"Gilt-free shopping; Now, first stop at mall is often to sell old gold" by Megan Woolhouse, Globe Staff | December 24, 2008
PEABODY - .... Because of the down economy, malls in the Northeast, those vast retail shrines to creature comforts, have welcomed a new business into the mix this holiday season: gold buyers. A Virginia-based company called Goldrush has set up kiosks in malls from Virginia to New Hampshire asking customers to sell them gold and silver - at a fraction of its value - so they can melt it down and resell it.
That means customers can shed lone earrings and unwanted wedding bands or part with heirloom jewelry or family silver in mall courtyards, something routinely done in markets and banks across Europe and in many developing countries. And while the kiosks are a new addition to mall life in America, they are also reminiscent of another era.
"It's certainly something that was done in the days of the Depression," said Brad Ziglar, managing editor of Hard Assets Investor, a website about commodities investing....
That CAN'T BE GOOD NEWS!
Let's hear some nice Xmas stories instead:
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Eighteen-year-old John Kordis brought a white gold heart pendant he had bought for his girlfriend. She broke up with him before he could give it to her.
OOOPS!!
The $50 gift got him only $6.20 at the kiosk, which he said was enough to buy two drinks at the mall food court. Yet he was pleased. "It gets rid of the emotional baggage," he said.
That's not the kind of fucking he was looking for! Sounds like a PAWN SHOP, doesn't it?
Karen Moore, a mother of three from Danvers, brought in a pile of gold. Employees at the kiosk weighed it and tested its authenticity using a solution that changes color when applied to fake gold, then quoted her payout: $218. That money will go to bills and lunch at the nearby food court. "I'm like, why didn't I do this before?" she said.
Ummm, because those things meant something to you?
Gold prices are rising locally because demand is up worldwide. According to the World Gold Council, a group formed by mining companies, worldwide demand rose 121 percent in the third quarter of 2008. Many customers buy it in the form of coins or bullion. Leifer said many people view gold as a hedge against inflation and safer than paper money. Gold sales have been so high that the US Mint recently ran out of gold coins.
I know one: The Ron Paul Platform: Money
"When I see a pile of gold coins, it's wealth," Leifer said. "Gold endures. And it's endured for thousands of years."
Sullivan, the grandmother who sold her gold at the North Shore Mall, parted with much gold she had collected over the years this holiday season. She returned to the kiosk three times to sell additional jewelry in late November. A former IRS worker currently on disability, she said she used the money to repair her car and pay a cellphone bill....
What a WASTE if you ask me!
Besides, the STORES NEEDED YOU!!
"Stores seek sales in the wee hours" by Associated Press | December 24, 2008
NEW YORK - The nation's stores are pulling all-nighters and deepening discounts in the final hours before Christmas, trying to draw in all the shoppers they can. As much as retailers do, however, analysts say the crowds appear to be lighter this week than a year ago - heightening worries for many merchants.
I helped! I, for one, am tired of having the agenda-pushing press shoving shopping down our throats!!
In Christmases past, the retail industry has depended on last-minute shoppers, along with those pulled in by 24-hour shopping, to help save the season. But this year, customers have been pulling back their spending. A lot is at stake. The holiday shopping season accounts for as much as 40 percent of annual profits for many retailers....
So, please, please, RUSH OUT and SHOP!!!
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Awww, boo-hoo-hoo!!! I'm not feeling to Xmassy anyway, what with the mass-murder and slaughter being meted out in my country's name!
Despite such come-ons, many shoppers aren't in a rush. "I'm just kind of getting an idea. I'm just doing some comparison shopping," said Scott Meyer, a 57-year-old health and safety consultant, who was looking at bracelets at a Macy's near Chicago that was one of 13 Macy's stores that are staying open 24/7. "I'll probably go to a local place and if I don't like what they have there, I'll come back here tomorrow night at 2 in the morning," he added....
Translation: GET OUT THERE, Amurkn! Yeah, we know the foreclosure notice came and the lights just got turned off, but MAKE IT a MERRY XMAS for BUSINESS!!!!
Excluding Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which is among the few bright spots, same-store sales are expected to fall from 6.5 to 7 percent. Same-store sales are sales at stores opened at least a year and are considered a key indicator of a retailer's health....
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Oh, Wal-Mart, they are golden?!!! This is WHY, Amurka! Think of this next time you are buying cut-rate, cut-throat prices for your bowls of s***!
SOUTHFIELD, Mich. - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will pay as much as $640 million to settle 63 federal and state class actions claiming the company cheated hourly workers and forced them to work through breaks....
There is your MIRACLE, folks! It's also known as f***ing people over and denyoing them dignity!
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