Predawn Black Friday shopping? Phhft.
Midnight’s where it’s at this year.
Faced with a skittish consumer worried about the economy and still fearing the return of sky-high gas prices, some metro Atlanta malls and standalone retailers aren’t wasting a minute to entice reluctant Christmas shoppers through their doors. Read more...
Sacramento, CA - Black Friday is the Friday after Thanksgiving which marks the beginning of the traditional holiday shopping season. According to a Maritz shopping poll, 41 percent of respondents indicated they will shop on Black Friday, higher than the 37 percent noted last year.
Joining news10.net Live_Online Tuesday was Katrina Salazar, Certified Public Accountant. She said the average Black Friday shopper plans to spend 45 percent of their total holiday budget on the day after Thanksgiving with this shopping breakdown: most shopped for items, 23 percent - clothes and 17 percent - electronics. Read more...
The ever-popular gift card - a seemingly surefire present that leaves the shopping and decision-making to the recipient - has lost some of its holiday magic as shoppers cut back on spending and grow more wary of fees and expiration dates, according to the National Retail Federation.
Gift-card sales are expected to decline this year by 5.6 percent, according to a poll of 8,117 consumers conducted Nov. 5-11 by BIGresearch.
Still, gift cards will account for about $25 billion in sales, said Ellen Davis, vice president of the Washington, D.C.-based National Retail Federation. Read more...
Next time you’re in the area, stop by the Hospital Auxiliary gift shop inside Kitimat General.
Inside the shop on this quiet afternoon, auxiliary vice-president Fernanda Matos sits at the counter in front of a line of chocolate bars, gum, and a coffee maker.
Her view is of a collection of accessories and clothing - plenty of them handmade in the community.
It may be a modest sized store, but the results are big - the auxiliary so far this year has raised $35,000 to be used for hospital improvements and projects. Read more...
New York — Workers shouldn't count on lavish gift baskets or monogrammed cufflinks from their employers this holiday season.
As companies face tighter budgets and layoffs in a tough U.S. economy, analysts and industry data suggest a slowdown in employee gift-giving. While financial worries have many consumers curtailing their spending, companies are scaling back their budgets as well.
Sherry-Lehmann, a 74-year-old wine and spirits shop in Manhattan, has seen some corporate customers _ mostly law firms, real estate companies, and Wall Street firms _ trade down to cheaper items. Read more...
The official name of this store is Alex's Flamingo Groves and Gift Shop, but some regulars simply refer to it as the shell shop.
Indeed, it is a shop with lots of shells. Bins and bins highlight the twisty, speckled, smooth, prickly and rippled assortment of treasures from the sea. Teeny apple blossom shells are pink and white. Lion's paws are fan shaped. A Japanese slit looks like a generous dollop of whipped cream. More than 700 varieties are in stock, and most come from the Philippines, according to the staff of this family-owned business in Dania Beach. The store, which was established in 1963, relocated in 1982 to its present site a few blocks south on U.S. 1 to make room for expansion of the airport. Read more...
MN — A St. Paul-based think tank wants to expand the "buy local" mantra this holiday season to strengthen Minnesota's economy.
Minnesota2020, which believes it makes economic sense to support local manufacturers and retailers when possible, said it makes even more sense now. Regarding employment and personal income, Minnesota is struggling at a rate slightly worse than the national average, state economist Tom Stinson said.
The just-released report -- "Made in MN 2008: Boosting Minnesota's Economy in Tough Economic Times" -- states that if Minnesotans spent one-fourth of their holiday budgets on items made in Minnesota, more than $2 billion would trickle into the state's economy, possibly causing small and local businesses to hire more employees. Read more...
In need of a shopping companion to help you navigate the upcoming blitz of holiday bargains and specials?
This season, the best partner already may be in your pocket or purse.
Cellular phones, with an evolving link between retail and technology, have the potential this Christmas season to ring true in buying merchandise at decent prices.
"It's really developed into a wonderful marketing tool that not only gives you text messages about products, but since mobile Web browsing is now available, you can find out when it goes on sale and where it's available," said Scott Krugman, a spokesman with the National Retail Federation. Read more...
Toy recalls are down 46 percent from last year, when manufacturers and retailers were forced to clear shelves of toys containing lead paint, dangerous magnets and in one case, a chemical that left children temporarily comatose.
But federal safety regulators said yesterday that parents should still be on the lookout for toys with small parts that could pose a choking hazard for children, including uninflated or broken balloons. They should also supervise children around scooters, ride-on toys, and battery chargers and adapters that come with electronic toys.
While naming those items as the top toy hazards, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said the number of toy recalls had dropped to 74 in 2008 from 138 in 2007. Read more...
Attention, online shoppers! This may be the last holiday season you can dodge sales taxes by buying presents on the Web. (Admit it, you do this.) State legislators, retailers and lawyers say 2009 may be the year Internet taxes finally come to pass.
The idea, which would levy sales tax on most goods bought online, has been tossed around for nearly a decade. A perfect storm of factors, including record state budget deficits, a new Congress and continued e-commerce growth, appear likely to rekindle the issue. Experts say that cash-strapped states view this revenue, estimated to be several billions of dollars, as money left on the table. Read more...
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