After Christmas Sales Rumored 75-80% Off...

[Alidar Jarok]

Kriq'Sa - if I had the ability to move after eating so much, I'd be boogying on down...

I'm not due back in work until 12th January. Oh yes, the shops WILL be hit.

I'd hit that for a dollar... if I could afford a dollar by the end of the month.

The exchange rate vs the dollar is well in our favour; it's the euro that we won't be able to afford by the end of the month.

The dollar to the pound exchange rate is significantly better for Americans than last year (I think I did the math and found out I would have saved about 400 dollars if I had gone to London this year instead of last).

 

[Holdfast]

Kriq'Sa - if I had the ability to move after eating so much, I'd be boogying on down...

I'd hit that for a dollar... if I could afford a dollar by the end of the month.

The exchange rate vs the dollar is well in our favour; it's the euro that we won't be able to afford by the end of the month.

The dollar to the pound exchange rate is significantly better for Americans than last year (I think I did the math and found out I would have saved about 400 dollars if I had gone to London this year instead of last).

You're right of course. I blame the alcohol...

For my little sideline business, I mainly sell in dollars not pounds, so think in the opposite way to most British people - a weak pound is really good for me!

 

[Eratta]

I just started a new job and I need some more professional clothes, so I'll be doing some spending in a couple days.

But it's going to be one of those "I absolutely have to have..." kind of trips, without any frivolous impulse spending. So more of a chore, really.

 

[Crusher Disciple]

Well, we got a good couple of inches thick worth of flyers in today's newspaper and there are ads running on the TV already so I guess things will be in full swing first thing Friday morning.

Sadly, Mallory is snowed in for the 5th straight month and will be unable to partake of the after Christmas sales.

*grabs his wallet*

I'll get it.

 

[Mallory]

Bah, it's only been 12 days. And besides, I'm married. You'll find no wealth in MY wallet.

 

[Cutter John]

Hell if I could think of anything I needed, I'd be out there gettin me some bargains.

Funny how the only thing that isn't going down in price lately is food.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Kriq'Sa - if I had the ability to move after eating so much, I'd be boogying on down...




The exchange rate vs the dollar is well in our favour; it's the euro that we won't be able to afford by the end of the month.

The dollar to the pound exchange rate is significantly better for Americans than last year (I think I did the math and found out I would have saved about 400 dollars if I had gone to London this year instead of last).

You're right of course. I blame the alcohol...

For my little sideline business, I mainly sell in dollars not pounds, so think in the opposite way to most British people - a weak pound is really good for me!

I just need the Euro to tank in about a week. It would really make my January (even if everyone I meet will be unhappy about that fact).

 

[the_wildcard]

Heard Best Buy is having 50% of all blu ray dvd

 

[Cayla]

I'm going shopping tomorrow morning.

 

[bigdaddy]

The ads aren't that great, so ehhh...

However my mom's vacuum and hand blender died within a week of Christmas, and my DVD played is on life support. I'm hoping for big DVD sales!

 

[Holdfast]

I just started a new job and I need some more professional clothes, so I'll be doing some spending in a couple days.

But it's going to be one of those "I absolutely have to have..." kind of trips, without any frivolous impulse spending. So more of a chore, really.

No frivolous spending! Just means more spending on what you DO need.

I wish I needed more professional clothes. I'll have to be vicariously satisfied with hearing about what you get!

I'm going shopping tomorrow morning.

I can almost hear retailers breathing a deep sigh of relief at the lifting of the economic gloom.


I won't be able to hit the clothes shops until next week for various reasons, so most of the good stuff will probably have gone. Still, I'll enjoy browsing!

For those clothes bargain-hunting, remember the minimum mark-up to arrive at the normal retail price for clothes is about 100%. It's often closer to 300-400% and upwards for designer items. That gives you an idea of how much retailers can knock off, if you feel like haggling (not a bad idea in this climate, if you can get to talk to the manager).

Happy shopping!



Actually, the one thing I actually "need" at the moment is a decent wireless printer, preferably laser, preferably mono & colour. Doesn't need to be professional level of detail; just good enough for home user level. Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[Tomato]

I bought my 40 inch samsung LCD TV for $850 tax in!! I heart the internets. Picked up a Perfect Dark Zero for $15. And just going to wait for the afternoon to stroll into my local EB for Halo 3 for $20.

Life is good!

 

[RoJoHen]

Probably would've been a lot more shopping in my area if there hadn't been a giant ice storm in the morning. Roads were very dangerous.

 

[Holdfast]

For those of you from abroad who don't know, Woolworths has finally gone bust over here in the UK.

I popped in to see the closing down sale. I haven't stepped foot in a Woolies in a good 10-15 years. And since I'm staying with my dad over the festive season, this was the Woolworths in the town I grew up in. It was really weird to see it gutted by people grabbing clearance prices. The shop here isn't closing for another few days, but others in the country closed today. The prices here only started at 50%+ off, but increasing discounts through the day (the shops closing today hit 90% off by the end of the day, so I guess our local one here will hit that soon too). They were selling off the fixtures & fittings too, even stuff like staff lockers. Pretty bizarre to see. I remember the same happening when Allders when bust, but to see Woolies ending up like that was weird.

Still, their business model was never going to survive anyway; the recession just brought things to a head sooner. So I can't say I'm shocked to see them go. But it was odd.

 

[Mallory]

It's sad to hear that Woolworths finally died. They closed down here in the States a long time ago, but they were an institution for decades prior to that. It's too bad that they never managed to change with the times, as you point out that decision (or series of decisions) ultimately doomed them to failure.

 

[Holdfast]

I was amazed that they never moved with the times. But it's difficult to see how they could have changed. The various segments of their market just moved elsewhere, to places that were either more specialised or more competitive on price. In the end, they were left with pick-and-mix sweets...

This recession will be big enough to weed out a lot of these larger businesses that have been limping on in good times without a decent business model. It needs to happen, to let other businesses flourish in the medium term... but it's sort of sad to see these institutions collapse anyway.

 

[Tomato]

^

Tell me about it. In Canada we lost Eaton's a while ago. A long time ago it was Simpsons. Recently A&P / Dominons got bought out.

I have a feeling we might lose the Bay next. That is truly a shame since they brought us the iconic Bay Blankets and are an integral part of Cdn history.

 

[TorontoTrekker]

^

Tell me about it. In Canada we lost Eaton's a while ago. A long time ago it was Simpsons. Recently A&P / Dominons got bought out.

I remember Woolworths here when I was a kid, too - I can't remember when they went belly-up here. (Or perhaps they were bought out by another company which changed the name.)

Then again, I'm old - I remember my mother taking me downtown to accompany her shopping on Saturday afternoons, before the Eaton Centre was built. (Funny how it's still called the Eaton Centre even though Eaton's went under a few years ago and the old Eaton's store is now a Sears.) She'd drag me all around both Eaton's and Simpson's for hours. She never bought anything, either. If I was lucky I'd get an orange drink from the lunch counter at one of them (I forget which store had the lunch counter).

I have a feeling we might lose the Bay next. That is truly a shame since they brought us the iconic Bay Blankets and are an integral part of Cdn history.

It was already bought by Americans a year or two ago, IIRC.

 

[Tomato]

^ Lose as in bankrupt and gone.

I have a feeling these big box retailers won't exist much longer. Too old, too slow.

Like Knob Hill Farm too.

 

[Ariadne]

Considering Saks did a brief 70% off a month ago, I think we're definitely looking at 70-80% in January.

Having said that, retailers aren't totally stupid - this Christmas was forecast to be bad and so they reduced stock orders/levels in the run-up. The fact it's turned out even WORSE than those predictions is worrying, but not totally unexpected given the rate of the downturn.

Still, 80% off will be what I will be shooting for in the sales.

And, of course, people won't be buying until things hit 80% off, leading to deflation.

Don't you love self-fulfilling prophecies?