Black Friday

Every year my family and I head out somewhere around 4AM and begin our shopping spree on Black Friday. Yes, it's always crazy but it has kind of become a family tradition. Nevertheless, I'll never be as pyscho as the people who decide to spend their entire Thanksgiving days in a tent and freeze throughout the night in order to get the best deals. I will, though, commit my mornings to shopping and finding some pretty good prices.

This year was different for me, however. I'm a poor college student and even though my family still went out shopping I decided not to partake in the activities this season because my wallet is empty. Anyway, I always find it interesting that each and every year someone, somewhere always seems to get hurt. This season two people are dead in a Black Friday shooting at a crowded Toys "R" Us in Palm Desert, California. According to one woman, Sarah Pacia of Cathedral City told The Desert Sun newspaper she was in the store with her two boys, ages 4 and 6, looking at coloring books when she heard a commotion in the next aisle. She thought it was people rushing to get a sale item. Then she heard three or four shots.

I can't imagine who would carry a gun into a store! But this wasn't even the worst story on Black Friday (in my opinion). Walmart once again had troubles this year, as q worker at a Wal-Mart in New York City’s Long Island suburbs was killed when a crowd of shoppers stampeded for Black Friday bargains, knocking him down and trampling him to death. I cant imagine this happening! Most likely there will be a lawsuit against the company as it seems something could have been done to prevent this tragedy.

Anyway, on the brighter side of things Black Friday seemed to be a positive event for retailers nationwide, even in the midst of our struggling economy. According to the National Retail Federation's 2008 Black Friday Weekend survey, conducted by BIGresearch, more than 172 million shoppers visited stores and websites over Black Friday weekend, up from 147 million shoppers last year. Furthermore, Shoppers spent an average of $372.57 this weekend*, up 7.2 percent over last year’s $347.55. Total spending reached an estimated $41.0 billion.

"Pent-up demand on electronics and clothing, plus unparalleled bargains on this season’s hottest items helped drive shopping all weekend," said NRF President and CEO Tracy Mullin. "Holiday sales are not expected to continue at this brisk pace, but it is encouraging that Americans seem excited to go shopping again."

I honestly didn't really expect this. I expected total spending to be lower - and if anything - about equal to last years. Not better! This just furthers my notion that our consumers still don't know what they're doing with their money and they'll still spend even if they don't have. Our consumers need to learn how to cut back and not put everything on plastic! Seriously, with unemployment rates skyrocketing and the credit crunch...how can we beat numbers from last year!?!?!?!?! Good for retailers and our economy as a whole???!?!?!? Maybe, but I believe most people are just putting themselves into a deeper hole with more debt!

Cyber Monday!

As I was browsing through retail news over the internet and looking for something to blog about, I stumbled upon an article about Cyber Monday. Now, I think we've all heard about Black Friday - the day after Thanksgiving and the biggest shopping day of the year - however, Cyber Monday is a relatively new phenomena (at least I've never heard of it until today). According to an article online, over 80% of online retailers are supposed to offer "Cyber Monday" promotions.
They are counting on Monday to be a bright spot during this challenging shopping season.

I'm not quite sure how successful Cyber Monday is going to be but it does seem like a pretty good idea. For all of the people who don't want to join the craze on Black Friday, they will now have the chance to save some money online and sit in their pajamas in peace and quiet. According to the article, the Monday after Thanksgiving, is expected to be more promotional than ever this year as retailers offer one-day sales and special offers to bring holiday shoppers online. Furthermore, according to the eHoliday Survey, conducted for Shop.org this fall by Shopzilla, 83.7 percent of retailers will have a special promotion for Cyber Monday, up from 72.2 percent last year. The most popular promotions are expected to be specific deals (38.8%), email campaigns (32.7%), and one-day sales (24.5%). Additionally, nearly one-fourth of retailers (22.5%) will offer free shipping on all purchases. “As shoppers focus on price this holiday season, online retailers will be extremely competitive to offer the very best deals,” said Scott Silverman, Executive Director of Shop.org. “Americans who are looking to put a dent in their holiday shopping will be able to find thousands of bargains on Cyber Monday.”

The article also explained that the term "Cyber Monday" developed from a website (Shop.org) in 2005. This was because many retailers noticed a huge trend of people shopping on the Monday following Thanksgiving. I don't think, however, that Cyber Monday will be nearly as successful as Black Friday. It will probably need a few more years of marketing the "Cyber Monday" until it becomes a gigantic shopping day. Furthermore, a few interesting facts pointed out by this article were that this year, according to a BIGresearch survey conducted for Shop.org, 55.8 percent of workers with Internet access, or 72.8 million people, will shop for holiday gifts from work. The trend of employees with internet access shopping from the office has continued to increase: in 2005, only 44.7 percent said they shopped online from work. According to the BIGresearch survey, 70.0 percent of young adults 18-34 with Internet access will shop at work. Additionally, men are more likely to shop from work than women (60.3% vs. 51.5%).

We'll have to wait and see the results! I'm anxious to see how many people will actually shop online and how big Cyber Monday will become in the future!

Avoiding gift cards this season?

As the holiday season approaches people will be out shopping for their loved ones and friends. Personally, I never really know what to get any of my friends or family (partly because I wait till the last minute to do my shopping). Consequently, I usually end up purchasing an assortment of gift cards for everyone. I've thought about giving cash but to me that doesn't seem personal at all. I guess gift cards aren't much more personal, however, it's still a step up from cash right? Anyway, this season I might be changing my ways. I might have to go out earlier and actually buy a few gifts. I'm definitely not going to risk buying gift cards this season!
Recently, I was watching MSNBC and one of the headline stories was about gift cards. Yes, they may be the perfect present for the hard-to-buy-for person on your list. With a gift card you never give the wrong size or color. However, consumer reports has just began a report on warning shoppers about the pitfalls of gift cards this year. Consumer Reports says about $8 billion — or about 10 percent — worth of gift cards given during the 2006 holiday season still have not been redeemed. Some cards were lost, others are forgotten. It seems like we all have a few. The magazine surveyed gift card recipients and found that 27 percent of them have not used one or more of the cards they received last year. Why not?

• 58 percent said they didn’t have time
• 35 percent said they couldn’t find anything they wanted to buy
• 32 percent said they forgot about the card
• 4 percent said they tried to redeem the cards too late — they had expired
• 3 percent said the cards were lost

To launch its gift card campaign, Consumer Reports bought a full-page advertisement in last Tuesday's New York Times. The ad called unused cards “easy money” for retailers.
Merchants want people to spend their gift cards as quickly as possible because gift cards do not count as a sale until they are redeemed. So if you buy a gift card this holiday season and the recipient doesn’t spend it until 2009, a retailer is not going to be able to put that gift card on their books until 2009. Retailers also hope that when you come in with that gift card you’ll spend more than the value of the card. Consumer Reports calls that another downside to giving gift cards.

Furthermore, in many states if a gift card is not used after a few years then it usually becomes unclaimed property and the retailer is required to give the money to the state. However, consumer reports explains that the retailer can still take advantage of the consumer purchasing a gift card by investing that money that's spent on the card. Additionally, with the global economic downturn who knows what companies are going to fail soon? There are thousands of companies struggling to stay afloat as I'm writing this, and if our economy doesn't get better soon many of them will go under. Therefore, they wont be able to honor the gift cards and the Christmas present that you purchased for your friends or loved ones will be pointless! My advice - Dont purchase many gift cards this season!

General Motors... trying to hang on

One of the big 3 is struggling to survive, not to mention Ford and Chrysler are having trouble keeping their heads above water. These companies are facing bankruptcy and may go belly up if they aren't bailed out by the government soon. However, it seems as if GM may be in the most trouble. As I read in an article recently, General Motors is pushing to save every penny it can, even pressing plant workers to shut off lights, turn off air compressors and lower the heat.

The pinching pennies concept came up about a month ago, said a man named David Green. David Green is the president of United Auto Workers Local 1714 in Lordstown, Ohio. He explained that about a month ago, the plant was told workers could no longer work overtime. Additionally, workers decided to cancel a bake sale they hold each year for the Toys For Tots program because GM wouldn't let some line workers earn pay while working at the sale as it has done in the past. He went on to say, "I started here in 1989, and I've never seen it like this. … Every little thing we can do, we're doing. It's really quite amazing."

It's crazy to think a company like GM that's been around for so many years is on the brink of failure. The first two cars I owned were GM made and I loved both of them. I've appreciated the American made vehicles contained so much quality, especially for the price. I couldn't even begin to tell you how many relatives or friends, or hec - just people I know, work for General Motors. It's crazy to think about how many jobs will be lost if the company fails. I believe I saw on MSNBC that if GM fails somewhere around 250,000 jobs will be lost with the company. But that's not even close to what the trickle down effect will cause. If the one of these automakers fails, the laid off employees could easily reach the millions! Furthermore, I'm curious about what will happen to the retirees, or the people receiving benefits from the company. How many people rely on health insurance, their pensions from GM, or other benefits such as dental? Will they lose everything too? Will those services be cut?

As I read in an article, "GM leaders appear to be doing everything they can, too, to ensure survival. CEO Rick Wagoner was in Japan discussing help from Toyota Motor, according to Kyodo News there. Toyota denied the report." The past three days the three automakers have been on Capital Hill before congress explaining why the companies need to be bailed out. Many republicans don't want to bail them out, however, it's hard to even imagine the economic distress that will be caused if one of the big three fails. Could are market even take it? Gosh, I don't even know! How would this affect other industries? Well, it seems as if everything has already been hit extremely hard. Retail. Financial. Tech. You name it, its been struggling through this economic crisis. It's hard to believe that after one of these companies fails, these other sectors will spiral downward even more.

Even if GM doesn't fail soon...and they stay alive for a little while, how do they restore consumer confidence and get people to buy their vehicles? Who wants to buy from a retailer/manufacturer that might not be able to guarantee a warranty on a brand new vehicle?
So what do you think the government should do? Bail them out or not?

Dell and Staples Recycling efforts

Dell and its office supply vendor Staples announced this week that they will be offering a new recycling program available to anyone and everyone. Staples will now offer free recycling for Dell computers, printers and other products. Personally, I've never thrown a computer away or given it to anyone, just because I don't want someone looking into files on the hard drive and trying to steal my identity or something. Therefore, I've kept my two previous computers in my closet and I still haven't got rid of them. Anyway, since Dell and Staples announced their partnership last week, they explained that people can drop off any amount of Dell-branded PCs, monitors, keyboards, printers, mice and other accessories at any of Staples' 1,500 U.S. stores for recycling, without having to make a purchase. Yes indeed, you "don't have to make a purchase," however it seems like a smart tool to get you into the store and buy something. In fact, for many of the people who will be taking back an old computer I'd imagine they're going to need a new one... This may end up bringing in some business for Staples throughout these tough economic times.

"Staples started selling Dell computers last year as part of Dell's expansion from made-to-order sales on the Web into retail stores. Staples logs the incoming equipment, then hands it off Eco International, a recycling company that has worked with Staples and Dell rival Hewlett-Packard Co., in the past. Eco International picks up the PCs and other devices and brings them to one of its regional recycling facilities. It breaks everything down into parts and resells ones that still work. Then, it shreds what's left over and sells those materials to manufacturers that can reuse them. Electronics are laden with plastics, heavy metals and toxic chemicals, which often end up in dumps in China and other developing countries. Staples and Dell said Eco International does not export waste to other countries or send hazardous chemicals to landfills."

My only concern is can any of your information be recovered or used throughout this process? I'm skeptical to recycle my computer and what I have found is that there are ways to wipe out your hard drive using certain tools. Simple tools like Darik's Boot and Nuke (DBAN). DBAN are effective and can erase multiple hard drives at once: http://dban.sourceforge.net/. Still, however, I'm not sure how reliable these programs are. I also found an interesting article about a man's hard drive having problems. He took it to Best Buy, had it replaced, and was assured his hard drive would be destroyed. Little did he know some man would end up buying it at a flea market for $25. Here's the link if you would like to read it...http://redtape.msnbc.com/2006/06/one_year_ago_ha.html.

If you do decide to recycle...

Dell and Staples both operate other recycling programs. Staples offers free cell phone recycling and charges $10 per piece to accept non-Dell computers, printers and other PC-related items. Since 2007, Staples said it has collected 2 million pounds of electronics recycling.

Dell provides consumers a donation option for old computers. When you are ready for a new system there are neighbors in your community who could make use of your old one. Through Dell Recycling, consumers can donate their computers to the National Cristina Foundation to help disabled and economically disadvantaged children and adults in your own community. The foundation will pick up your computer at your door and put it to good use in your community.

If recycling your computer is your preference, Dell offers an environmentally friendly method to dispose of outdated computer equipment that no longer has useful life. Dell is happy to accept any brand of computer, keyboard, mouse, monitor or printer. And Dell will pick it up at your home.

A cheap Friday night out at Van Andel

Last week Wednesday one of my friends asked me if I wanted a Grand Rapids Griffins Hockey ticket for their weekend game. Like most other poor college students I asked how much it was going to cost me. "$5 tickets for the nose bleed sections and $1 beers," he explained. Not to mention the arena was also offering $1 hot dogs! Consequently, I told him yes and he bought me a ticket. I ended up going with a group of 8 people and met a bunch of other friends there. Dollar beers and dogs started at 6PM, an hour before the game. It ended 2 hours later at 8PM but that was plenty of time to mow down a few hot dogs and plenty of beers.
I was very surprised however, with the selection and size of the beers that Van Andel offered. When I approached the counter and asked what they were serving, they gave me three options: Budweiser, Bud Light, and Labatt’s! Not a bad selection for dollar beers! Furthermore, when they handed them over I expected the beers to be the tiny 12 ouncers in the plastic cups. However, they gave out 16 ounce beers (they were either 16 or 20, im not quite sure -all I know is that they definitely weren't 12)!
When I got up to my seats I realized that I really didn't feel like I was sitting in the nosebleed section. I hadn't been to a hockey game for the past 5 years, but I could see everything great! Even though we were sitting three rows from the very top I still felt very much into the game! And I'm not just saying that because of the beer!
On my way to refill on a few beers I walked past a McFadden's booth and stopped to see why they were giving out bracelets. The lady at the booth explained to me that McFadden's was offering $1 beers until 11PM that night, along with free cover! I went back up to my seats after receiving my bracelet and began to tell most of my friends. Needless to say we all ended up going to McFadden's after the game and continuing our dollar beer adventure. McFadden's only offered Miller Lite's but by the time we got there it didn't really bother us!
Either way the night was extremely cheap, especially for a weekend night. I'm not sure how often the Griffin's offer the dollar beers nights but the deal made for an awesome cheap night! I think they are offering the same deal Friday, November 14. Might as well go if you don't have anything else on your plate!

Also, if you go to the Griffin's website they are advertising lower bowl tickets for $10 on college nights. Furthermore, they also are advertising "library night," which means all you have to do is bring in your Grand Rapids or Kent County public library card and you can still purchase a $10 lower bowl ticket. The dates for these deals (along with dollar beers and dogs) include November 14, 21, 28 and December 5, 19, and 26. Hope to see ya there!

Crazy Promotions!

I was looking online for something to blog about and I came across and article that had to do with crazy promotions. I remembered blogging about Krispy Kreme and how they offered 5 or 10 cent coffee earlier this year, so I decided to use a search engine and look for crazy promotions that other retailers have done. Yes, the article I found was from 2006 but I found it so interesting that I had to blog about it.

In 2006, Gonigam's World Furniture Mall - near Chicago - started a promotion that offered customers up to $10,000 FREEEEEEE furniture if the Bears would shut out the Green Bay Packers. Now, I don't remember how bad the packers were that year, but hey, they had Favre at the time right? How could Green Bay get shut out?!?! Well, these store owners took their chances and the Bears ended up beating the Packers 26-0. Yeah, that's right...they had to honor their deal! Immediately after the win, over two hundred customers came in and cleared out about $300,000 worth of merchandise. Seems like these owners were screwed huh? However, fortunately the owner Randy Gonigam had insured the store with a company that specializes in prize reimbursement insurance.

Still, seems like a pretty stupid promotion right?!?! Well, according to the owner it turned out to be a success. As Randy Gonigam explained it, "Since then, we've seen a dramatic increase in traffic to our Web site. We had a slight uptick in business last weekend, but nothing dramatic," although Gonigam believes that the promotion will continue to reap long-term benefits. "An awful lot of the people we've talked to plan to buy more stuff."

I'm curious to see how the sales did a few months after the promotion and how the owners made out, considering the insurance rates/costs and the increased(or decreased) sales.

With the same article came another crazy promotion. I found this was extremely interesting also. Australian marketer Crumpler hosted a "Beers for Bags" event in the summer of 2006 in New York. Customers could trade bottles of Chimay, Brooklyn Lager and Guinness, for messenger bags, laptop cases and bean bag chairs.
As soon as Crumpler began accepting beer for merchandise, the company's two New York stores were flooded with customers, the owners said.

Furthermore, marketing manager for the company went on to say, "We have found that since 'Beer for Bags,' sales have increased in the two Crumpler stores in New York by about 10 percent, and by about 20 percent in specialty retailers around the country stocking Crumpler, which is totally awesome!" said Bianca Dillon. "Overall the 'Beer For Bags' promotion increased brand awareness of Crumpler in both New York and nationwide," Dillon said.


Basically, these owners bank on publicity as being the primary driver or growth and sales for the company. They hope to gain attention and bring customers in with their "crazy promotions." Hopefully it worked!