PlanetFeedback's ShopperCast

A Green Christma$

So we got our newspaper the other day.... and it was filled with ads for post-holiday sales.  Already.  Whew.  Starting first thing on Friday morning. 

One guess this is to appeal to people who want to stock up on their holiday goodies for next year ~ if you're thinking about going with an artificial Christmas tree next year, maybe it's a good idea to get one after Christmas and stick in your attic.  It's going to be significantly cheaper now than it is next November.  Or maybe Santa didn't bring you your heart's desire, you can go out and grab it at a good price.

Retailers are reportedly very depressed with how this shopping season ended.  Tis the season for the savvy shopper.

Kohl's has an after Christmas clearance that's 60-70% off... supposedly.  We don't think this is 60-70% off what you'd pay TODAY for the same item.  But it's still going to get people in the door.  And if you got a Kohl's gift card from your honey this year, you can make your money go a lot farther by buying things at their after Christmas sale.  It's been so cold here in the East, we're marginally tempted to go buy a pair of fuzzy gloves.  Perhapas we'll order them online. 

What are we at ShopperCast East doing the day after Christmas?  As little as possible.  It's been a very busy season for us and we just now finished getting ready for THE BIG DAY tomorrow.  The tape has just been barely been stuck on our last gift.  And dinner is just ready to be started. 

Merry Christmas to all....!  We wish you all the blessings of the season.

--Contributed by Deb

The Home Stretch

If you haven't finished (or started) your holiday shopping, we're down to three days to go.  It has been a tough holiday season for retailers.  The International Council of Shopping Centers is predicting the worst shopping season since 1969.  Ouch.  That's longer than some of us have been alive.

Thus some retailers are getting creative.  More than a dozen Macy's will stay open 24 hours a day between now and Christmas... we guess to lure customers who don't have anything better to do at 3:30 a.m. than to go in and buy a cashmere sweater. 

Other stores are slashing prices.  40% off gold earrings, again at Macy's.  40% off items at the Disney Store.  All in an effort to get you to hit the malls.

But what if malls aren't your thing?  Online retailers are more than happy to help you out with last minute deals and free shipping offers.  Some of the bargains we found: 

Old Navy is offering online shoppers up to 60 percent off;

Online jeweler BlueNile.com is sending "Daily Gem" e-mails to customers alerting them to new specials each day;

Shoe store Zappos.com, clothing retailer J.Crew and others are blasting e-mails to shoppers about free shipping, including free two-day service at bag retailer Timbuk2;

BlueFly.com, is cutting its fee for expedited shipping.

Some are even guaranteeing delivery on Christmas Eve as long as you order by December 23.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

--Contributed by Deb

Good Girls Finish First

It was basically a battle between Barbie and her trashy younger "sibling" the Bratz.  And the iconic, nice girl Barbie won.  Recently a court held that Bratz were properly the property of Barbie designer Mattel because the Bratz designer was employed by Mattel when he developed the line.  And you just can't develop a toy (or anything else) for your employer and then use it to compete against them in the marketplace. 

The court awarded Mattel $100 million for breach of contract and copyright infringement.  It got worse last week when the judge also ordered that production and sale of all 40 of the popular Bratz must cease.  MGA Entertainment (who produces the Bratz line) requested and received a stay of judgment pulling the line until after the holidays.

In other words, if you've got a kid who loves herself the Bratz line (or if you see the potential for a collectible that might be worth something eventually a la the Cabbage Patch Kids), you had better get them right now before they're gone... possibly for good. 

In this economy, we all of a sudden might have one a "must have" toy this year.  Elmo Live currently holds the spot, but that's a trendy toy for the much younger sect.  Bratz, with their edgy, hip-hop style and painted faces appeal to girls, who are often keenly interested in all things trendy.  Now that production has been ordered stopped, watch for the demand and prices to go up.

And sure enough... a quick Ebay search on "Bratz" yields 10,418 items for sale.  Everything from a porcelaine Daphne doll with bidding that starts at $100 to doll houses to pajamas to Nintendo games.  Oh boy does this not bode well for MGA Entertainment.  We frankly never knew how many Bratz items there were out there.  Mostly because we avoid the girl-toy aisles of stores like the plague.

We expect to see parents who had one or two Bratz items on their Christmas shopping list buy more now.  They're going to have to ~ unless they really want to try to explain copyright infringement to their kids.  Perhaps this will be a shot in the arm for the economy.  We can hope.

--Contributed by Deb

The Blackest of Fridays

We've all heard about it by now...  Jdimytai Damour was the 34 year old temp worker who was trampled to death at a Long Island Wal-Mart on Friday.  His body was crushed by a throng of people for whom a sale was more important than a fellow human being's life.

Disgusting.  Wal-Mart calls it a blitz line... and if you have seen football, you know what a blitz is and they apparently throw open the doors at 5 a.m.  (and future workers had better run like hell at this point) to let the crush of humanity in.  Which is much different from, say, Best Buy, where they hand out numbers and the whole shopping process is much more orderly.  You may not get that Wii Fit, but at least you make it out with your life.

Jump across the continent to Palm Desert to a Toys R Us where two women got into a fight and their husbands or boyfriends decided that Toys R Us was a great place to whip out a pair of hand guns and start shooting.  The word is that this wasn't related to an Elmo Live... rather it was a gang situation.  Pardon us if we don't muster much sympathy for the deaths of these gang-bangers.  Are two less thugs in the world really something to weep about?.  But we're furious these people opened fire in a store filled with children.  What a great holiday memory - duck and cover and pray.

Apparently common sense and common decency aren't so common when it comes to the almighty dollar.  People behave in ways that they would never have under ordinary circumstances.  We wonder if the people who stomped Jdimytai Damour to death have any idea that they killed a man?  Doubt it.  If they even suspect they had a hand in it, we bet they blame the surging crowd behind them....  'tis the season to blame others ~ and apparently to give blood-soaked Christmas presents.  Will all of great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? 

Personally, we have our fingers crossed that the people who killed him face some kind of justice, but we're not hopeful that this is going to happen.  We also hope that Wal-Mart changes its policy of allowing "blitz" tactics at 5 a.m (and appropriately compensates Jdimytai Damour's family for his loss - immediately).... but again we're not holding our collective breaths. 

--Contributed by Deb

'Tis the Season for Gift Cards

A couple of other things to think about regarding giving store gift cards as presents for the holidays - first, what do you do when you have store gift cards and have a specific item in mind, only to find out that they stores don't have the item they are seeking?

Carrie Lee's son asked for and received gift cards from Wal-Mart because he had his eye on a particular game system for his birthday.  The family was thrilled when they saw this particular game system on sale at Wal-Mart, with a bundle pack, which included the game he wanted.  Carrie Lee called around to 9... yes 9.... different stores and NONE of them had the item in stock.  And they weren't just sold out of the pack, they have just never received them to sell in any of the stores.

Now how in the world is Carrie Lee's son supposed to be able to purchase this product if no one has it?  Especially when he has store-specific gift cards.  Sure, he could wait until there are tons in store (and probably not on sale) but isn't it better (certainly in this economy) to save a few bucks where you can?  Sounds like good economics to us. Sheesh... 

Wal-Mart really dropped the ball on this one ~ what they should have done is ensure a guaranteed minimum number items is on hand in each store.  That's what they do with those huge Black Friday door buster sales, so we know it can be done.  We have to say, however, that Carrie Lee made a good call in asking for Wal-Mart gift cards rather than, say, Circuit City gift cards.

A word to the wise, always err on the side of caution when purchasing (or holding onto) store gift cards.  We're seeing a number of companies who have gone (or are in the process of going) belly up and filing for bankruptcy protection.  If you have a store gift card and the company files for bankruptcy (even if it's a reorganization bankruptcy) your store gift card becomes an unsecured debt and the money on that card goes down to the bottom of the repayment list and your card may become worthless.   $20 million of Sharper Image gift cards early this year vanished with the company's bankruptcy.  Poof.  Just like that.  Gone. 

And we expect the same will happen to Circuit City gift cards.

All in all, we think if you have a loved one who has everything, gift cards are a great idea.  Just be careful when you're picking out one to give as a gift.  And if you receive a gift card, we recommend not holding on to it too long... just in case.

--Contributed by Deb

So Long Circuit City

It's been good knowing ya.  Well, kinda.

The big-box electronics store has announced that it's going to be closing 155 of its stores and suspending openings of any new ones on account of a steep decline in sales.  It's the dinosaur of the retail world - it failed to evolve and sinking into the swampy murk of ruination.  It's even in danger of being delisted from the New York Stock Exchange.  Their stock is valued at an atrocious 26 cents a share. Double ouch. 

Stick a fork in it... it's done.  Some (including yours truly) would say it's karma after Circuit City fired 3,400 older employees to help out it's alimighty bottom line last year, leaving the customer service staff with the underpaid dregs of the employment rolls. No wonder we didn't like shopping there.  Looks like other people felt the same.  Whodathunkit?

The soon-to-be-empty stores were going to have closed doors yesterday to prepare for closing sales.  Excuse me... did someone say SALE?

One persons injury is this girl's opportunity.  It's November which means it's not that long until Christmas.  And one of the lame duck Circuit City stores that's on the chopping block is a few miles down the road.  *sniff*  We love the smell of opportunity in the morning.

Do you have electronics on YOUR shopping list for loved ones this year?  We do.  Which means that now may be the best time to get 'em at a good price.  We'll be there as soon as we can tomorrow, to check things out ~ and if necessary, strike while the iron's hot. 

Sure, we feel sorry for all those associates who will be out of a job, and we hate to see them impacted this way right before the holidays ~ but in this economy, you gotta get while the getting's good!

--Contributed by Deb

All We Want For Christmas

So what is on your ultimate wish list for the holidays this year?

With the sagging economy and the hit taken to our retirement accounts, like most of Americans, we're looking at scaling back this Christmas.  But what would you buy for someone if you had a bottomless checkbook?

Yep.. it's time for the annual Neiman Marcus holiday catalog!  While filled with haute couture fashion items, it also boasts some flights of fancy ~ on the premise that dreams and fantasies are free.  Example:  you could own 35 years of the Top 100 songs on the Rock and Pop charts - all on vinyl 45s.  Wow.  Do you have room for 18,500 records (and know what a 'record' is)?  And $275,000 just sittin' around?    Or how about your very own Guinness pub ~ in Ireland no less.  For the cut rate cost of $250,000, that one's a steal. 

Our tastes, comparatively speaking of course, are much more frugal.  (And considering we've spent the last 30 minutes drooling over some of the items in the Needless Markup Neiman Marcus catalog, that's saying something!)  So if you happen to draw our names from the hat for Christmas this year and you have an unlimited budget ~ this is what we'd like!  And at only $2,200, we think we're worth it.

Hey, a girl can dream, can't she?

--Contributed by Deb

Lonely No More

With a nod to the Beatles, money may not buy you love, but  pretty soon it can purchase you a reasonable facsimile thereof (and no, we're not talking about the kind of "love" you can rent by the hour).

Her name is EMA, which stands for Eternal Maiden Actualization and she's going to be hitting the shelves soon for about $175.  Simply put, she's a robot ~ but she is not without her wiles.  She sings, she dances, she kisses.  She's petite AND busty.  How about that, fellas, she's all (well, most) you need in a girlfriend and she comes with batteries. You can ignore her when you feel like it and she'll never nag you about staying out too late with the guys.

This has started us thinking ~ since Sega Toys is replacing us females with robots, shouldn't we, as women, have a robotic boyfriend?  He doesn't need sing, dance or kiss.  He does, however, need to open pickle jars, squash spiders and pick up his own dirty clothes off the floor. 

Or perhaps they could design a robotic parent.  We'd never need baby sitters again.  Just put the robot in "Mom" or "Dad" mode and go out for the evening.  RoboMom can make kids eat their vegetables and go to bed on time.  RoboDad can read bedtime stories.  How very familial.

The best possible use for this type of robot technology would be in the workplace.  If we don't feel like going to work, send the robot.  We're sure they can type and take dictation as well as any of us.  Plus you don't have to worry about them telling off your boss.  Go fishing, go to the beach, or just sleep in ~ you can do it all with a robotic version of yourself.

The possibilities are endless.  Ain't technology great?

--Contributed by Deb

Dead Flowers For Mother's Day?

The best part of Mother's Day was spending it with our Mom and family.  We had a great time and Mom loved all the cards and little gifts we got her.  Yet we knew in the back of our mind that not everyone would feel the same way.

How right we were.

Edward's Mother's Day was ruined for his wife because Chili's portions have become so small he had to take her to a second restaurant AFTER they finished at Chili's so she wouldn't be hungry.  Cheryl is annoyed Wal-Mart let her 11 year-old son purchase half-dead roses for her on Mother's Day.  Grace was embarrassed that DHL wasn't able to stop her floral delivery after the recipient unexpectedly passed away.

All these letters really miss the larger point of Mother's Day ~ the expression of love behind the gift.  Would Cheryl love her son any more if he had purchased the perfect rose?  Doubt it. (And personally we find it beautiful that he picked out those flowers all by himself.) Does Edward's wife love him less because of Chili's small portions?  Probably not. 

Sometimes we get so caught up on the "things" we purchase that we fail to focus on the sentiment behind it.  We're all guilty of this at one time or another, to be sure.

Sure, these people may not have gotten the best bang for their buck and they absolutely have the right to complain about the incident.  But isn't it just a little over the top to say that Mom's day was "ruined" because of small boneless ribs? 

And wouldn't Mom be just mortified if she heard you had written a letter like this?  We know that if we did and she heard about it, we'd be in SUCH trouble.  How DARE we imply that her day was anything less than perfect over a gift!  This is the woman who had all kinds of pictures of squiggles on her refrigerator for YEARS because they were from us.  And you think that wilted flowers are what's important about Mother's Day.  Yikes, we're cringing now at the very thought. 

Sorry, Mom.

--Contributed by Deb

It Is The Thought That Counts....Isn't It?

Well another Christmas has passed us by.  The gifts are opened, the family get togethers are over.  Now it is time to focus on what comes next, returns!  December 26 is expected to be busier than Black Friday.  The day after Christmas many times finds shoppers anxious to return the gifts that they did not like, did not fit, were the wrong color, etc or spend spend spend those gift cards that they got for Christmas. 

If however you are not one to fight the crowds in an effort to get rid of unwanted gifts you may be considering another alternative......re-gifting!  If you do plan on re-gifting there is an etiquette to it, and there are Dos and Don'ts involved.  Go ahead take a look, read up on the "rules", we promise we won't tell......

--Contributed by Renee