Cats can benefit from it as well, according to petMD. You can target various ailments, from arthritis and allergies to chronic pain and asthma, with the technique. It will also relax your feline.

Try conditioning your dog to help improve its coat and skin.

You wouldn't shampoo your hair without conditioning it — so why would you subject your dog to such treatment? Using hypoallergenic dog conditioner maintains the natural oils in your dog's coat, prevents tangles, and moisturizes skin, according to the RSPCA. If your dog has long hair, definitely consider implementing this into your grooming routine.

• Two teens — referred to as E.P. and D.R — allegedly stole an unmarked police vehicle that was left running outside a pizza shop in February 2016.
• Officer Gregg Bigda and former detective Steven Vigneault are accused of using excessive force against the two Latino teenagers.
• According to the lawsuit filed by one of the teens, Bigda "kicked juvenile suspect E.P. in the head, spat on him and said, 'Welcome to the white man’s world'" during the arrest.
• Vigneault resigned from his post and Bigda was suspended without pay.

"Welcome to the white man’s world," a Springfield, Massachusetts, police officer allegedly said while beating a Latino teenager.

Officer Gregg Bigda and former detective Steven Vigneault are accused of using excessive force against two Latino teenagers during a February 2016 arrest.

It started when Steven Vigneault made a late night pizza run to grab dinner for the narcotics squad. He left his car running, which is when two teens — called called E.P. and D.R — took the unmarked police vehicle on a joyride, according to MassLive.com.

After four hours, the teens were stopped by a strip of spikes laid out by police. According to the lawsuit filed by one of the teens, Bigda "kicked juvenile suspect E.P. in the head, spat on him and said, 'Welcome to the white man’s world'" during the arrest.

Read more: Police pinned a 14-year-old girl to the ground and punched her because she was acting 'aggressive'

On Wednesday, Bigda pleaded not guilty to five counts of using excessive force, conducting an abusive interrogation, and filing a false report in federal court.

The indictment also accused him of conducting an interrogation "so abusive that it shocks the conscience."

The Palmer Police Department released surveillance video of the interrogation where Bigda is heard saying he would "crush D.R.’s skull and f------ get away with it." He also threatened to plant drugs on the 15 and 16-year-olds.

This isn’t the first time Bigda has been involved in controversy, MassLive.com reports. He's been accused of misconduct 24 times since 2000.

Charges against the teens were dismissed. Vigneault resigned from his post and Bigda was suspended without pay.

See the 30 minute interrogation video below.

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NOW WATCH: The first woman in space almost didn't make it back to Earth and she had to keep it a secret for 30 years

NEW:

Some of the notable new series include HBO's limited series "My Brilliant Friend," AMC's spy thriller "The Little Drummer Girl," and Netflix's original film, "Roma."

“The Holiday Calendar” — Netflix film

Premiere date: Friday, November 2

Should you watch it? It’s a little soon for a holiday movie, but this one looks so dumb that it might be the best thing ever. We think you should watch it.

“Outlaw King” — Netflix film

Series premiere date: Friday, November 9

Should you watch it? It’s not a great movie, but Chris Pine does go full-frontal in it.

• Tesla said in a regulatory filing released on Friday that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has subpoenaed the automaker about comments it made in 2017 about the production of the Model 3 sedan.
• "The SEC has issued subpoenas to Tesla in connection with (a) Mr. Musk’s prior statement that he was considering taking Tesla private and (b) certain projections that we made for Model 3 production rates during 2017 and other public statements relating to Model 3 production," Tesla said in the filing. 
• "Aside from the settlement with the SEC relating to Mr. Musk’s statement that he was considering taking Tesla private, there have not been any developments in these matters that we deem to be material, and to our knowledge no government agency in any ongoing investigation has concluded that any wrongdoing occurred," the automaker added.

Tesla said in a regulatory filing released on Friday that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has subpoenaed the automaker about comments it made in 2017 about the production of the Model 3 sedan.

"The SEC has issued subpoenas to Tesla in connection with (a) Mr. Musk’s prior statement that he was considering taking Tesla private and (b) certain projections that we made for Model 3 production rates during 2017 and other public statements relating to Model 3 production," Tesla said in the filing. 

"Aside from the settlement with the SEC relating to Mr. Musk’s statement that he was considering taking Tesla private, there have not been any developments in these matters that we deem to be material, and to our knowledge no government agency in any ongoing investigation has concluded that any wrongdoing occurred," the automaker added.

The Wall Street Journal reported in August that the SEC was investigating Tesla's 2017 predictions about Model 3 production. The publication reported on October 26 that the Department of Justice (DOJ) was also investigating the matter.

Read more: Elon Musk said he 'probably' wouldn't take money from Saudi Arabia after Jamal Khashoggi's death

According to The Journal, the DOJ is trying to determine if the automaker made projections in 2017 about Model 3 production that it knew it would not be able to achieve. While Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in July 2017 that it appeared Tesla could make 20,000 Model 3s per month starting in December 2017, Tesla made just 2,685 Model 3 vehicles in 2017.

According to The Journal, the DOJ's investigation has "intensified" in recent weeks, as FBI agents have reportedly reached out to former Tesla employees, who previously received subpoenas, and asked them for testimony.

A Tesla representative told Business Insider last week that it has complied with a "voluntary request" for documents from the DOJ, but had not been subpoenaed by the government agency.

"When we started the Model 3 production ramp, we were transparent about how difficult it would be," the representative added. "Ultimately, given difficulties that we did not foresee in this first-of-its-kind production ramp, it took us six months longer than we expected to meet our 5,000 unit per week guidance."

The DOJ did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

The Journal reported in October 2017 that when Model 3 production began in July 2017, the body shop at Tesla's Fremont, California, factory wasn't completely functional. It reportedly was not fully installed until September 2017.

Tesla hit a long-delayed goal of making 5,000 Model 3s in one week at the end of June 2018, and, in October, Tesla said it produced 53,239 Model 3s during the third quarter after projecting it would make between 50,000 and 55,000. The automaker made 5,300 Model 3s during the final week of the third quarter, less than the weekly goal of 6,000 it had set for the end of August.

Musk acknowledged in April that Tesla had attempted to automate too many production tasks at the Fremont factory and would use more human workers in the assembly process.

The DOJ was previously reported to be investigating comments Musk made on Twitter in August about potentially taking Tesla private. Those comments led to a lawsuit from the SEC that was settled in September. Under the terms of the settlement, Musk must step down as the chairman of Tesla's board of directors for three years and pay a $20 million fine.

SEE ALSO: Elon Musk said he 'probably' wouldn't take money from Saudi Arabia after Jamal Khashoggi's death

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In a true Cinderella story, Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano of Spain was born into a working middle-class family before marrying royalty in the early 2000s. Now, after having taken the country's throne in 2014, Queen Letizia is one of the most talked about royals of today, whether for her style or past as a successful journalist.

But how did Queen Letizia get to where she is now? Here's the fabulous life of Queen Letizia. 

She was born on September 15, 1972 to Jesús José Ortiz Álvarez and María de la Paloma Rocasolano Rodríguez.

She is the daughter of a journalist and a nurse, and the granddaughter of a taxi driver, according to New York Daily News.

She has two sisters: Telma and Erika.

She has two sisters — Telma and Érika — though Érika died in 2007 at the age of 31.

After finishing high school, she attended the Complutense University of Madrid and got her Bachelor’s Degree in journalism.

She later received her Master’s Degree in Audiovisual Journalism at the Institute for Studies in Audiovisual Journalism, according to Fox News. 

First we scoured coast to coast to find the most famous book set in every state. Now we're hitting the books to discover the most famous author from every state.

Not all the choices were cut and dried. To qualify for this list, the esteemed wordsmiths had to be born in their respective states but not necessarily live out their years there.

We considered the authors' fame in terms of ubiquity, literal acclaim, and financial success — and awarded bonus points if the authors showed state pride by setting their works there.

Click here to go straight to the list »

Click the map below to learn more about each author.

ALABAMA: Harper Lee

Known for: "To Kill a Mockingbird"

Lee was born and raised in Monroeville, the inspiration for her classic novel's fictional town of Maycomb. The Monroe County Courthouse, where Lee watched her father practice law as a child, operates as a museum.

The University of Alabama alumna continued to live there until her death, in 2016. It's a short drive from the Mockingbird Grill and Radley's Fountain Grille.

Click to buy her book»

ALASKA: Marty Beckerman

Known for: "The Heming Way"

Beckerman got his start in humor writing as a freshman at the Anchorage Daily News, which published his weekly column about trying to pick up girls.

In his 20s, he self-published "The Heming Way," a cheeky guide to masculinity based on the life and works of Ernest Hemingway, and it hit No. 1 on Amazon.com for parody.

Click to buy his book »

ARIZONA: Jeannette Walls

Known for: "The Glass Castle"

Walls' memoir examines her struggle as a child and young adult to overcome poverty and become self-sufficient. Her dysfunctional family were nomads of the Southwest, but the first place she remembers living is a small trailer park in Arizona.

A veteran of "writing what she knows," Walls more recently published a biography of her grandmother, an iron-willed Arizona cattle rancher, titled "Half Broke Horses."

Click to buy her book »

• Tesla CEO Elon Musk agrees that Trump "screwed" him after the Tesla CEO joined the White House economic advisory council. Musk left the council in 2017 after Trump pulled the US out of the Paris Climate Accord.
• "I did my absolute best," Musk said in a new interview for the Recode Decode podcast. 
• While he was on the council, Musk defended his decision to join, arguing that he attempted to lobby in favor of immigrants and climate change policy.

Elon Musk once again defended his choice to join Trump's economic advisory council in an interview with Recode's Kara Swisher for the Recode Decode podcast. The Tesla CEO said it was "still worth trying" to argue in favor of climate change policy, adding that "I did my absolute best." 

Musk has defended this choice in the past — however, this time he admitted that he might have gotten a raw deal. 

"I said you shouldn’t go ’cause he was gonna screw you, remember?" Swisher asked. 

"Well, you were right," Musk responded. 

Musk joined the council shortly after Trump's inauguration, but left in mid-2017 after Trump pulled the United States out of the Paris Climate Accord. During his time on the council, Musk defended his position, arguing that he attempted to lobby in favor of immigrants and climate change policy. 

Read more: Elon Musk defends his position on President Trump's advisory council

In the Recode interview, Musk admitted that it was "unlikely" that his efforts on the council would be effective, but it was "worth a shot." 

"If I stayed on the councils it would be saying (the Paris Climate Accord)  wasn't important, but I think it's super important," Musk said in a 2017, speaking to US governors. "The country needs to keep its word. There's just no way I could stay on after that."

When Swisher asked Musk if he would join the council again, he was unsure.

"I don’t know," Musk said. "Are there councils?"

Click here to listen to Musk's whole interview with Recode's Kara Swisher. Click here to read the full interview transcript. 

Join the conversation about this story »

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• Stocks fell Friday on signs of a tightening labor market and disappointing Apple earnings.
• The US added more jobs than expected in October, and wages rose at the fastest pace in nearly a decade.
• Follow the US indexes in real time here.

Stocks stumbled Friday as the latest signs of a tightening labor market fanned concerns about rising rates, and as disappointing Apple earnings dragged down technology companies.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average wiped out gains and fell 0.5%, or more than 100 points. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.1%, and the S&P 500 also turned 0.7% negative.

Apple put a damper on earnings season, with shares plummeting nearly 7% after the world’s largest technology company posted weaker than expected guidance for the holiday season. Starbucks posted its strongest sales in more than a year and topped revenue and profit estimates.  

All eyes were on the US jobs report before the open, which showed hiring picked up more than expected in October. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said the economy added 250,000 jobs last month, compared with forecasts of 200,000, and unemployment remained at a decades-low rate of 3.7%. Wages rose at their fastest pace in nearly a decade, up 3.1% from a year ago.

Ian Sheperdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said it's clear the labor market is strong enough to anticipate another rate increase by the Federal Reserve this year. But he added the overshoot could have been partly related to workers returning following Hurricane Florence and Hurricane Michael.

“In one line: Solid across the board, though hard to read the trends behind the weather noise,” he said. “Nothing in this report will make the Fed think that skipping the Dec hike is a good idea.”

The dollar pared Thursday's losses against a basket of currencies following the jobs report, heading back toward its highest level in more than a year. Investors ditched US government bonds, with yields on the 10-year Treasury note rising 3.4 basis points to 3.178%. Bond yields move inversely to prices.

Wall Street followed equity rallies around the world, with the Shanghai Composite jumping 2.7% to its highest level in three weeks. The pan-European Stoxx 600 rose 0.9%, putting it on track for its best week since 2016.

SEE ALSO: Jobs report beats big as wages grow at their fastest pace since 2009

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What a week!

After an up-and-down season with our college football picks, we hit gold last weekend with an undefeated day of bets, winning six and pushing one to get us back in the black.

While it would be nice to bask in the glory of last week a bit longer, there's no time — another week of college football is already upon us, with the stakes being raised once again as we inch closer to the playoff.

Take a look below for our seven best bets of the Week 10 college football slate (* indicates home team).

LAST WEEK: 6-0-1
OVERALL: 33-29-1

Michigan State (-2.5) over Maryland*

Michigan State has found some stability after a fairly unpredictable season, while the Maryland Terrapins are still dealing with a chaotic off-the-field situation surrounding the controversial non-firing and subsequent firing of head coach DJ Durkin. Spartans roll.

Penn State (+10.5) over Michigan*

Michigan is the Big Ten's best hope at getting a representative into the college football playoff, meaning they're absolutely due to stumble in the near future. It's the curse of all Big Ten front-runners, and this year, the Nittany Lions get to play spoiler. Even if the Wolverines find a way to win, 10 points feel like too big of a number.

LSU* (+15) over Alabama

Alabama's run of covers has been a gamblers dream, as those who have bet the Crimson Tide first half lines this season have been raking in free cash week after week after week.

Honestly, this is a play on what my wish for reality. College football is at its best when chaos reigns and the most chaotic outcome possible is that Alabama loses and upsets the entire playoff picture. I want to believe in LSU and Death Valley and Ed Orgeron.

That said, Nick Saban and his insane attention to detail have a way of bursting my bubble every time I bet against the Tide.

The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships, so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase.

Whether you're looking to rag on dad or show him all the love and kindness in the world (which are really one in the same, right?), we've got gift ideas for every kind of dad, from the hapless car-key-losing fool to the history buff and the masterful (and not-so-masterful) home chef.

Whatever it is that dad's into, something below is bound to make him smile, laugh, cry, or, hopefully, all of the above. You've been a pain and a nuisance all along; why change now?

A classy lunchbox with a cutting board top

Lunch Box with Cutting Board Lid, available at Uncommon Goods, $30

Don't send dad off to work (or school, as the case may be) with a brown bag. If you think it's embarrassing for you, it's definitely embarrassing for him.

A fish-shaped waiter's key

Deep Sea Bottle Opener, available at Uncommon Goods, $41

A nice piece for the bar to replace that ratty old plastic thing he stole from Holiday Inn before you were born and life was good.

A 3-month Amazon Prime Subscription

An Amazon Prime membership, available at Amazon, three months for $39

He'll pick up on it. Just get him started.

• $18 billion Australian software company Atlassian announced Friday it would add a free plan and cut product prices for Opsgenie, an IT automation service that it acquired for $295 million in October.
• Beyond the price cuts, Atlassian is also giving Opsgenie a rebranding, as part of a marketing push.
• Atlassian isn't worried about the drastic price cut hurting its profits — the company believes that Opsgenie will reach new customers who otherwise would never have purchased IT management services because it was too expensive. 

$18 billion Aussie software giant Atlassian wants to get IT management services into the hands of more customers, so now it’s slashing the software prices from its newest acquisition.

On Friday, Atlassian announced it would add a free tier and reduce prices for its OpsGenie service by 35%, in the hopes that it will attract a broader range of customers who otherwise might not have paid for IT management services because they were too expensive.

Opsgenie, an acquisition that Atlassian closed on Oct. 2 for $295 million, helps businesses manage alerts from monitoring tools, schedule on-call employees, and coordinate a way for people to respond to incidents in a timely manner. Those are all useful tools for companies that try to streamline their operations and make sure that their apps, software, and services, stay up and available 24/7. 

Along with these changes comes a rebranding for Opsgenie to better match with the aesthetic of its new corporate parent, including a brand new logo and a refreshed color scheme that's heavy on blues. And the company, previously known as OpsGenie, is swapping the capital “G” for a lowercase one.

“We were pretty frequently running into situations where the price was an obstacle for the customer to adopt it,” Berkay Mollamustafaoglu, co-founder and head of Opsgenie at Atlassian, told Business Insider.

Mollamustafaoglu estimates that the new pricing is a third of the prices from competing vendors on the market, including PagerDuty and AlertOps. The free plan will also allow new customers to get their feet wet when trying out Opsgenie’s services before they decide to upgrade to more expensive plans. And like all Atlassian software, Opsgenie isn't sold through a traditional enterprise software sales force; you get it directly from Atlassian's website. 

“Enterprise software doesn’t have to be extremely expensive,” Jay Simons, president of Atlassian, told Business Insider. “Most enterprise software has a reputation for being extremely expensive. Also it doesn’t have to be a pain to buy.”

And downtime costs companies money — some estimate that businesses lose $700 billion a year from network, server, and application outages.

“The market for Opsgenie is every big company on the planet,” Simons said. “In the digital economy we’re in, more and more companies become providers of a service. That requires people to be on call.”

Read more: $20 billion Atlassian explains why it's blowing up its oldest product to evolve with today’s software teams

An advantage that comes with Atlassian's direct-to-customer model, says Simons, is that it simply gives bulk discounting for large orders. 

“The frustrating part for most customers is they don’t know if they get a good or bad deal,” Simons said. “Atlassian really pioneered an approach to say, let’s just set a discounting model.”

Prices will also decrease for existing Opsgenie customers starting Friday, and Atlassian expects that its existing customers will start adopting Opsgenie’s services.

With  this significant price decrease, Simons says he isn’t worried about losing revenue because Opsgenie will be tapping into completely new customers who previously weren’t willing or able to pay for incident management services before.

He’s even seen businesses that still respond to outages and incidents by looking up employee’s names and numbers on a spreadsheet to see who's responsible for what, rather than having a more sophisticated and modern way to address issues as they arise. 

“The way you make that up is in reaching more and more customers that may not have considered technology like this or heard about it,” Simons said.  “Opsgenie is a young business with a lot of growth prospects. We take a long term perspective on the market we’re growing.”

Join the conversation about this story »

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• Amazon is growing at an incredible rate, while Barnes & Noble has been struggling for years.
• While Barnes & Noble's stores are more inviting than Amazon Books', the latter's minimalist philosophy is probably closer to the future of chain retail.
• That model isn't ideal for bookstores, which are best when they can offer specialized curation and enough inventory to encourage random discoveries.

It's hard to think of two businesses with more different trajectories than Amazon and Barnes & Noble. The former is one of the most valuable companies in the world, while the latter has struggled for years.

It's also strange to imagine the two as direct competitors. Before opening its first Amazon Books store in 2015, Amazon didn't have a physical retail footprint. Now, it has over a dozen bookstores that represent yet another obstacle to Barnes & Noble's attempts to turn around its fortunes.

I visited one of each brand's stores in New York City and discovered a depressing truth about the future of retail.

Here's what I saw:

SEE ALSO: We visited the flagship stores of Nike and Adidas in New York City to see which does it better — and the winner was obvious

I started at Amazon Books on 34th Street in Midtown Manhattan. It's the larger of Amazon's two bookstores in NYC, covering a total of 5,200 square feet.

It resembles a cross between an Apple store and a traditional, local bookstore.

The store's shelves and displays are more compact than a traditional bookstore's, and the space is easier to navigate. But, like other bookstores, it displays far more inventory than many modern retail spaces.

The store is hyper-organized, but that isn't always a good thing.

Amazon wants to make the book-shopping process more efficient, but in doing so, it overwhelms shoppers with visual information. The cards beneath each book make the store look like a warehouse, and there's a reason most bookstores don't display every book with its cover facing shoppers: The variety of designs and color schemes makes it difficult to decide where to look.

• The US will reimpose all sanctions on Iran on November 5 as part of its withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal.
• Donald Trump welcomed it with a replica "Game of Thrones" poster that says: "Sanctions are Coming."

President Donald Trump heralded new sanctions the US is imposing on Iran with a knock-off poster parodying HBO's "Game of Thrones."

It shows a photo of Trump with the words "Sanctions are Coming, November 5," written in the font used in the show.

It plays on "Winter is coming," a warning repeated in and popularized by the TV series.

The White House will reimpose all the US sanctions on Iran that had been removed under the Iran nuclear deal, which was signed in 2015.

They take effect on November 5, and will cover Iran's shipping, financial, and energy sectors.

Read more: US reimposes all Iran sanctions lifted under nuclear deal

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo outlined 12 demands that Iran must meet if it wants the sanctions lifted, which include ending military engagement in Syria, and completely halting its nuclear and ballistic missile development.

Trump withdrew the US from the Iran nuclear deal deal — also known as the Joint Comprehension Plan of Action (JCPOA) — in May, calling it "defective at its core." 

Business Insider has contacted HBO for comment.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: The first woman in space almost didn't make it back to Earth and she had to keep it a secret for 30 years

• A small Japanese island called Esanbe Hanakita Kojima has disappeared beneath waves. 
• The uninhabited island was near Japan's maritime border with Russia and its disappearance apparently went unnoticed by residents of the country's main island of Hokkaido.

• The Japanese Coast Guard is investigating the island’s disappearance.

• Local media suggested that the island could have disappeared as a result of natural erosion and drift ice.

A small Japanese island has disappeared beneath waves, which could lead to a change in national borders.

The uninhabited tiny island, called Esanbe Hanakita Kojima, was near the maritime border with Russia and its disappearance apparently went largely unnoticed by residents of Sarufutsu, a village on Japan's main island of Hokkaido, 546 yards (500 meters) away from the inlet in the Sea of Okhotsk, according to The Guardian.

The Japanese Coast Guard is investigating the island's disappearance, NHK reported, though local media suggested that the island could have disappeared as a result of natural erosion and drift ice in the waters in the Sea of Okhotsk.

The disappearance of the island has Japanese officials worried that the country's territorial waters may have shrunk.

Read more: A Japanese bullet train company has agreed to stop forcing staff to squat between the tracks as part of a safety drill

The inlet was one of 158 uninhabited islands that Japan gave names to in 2014 to clarify they belong in the country and expand its territory.

With the island under water, the country's borders could shrink slightly.

Just to east of Esanbe Hanakita Kojima, is a chain of islands owned by Russia that Japan refers to as the Northern territories and Russia refers to as the Kurils.

The islands were occupied by Soviet forces at the end of World War II, and have remained in Russia's possession, despite Japan asking for their ownership to be restored, according to Newsweek.

When Esanbe Hanakita Kojima was last surveyed by Japan's Coast Guard in 1987, the island protruded just 1.4 meters above the surface.

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The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase.

It seems that each year, the holiday season starts earlier and earlier. Whether you'd take every excuse to start decorating early or you'd prefer to wait until after Thanksgiving to start the celebrations, there's no denying that getting a head start on figuring out the right gifts for her (no matter if it's your mom, partner, sister, daughter, or otherwise) will take at least some of the stress out of the preparation process.  

We like to think of ourselves as professional gift givers, so you can bet we've been bookmarking all the best holiday gift ideas we've come across over the past year. We put together a list of over 50 clever gifts that we think she'll absolutely love.

Still shopping for more gifts? Check out all of Insider Picks' holiday gift guides for 2018 here.


SEE ALSO: 51 hilarious White Elephant gifts under $50 that are guaranteed to get a good laugh

DON'T MISS: 30 clever gifts for coworkers that they'll actually be happy to receive

A massager to melt away tension

Zyllion Shiatsu Massager, available on Amazon, $39.95

This shiatsu massager is, to date, one of the best things I’ve ever bought. It kneads away tension and stress in the back and shoulders, and can even be used on sore leg muscles after a workout. She’ll be thanking you for years to come.

An all-purpose tote with a detachable wristlet

Street Level Reversible Faux Leather Tote and Wristlet, available at Nordstrom, $49

Your first thought may be that a plain tote is sort of a boring gift — but hear us out! This one is reversible and features a detachable wristlet, which basically means you’re getting three different bags for under $50. It’s a utilitarian gift with a fashion-friendly twist.

An adjustable rolling pin

Joseph Joseph Adjustable Rolling Pin, available on Amazon, $19.55

Anyone who loves to bake will appreciate this adjustable rolling pin that allows for more precision in the thickness of dough. All she’ll have to do is remove or add the different sized rings and let them guide her.

• Crocs and rapper Post Malone teamed up to create a new limited-edition shoe. 
• The Croc, which launched on Thursday, sold out in less than a day. 
• Crocs' popularity with teen shoppers has skyrocketed over the last year. 

Rapper Post Malone's Crocs collaboration has sold out less than a day after it launched. 

On Thursday, Crocs announced a collaboration with Post Malone and debuted the new Dimitri Clog, along with six custom-designed Jibbitz charms. The limited-edition clog cost $59.99 on crocs.com. 

"Amidst his record-setting year, when Post tweeted 'U can tell a lot about a man by the Jibbitz in his Crocs', that really got our attention," Crocs Chief Marketing Officer Terence Reilly said in a statement. 

Before the day was over, the new Croc has completely sold out. 

The rapper wrote on Instagram: "my first collab with @crocs is SOLD OUT already! go to link in my bio to get updates on future releases."

Crocs' popularity with younger shoppers has skyrocketed recently. According to Piper Jaffray's biannual survey of teen preferences, Crocs now rank 13th out of all footwear brands in teen popularity.

Read more:Crocs' popularity is skyrocketing among teens as ugly fashion takes over

Coming in at No. 13 is a massive jump forward. Last year, Crocs ranked No. 27. In Spring 2017, they languished at No. 38. According to Piper Jaffray, Crocs' mindshare is triple the brand's historical average among teens.

"The most notable brand gainers have been Vans, Adidas, Lululemon and, surprisingly, Crocs," the analysts wrote in the report.

Crocs' dominance is less surprising when situated in the current era of ugly fashion.

"Ugly products have become so ironic that they're now trendy, thanks to designer brands launching their own ugly clothing items," Business Insider's Mary Hanbury reported. "It's an excellent marketing ploy — these unappealing products with large price tags create a backlash and subsequent buzz on social media."

Few brands are as well known for their straightforward, ugly aesthetic as Crocs.

As a result, high-fashion designers have been eager to repurpose the brand as an ironic high-fashion item. Balenciaga's $850 platform Crocs sold out almost instantly. A follow-up Balenciaga Crocs stiletto quickly went viral.

SEE ALSO: People are slamming these high-heeled Crocs online, but they're actually a bright spot in the modern ugly-fashion apocalypse

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• Miranda Lambert's band Pistol Annies released their newest album on Friday, which includes a song called "When I Was His Wife."
• "He'd never cheat, he'd never lie / He'll love me forever 'til the day that we die / He'll never take me for granted / I said that too when I was his wife," Lambert sings in the first verse.
• Considering Lambert has only ever been married once — to fellow country star Blake Shelton, who is now dating Gwen Stefani— it seems safe to assume Lambert drew inspiration from their divorce.

Miranda Lambert appears to be throwing major shade at her ex-husband, Blake Shelton, through her lyrics.

Lambert's band Pistol Annies released their newest album, "Interstate Gospel," on Friday. In the fifth song "When I Was His Wife," Lambert sings about a happy marriage that fell apart.

"He'd never cheat, he'd never lie / He'll love me forever 'til the day that we die / He'll never take me for granted / I said that too when I was his wife," Lambert sings in the first verse.

Lambert also takes the chorus, where she seems to reveal that she was "blinded by diamonds" during her marriage.

"You can't build a mansion with a piece of sawdust," she sings. "Holy matrimony, best day of your life / I said that too when I was his wife."

Considering Lambert has only ever been married once — to fellow country star Blake Shelton, who famously moved on quickly to date Gwen Stefani — it seems safe to assume that Lambert drew inspiration from their divorce.

Read more: Everything you need to know about Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton's love story

Pistol Annies previewed some songs from their new album back in September, during a performance at Nashville's Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

The band played the track "Got My Name Changed Back," which includes some scathing lyrics from Lambert about an ex-husband who she suggests was cheating on her.

"It takes a judge to get married, takes a judge to get divorced / Well the last couple years, spent a lotta time in court," Lambert sings. "Well I've got me an ex that I adored / But he got along good with a couple road whores."

Despite Lambert's band mate Angaleena Presley claiming that "Got My Name Changed Back"has "nothing to do with us and is about no one in this group," many fans thought otherwise.

According to People, after the band performed the song, Lambert exclaimed onstage, "That was fun! Y'all get it?"

Representatives for Lambert didn't immediately respond to INSIDER's request for comment.

Visit INSIDER's homepage for more.

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