"Shoppers get the VIP treatment; Retailers use pampering to boost holiday sales" by Jenn Abelson, Globe Staff | November 27, 2009
Best Buy is plying the 26-year-old math teacher and three friends with a limousine ride, special seating outside the electronics chain’s Dedham store while they wait for the doors to open, and early admittance for a private shopping tour at 4:30 a.m., a half-hour before customers crowd the place. To sweeten the deal further, Best Buy is giving the Dorchester man a $1,000 gift card to help kick off the splurging and a digital camcorder to document the event....
Oh, you can keep it all. I'll stay in bed, asleep.
Discounting isn’t enough to lure cautious consumers in these recessionary times....
Related:
"pre-Thanksgiving discounts.... mostly ignored"
Yeah, that's me.
Merchants are scrambling for a way to survive another dismal holiday season....
An oddly frank statement from a paper that is constantly shilling for corporate coffers.
Most of the VIP contests were promoted through the social networking site Facebook - another marketing innovation, which allowed businesses to interact directly with potential customers and get them to consider shopping today.
That's why I missed it!
Even the majority of shoppers who didn’t win the VIP treatment will receive future offers or discounts through retailers’ Facebook pages. Some retail analysts say the push through Facebook also was intended to convert a generation of younger consumers accustomed to online shopping into Black Friday fans.
Too late for this old coot.
Related: Fair Warning About Christmas Festivus
Yeah, I've already begun to celebrate -- starting with a critique of each and every member of my basketball team yesterday.
Nonetheless, the spirit of indulgence - on top of discounts - is expected to last throughout the season....
For some.
And there they go again, back to pushing the propaganda!
But even the appeal of free money and VIP shopping wasn’t enough to hook some consumers.... Someone was selected in Boston to be lavished with special treatment. But the winner never showed up.
Ha-ha-ha!
Maybe they were too busy talking:
"Many will shop; a few will talk, listen" by Associated Press | November 27, 2009
NASHVILLE - A national oral history project is trying to start a new tradition for Black Friday. Instead of hunting for bargains, StoryCorps suggests that families sit down together today and talk about their lives on a National Day of Listening....
I just FOUND ALL MY GIFTS!!
Let's see, Jimmy gets 9/11, and Aunt Fran the bailout, and....
Making a list and checking it twice!
StoryCorps is a nonprofit project that seeks to preserve the stories of ordinary people....
Isn't that what a BLOG is?
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For those that did get out:
Shoppers lined up outside stores in droves yesterday to take advantage of Black Friday deals on washing machines and laptops, but many of them were keeping a tight hold on their wallets as worries about the slumping economy lingered....
But....
But....
Another dismal holiday season would be bad news for merchants, who have cut inventory, made do with fewer holiday workers, and offered discounts earlier in the season to draw in jittery consumers as credit remains tight and the unemployment rate creeps up....
Yeah, when do YOU factor into all this, Amurkn "consumer!?"
But....
Still....
Even as Ann Limare, 32, filled out a Best Buy credit card application at the CambridgeSide Galleria early yesterday, she lamented that her mortgage payments have skyrocketed, her phones have been turned off, and her children will probably have to make do with less this Christmas.
Goldmans kicked ass!
Limare, a certified nursing assistant who is married to a cab driver, said she was shopping yesterday to replace her broken television set. “I don’t feel good at all,’’ said.
No, I'm not feeling the cheer here, either!
Better off without the TV, too!
Here is where I will be headed when (or if) I go shopping:
"Shoppers head north for deals; Tax-free New Hampshire draws many from Mass." by Megan Woolhouse and Jenn Abelson, Globe Staff | November 28, 2009
SALEM, N.H. - Massachusetts’ loss is Juliana Aquino’s gain. The 27-year-old mother of two could have done her Black Friday shopping at the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Methuen, where she lives. Instead, she made a 15-minute trek into New Hampshire, where there is no such thing as a sales tax.
“I come here all the time, even though there’s one closer,’’ Aquino said at 5 a.m. yesterday, pushing a shopping cart loaded with four flat-screen TVs. “I come up here even to buy groceries.’’
Massachusetts shoppers are fleeing the state’s rising sales tax in droves and shopping in New Hampshire. Fueled by necessity - and in some cases anger - customers said they were heading over the border to save money and score deals. Cars with Massachusetts license plates clogged the roads and lots across Salem.
Related: Slow Saturday Special: Nawth to New Hampshire
And through the early evening yesterday, the Mall at Rockingham Park in Salem and Pheasant Lane Mall in Nashua - both just a few miles over the border - reported spikes in traffic over last year, according to Laurel Sibert, a spokeswoman for Simon Malls, which runs both shopping centers. “The New Hampshire malls have definitely benefited from the sales tax increase in Massachusetts,’’ Sibert said.
Nice move, Massachusetts looters!!!!
In August, state officials increased the Massachusetts sales tax to 6.25 percent from 5 percent as a way to help fill holes in the state budget....
And we STILL HAVE a HUGE, GAPING CHASM!!
While the Retail Merchants Association of New Hampshire expects flat or a slight uptick in sales over last year, shop owners in Massachusetts project a 3 percent decline in sales.
Ever notice that EVERYTHING GOVERNMENT DOES makes things WORSE?!!?!!!
Massachusetts’ retail sales plunged roughly 14 percent over August and September, according to Jon Hurst, president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts, the first time there were double-digit drops in Massachusetts since the beginning of the recession.
“Consumers are angry and being very frugal and avoiding the tax by going to New Hampshire or shopping online,’’ Hurst said. “Our concerns for Black Friday and the rest of the season are that consumers are going to take their dollars elsewhere. We understand the anger and the need to be frugal. But we hope consumers recognize the importance of spending the money locally to protect jobs for family, friends, and neighbors.’’
Please TELL THAT to the LYING, LOOTING GOVERNMENT that is TOSSING OUR TAX DOLLARS away!!!!!!!!!!!
Bob Bliss, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Department of Revenue, said in an August interview with the Globe that the net revenue gains from the sales tax hike outweigh the $48 million in expected losses from sales diverted to New Hampshire, the Internet, or reduced demand. Officials at the Massachusetts Department of Revenue could not confirm projected losses in tax revenue from people going to New Hampshire yesterday. But a recent report by the department showed that Massachusetts’ tax revenues for the first half of November totaled $41 million, equal to collections over the same period last year.
Why should we believe PROVEN LIARS? Would you?
However, state tax revenue projections meant little to Kim Morris of Billerica, who drove to New Hampshire yesterday to find an affordable flat-screen TV for her son. She purchased a 26-inch TV for $299 at Sears in the Mall at Rockingham Park, even though it was more than she wanted to pay. But she said at least she avoided the sales tax. “It’s a trip and a hassle,’’ the grocery store employee said. But the savings? “It’s just worth it,’’ she said.
Yes, as LONG as you are NOT BUYING IT in MASSACHUSHITTS!!
The a**hole politicians in this state NEED to be shown a LESSON!!!!!!!
For many, the tax savings was considerable. Aquino saved at least $50 on the four televisions she bought as gifts. The extra money will help her as she studies to become a medical administrator.
Donna Woodman of Bradford, Mass., said she felt lucky to live close enough to the New Hampshire border that she could take advantage of shopping there regularly.
Yup, less than 10 minutes away here!
Woodman said it became a necessity this year, when the paper mill where her husband worked closed and he became sick. A deli worker, she said she is scrimping and saving to afford Christmas gifts for her grandchildren....
Maybe Goldmans could help out?
Monica Harper of South Boston is one of those consumers looking north for shopping relief this year. She is planning to buy nearly all her gifts in New Hampshire, including big purchases like a television for her daughter. “Taxachusetts is getting to be a bit overbearing and intrusive toward my wallet,’’ said Harper. “I just went up there to buy a pair of running shoes last week because I just wasn’t willing to pay the taxes.’’
Ya' HEAR, Mass. PoS??
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