Blame Fed-Ex for it!
"Criticism of FedEx shows importance of online shopping" by Harry R. Weber Bloomberg News December 25, 2015
Two years ago, United Parcel Service Inc. found itself under fire from consumers for failing to deliver some packages in time for Christmas. Now FedEx Corp. is being excoriated on social media from customers missing everything from clothes to food.
FedEx is “doing everything possible” to move Christmas shipments before the holiday ends, spokesman Jim Masilak said by e-mail Friday, a day after the Memphis, Tennessee-based company warned that severe weather was disrupting service.
He must mean this:
"Unseasonably warm weather on Wednesday helped spawn torrential rain and deadly tornadoes that left at least 14 people and left dozens of families homeless by Christmas Eve, but that didn’t stop some from spending their Christmas giving rather than receiving."
Honestly, anybody hear a HAARP?
Masilak declined to provide details on how many packages were still held up in the FedEx network, how many employees were on duty Friday and how many packages might not be delivered until after Christmas. On Twitter, where the hashtag #fedexfail was trending, dozens of customers complained about not getting gifts in time.
FedEx’s efforts to complete Christmas deliveries reflect the increasing importance of online orders as a source of holiday gifts — and the extreme time-sensitivity of those shipments. It said “heavier than planned last-minute shipment volumes” also added to the delays. In 2013, a late e-commerce surge converged with winter weather to leave UPS unable to meet its on-time promises, triggering an avalanche of social-media complaints.
I'm sick of the excu$es and don't want to hear it. You gave me my Xmas gift late!!!!!!!!!
The National Retail Federation has forecast a 3.7 percent increase in holiday spending this year, and merchants rolled out discounts — including on shipping costs — early to grab their share. UPS refined its peak-season strategy this year....
And the Post Office did fine on delivery, too.
Related: 58 Facts About The U.S. Economy From 2015 That Are Almost Too Crazy To
Believe
#48 Holiday sales have gone negative for the first time since the last recession.
So don’t be fooled by all the happy talk coming from Barack Obama and the mainstream media.
I'm not.
--more--"
Maybe I should have had it delivered by drone.
Also see:
Economy is doing well, but many are still wary
The Globe wonders why we can't we just accept the $tatu$ quo.
How’s the innovation economy doing? Follow the money
They have a real Pearl of piece leading todays pos. Every two years we get the same $hit-$how fooley. And they wonder why we are angry.
3 accused of stealing packages from South Boston porches
Should have gone to the mall:
"On day after Christmas, shoppers are out for round 2" by Laura Crimaldi Globe Staff December 26, 2015
BURLINGTON — With the day after Christmas falling on a Saturday, a mall official said business was expected to be brisk.
“There are high expectations,” just as there were before this dud of a holiday $ea$on!
The clothing retailer Madewell posted a celebratory message on a sandwich board outside its entrance: “YOU MADE IT. NOW VICTORY SHOP.”
(Blog editor is $peechle$$)
Other stores took a more staid approach with marketing.
Jon B. Hurst, president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts, said the organization has predicted a 6.5 percent increase in holiday sales at local stores over last year’s figures.
They have revised it down to 1.5 percent. I reported that a few days ago.
The projected growth is based on a survey of independent stores in Massachusetts, Hurst said. The National Retail Federation, which also represents chain stores and online sellers, has predicted a 3.7 percent boost in holiday sales across the country, he said.
“The entire fall was very strong,” Hurst said Saturday by phone.
Pffft!
You know what? Just refuse delivery of $elf-$erving liars. That's the best gift I can give you.
Traditional retailers, he said, fought to compete with Internet and mobile sales for holiday dollars. But this year, Hurst said they also faced an unlikely foe: unseasonably warm weather.
“It’s strange,” he said. “You want to get into that [holiday] spirit. The warm weather delayed that.”
Look at this! Last year they blamed the record-cold and snow winter, now they are blaming the warm weather that should have been conducive to shopping!!!
Of course, TWO PARAGRAPHS ABOVE he says it was a STRONG FALL -- HA! -- and now he is saying there was a DELAY!!
So WHICH IS IT, or does it matter when you are just slinging $hit?
The balmy December temperatures meant consumers got a late start on their shopping, and traditional cold-weather purchases like hats and boots stalled, Hurst said.
Actually, those products -- along with the consumer electronics -- showed a dip between 1.5 and 2 percent. According to Globe reporting anyway.
So, it was a strong fall but we got a late start (after all, winter only arrived on December 21st).
“What you really want is multiple visits to your store,” he said. “You want them to get out early and shop often.”
Of course, as this blog has pointed out, IF MORE (alleged) SALES are being HIDDEN ONLINE then NO ONE IS VISITING the STORE! That means all the impulse purchases plus food, drink, and gas, is NOT BEING DONE!
Over the next week, Hurst said some retailers could bring in about 10 percent of their holiday sales, and any extra inventory means great deals for consumers.
Meanwhile, they ran out of all the limited supply gifts that were available on Black Friday.
Extra inventory, huh? What a lou$y Chri$tma$ this turned out to be!
Michelle Gung, 17, of Lexington, found one of those bargains Saturday at Lush, the cosmetic retailer. Still, Gung had other priorities on her mind.
Pfft! Me, too!
Cheryl Blaine of Arlington and her 12-year-old daughter, Julia Wallace, sat outside the Verizon Wireless Pstore waiting for an appointment. Blaine said she was “shopped out” but wanted to connect Wallace’s new iPhone.
“This year it seemed like such a short Christmas season that it was nuts,” Blaine said. “We are spent, but someone got a new iPhone for Christmas and so we are here to just change it over. And then we’re going home. No mall shopping for us.”
The Globe says “it was kind of hectic, it was crazy finding a parking spot, the area was packed, should have gone on a day when it’s not this busy, but [they] have a ton of gift cards that [they're] going to use.”
--more--"
I will be adding further gifts as I find them sifting through the last two weeks of Globes, readers, and I apologize for missing them the first time.
The incredible shrinking middle class: Half the country is either living in poverty or damn near close to it
That's a h/t and I wish I had more time right now for there is much of interest there.
NDUs:
Kentucky mall reopens a day after disturbances
Damn post-Christmas shoppers.
"Those returns don’t seem to reflect a US economy that’s chugging along. In the meantime, gasoline below $2 a gallon at the pump has been good for consumers. But the money they are saving has not been plowed back into the economy as much as in the past. The retail sector is feeling that this holiday season, with early sales tallies falling short of the 3.7 percent growth forecast by the National Retail Federation."
I'm also told there have been "muted corporate earnings."
Puh-leeze!
FURTHER UPDATES:
Armenian Heritage Park’s peace walk provides time to reflect
Westfield sells five malls
What are they going to do with all the empty malls? Turn them into detention centers?
Unmindful of veterans’ needs
They got a pair of socks (even though they wanted a whistle).
Beatles songs released for streaming
Boston Dynamics turns robots into reindeer
Soon the sleigh will be pulled by drone.
In Bethlehem, N.H., a post office puts its stamp on Christmas
A Dickens classic is a hit on four wheels in Salem
Walpole resident celebrates 110th birthday
Toy drives make season bright for youths
Man donates Rolex at Newburyport Salvation Army center
Police reassure girl, 7, after elf tumble
Helping women, children get over life’s challenges
Spreading comfort and joy — and trees — by bike
An imperfect storm of donations
It's “just like the holidays when stores get busier.”
In Easthampton village, everyone helps the children
Wedding, engagement ring dropped in Salvation Army kettle in Billerica
I've gave about $4 all told as I wish peace on earth and good will towards men -- (and women and, yes, even transgender for those who think I'm harsh or intolerant. In fact, toward all sentient life, how about that? We can thank the plants and animals for their sacrifices and contributions to furthering our own existence.)
Worcester skeleton thief suspect held on $100,000 bail
David Mugar, head of Esplanade Fourth of July celebration, to retire
Shared lifetimes of love, wit, and wisdom
Woman pays off layaway orders at Brockton thrift shop
Ceremony keeps alive the light of lost children
Aaron Miller, the boy who met LeBron James, still in awe
Online stores to stop selling realistic toy guns in New York
At the bottom of the ocean, a lost wedding ring is found
But somehow they lose a whole jet.
