"Showrooming" is a serious problem for retailers who pay to staff their stores with salespeople who can answer customers' questions. But when customers only stop in to check out prices and then opt to shop online for a better deal, it hurts the stores' bottom lines.

Now one retailer in Australia is taking an unusual step to combat the practice. It's charging $5 per person for simply browsing in its aisles, reports Adelaide Now.

The specialty grocery market, called Celiac Supplies, garnered both support and outrage after a Reddit user reported on the approach. 

"This store will be charging people a $5 fee per person for 'just looking,'" according to a sign posted at the suburban Brisbane store. About 60 people a week would stop in to pepper the owner with questions and then buy the same products online or at a bigger supermarket chain, according to Adelaide Now. 

 

How young is too young for Victoria's Secret?

That's the question parents are grappling with after the lingerie retailer debuted a spring break collection with the slogan "Bright Young Things."

Victoria's Secret, owned by Limited Brands (LTD), says that the collection falls under its Pink line, which is targeted at college-aged women. But it seems that the word "young" in the slogan, plus items such as panties with "call me" written on the front, are all a bit much for parents. People worried that Victoria's Secret was going after teens, tweens and younger age groups.

The resulting uproar caused Victoria's Secret to take to its Facebook page Monday to explain. 

A lot has changed since 1966, when "Star Trek" first aired on TV and Toyota (TM) introduced the Corolla. 

But one thing that hasn't budged much is Americans' inflation-adjusted income, according to a tax analysis by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Cay Johnston.

For Americans in the bottom 90%, the "vast majority averaged a mere $59 more in 2011 than in 1966," writes Johnston, who adds that the figure is "jaw-dropping."

That means most Americans gained only enough income to buy movie tickets, popcorn and soda for a family of four -- for just one visit to the multiplex per year. 

 

With the NCAA's Men's Basketball Tournament now down to the last 16 teams, all eyes are on this elite group of college teams. But none have grabbed the public's attention more than Florida Gulf Coast University. The relatively unknown Fort Myers, Fla., school's appearance in the "Sweet 16" is surely a Cinderella moment. But it probably won't bring FGCU a huge profit.

According to Victor Matheson, an associate professor of economics at the College of the Holy Cross, FGCU's "average attendance this year was only 2,200 per game," he said in an email to MSN Money. "Considering lots of those are students who get in free and others are faculty, staff, alumni, military, and youth who can get in for as little as $6, you are not talking big revenue here. ... They will probably be able to sell more tickets for next season, and their good performance this year probably increased attendance a bit this year. But overall, the direct economic effect on the school is small."  

During last month's manhunt in California for Christopher Dorner, the fired Los Angeles cop who apparently went on a deadly revenge-related shooting spree, the city offered a $1 million reward for Dorner's arrest and capture.

Dorner (pictured) committed suicide 10 days after the dragnet began, when we was cornered by authorities in a mountain cabin. Two people have since come forward to claim that reward. But according to the Los Angeles Times, some of the more than 25 individuals and organizations that pledged the reward money are now having second thoughts.

"I've spoken with some groups -- including a few that are substantial -- that have already decided to withdraw their pledges," Ron Cottingham, president of the Peace Officers Research Association of California, told the newspaper. "They said the reward doesn't fit their criteria."

 

As the Supreme Court mulls two separate cases related to gay marriage, the line separating the issue from the often socially agnostic business world continues to skew.

Starbucks (SBUX) Chief Executive Howard Schultz made that evident on Friday by telling a shareholder who took issue with the company's show of support for Washington state's referendum backing gay marriage that "You can sell your shares in Starbucks and buy shares in another company. Thank you very much."

Schultz and Starbucks aren't out on a big limb by any stretch because several other companies have either offered their support in repealing the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) or have withdrawn funding from the Boy Scouts of America over troops' decision to ban gay scouts.

 

Stop looking at jobless numbers, new-home sales, housing starts, auto sales and consumer spending for signs of an economic recovery.

If you really want to know how the nation's finances are faring, ask your local repo crews. While business was booming at the height of the recession in 2009, U.S. repossession specialists have spent less time pulling cars off streets and out of parking lots in the last year and more time fretting over their own jobs.

Auto repossessions peaked at 1.9 million nationwide in 2009, according to Manheim Auctions, as lessees and owners fell behind on payments. Last year, however, repossessions dropped to 1.3 million as auto companies like General Motors (GM -0.21%) tightened credit restrictions and car buyers scaled back.

 

Ford's (F) Figo cars are so roomy that you could fit three bound and gagged women in the trunk. Yep, that's the selling point of what may be the worst car advertisement in history.

The company is apologizing for the three mockup ads, which were never used but were reportedly posted over the weekend on the industry website Ads of the World. Indian advertising agency JWT India reportedly created the images.