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Most Recent Articles
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- The Perfect Christmas Gift
I suppose there is no such thing as the imperfect Christmas gift, but I am sure that there are some gifts that are less desirably received than others.
Let's take a look at the "Personal Trimmer." Every time I hear of one of these items or see it in the store I think, "nose hair trimmer." Hey, there is no way of getting around it: if you give this gift you are telling the recipient that the strand of hair hanging out of their left nostril is unsightly. Or, since the product is also marketed for the ears, you've noticed a bit 'o fuzz on their earlobes. - Mauled At The Mall!
I love shopping. Online, that is. No crowds at the malls and certainly no jostling for a parking space. Why would anyone want to traverse crowded New Jersey streets only to go to an equally crowded mall staffed by rude sales staff?
Okay, I'm exaggerating. There are plenty of nice people working at the malls and the internet doesn't give you the "touchy-feely" you can get at a store by examining a product up close and personal, but with so many nice downtown shopping areas in New Jersey why not visit one of these instead? - What Guys Really Want For Christmas!
Okay, ladies: listen up! I am here to tell you what men want for Christmas. It isn’t cologne and it isn’t some awful looking tie. Please! It could be NFL playoff tickets, but we know that prices for them are through the roof. Instead, us guys want stuff that is both useful and practical something we won’t pretend to like and hide away in our closets, but stuff that we will use all the time. I’ve made a list to make it easy on you as I know how hard it can be for us guys to communicate to our gals.
1. NFL Tickets!!! No, wait! You can go to eBay and get “discounted” tickets for a mid-January meeting between the Giants and some other team for a lot less than what you’ll pay through a neighborhood scalper. How many fans do you think will put up with ten degree Meadowlands cold on a January day to see the Giants. Oh, yeah, I forgot: plenty. Tickets are likely to go for one or two thousand a piece! - Combating Christmas Shopping Stress
Anne Gadsden handles Christmas shopping the "new fashioned" way. She puts on a CD of classical music such as Pachelbel's Canon in D, logs on to the internet, and starts surfing. The Newark mother of three says, "I've already done the store thing and now its time for me to get gifts for family members who don't live in New Jersey. I visit Amazon and Buy.com; between the two companies I usually find something that I need. Besides, shipping is free if I spend at least $25 and that isn't hard to do!"
Tasha Crimson shops early. Very early. "I shop all summer long starting when we go to the shore after July 4th all the way up to Labor Day. That's when I'm done. I don't have to put up with the hassles, I shop at my own speed, and I don't have to freeze as I run from my car to the store!," the East Orange grandmother of eight chuckled. - Christmas Shopping: Bargains For You!
This Christmas season promises to be one filled with exceptional sales and across the board bargains for eager shoppers. With fuel prices running high, interest rates climbing, and consumer sentiment mixed, merchants know that they must slash prices in order to move merchandise. Let’s take a look at some of the types of sales certain to greet price conscious shoppers this holiday season.
Early Bird/Late Night Bargains – Well before Thanksgiving some retailers are already opening early or staying open late in order to accommodate shoppers. A big lure: Get ten percent back/off of select purchases over $50. Depending on the details of the offer, you can either apply savings to your current purchase or as credit toward future purchases. Variations of this lure include incremental rewards, i.e. $15 off of purchases of $75 or more, $20 off of purchases of $100 or more, etc. Read the fine print as exceptions do apply! - What Gals Really Want For Christmas!
Okay, guys: listen up! I am here to tell you what women want for Christmas. You probably already know it, but you don’t understand it. What am I saying? Well, those little ads that have been mysteriously popping up on your dresser, on your workbench, or plastered to the windshield of your truck did not get there by accident. Somebody who wants you to pay close attention to what she really wants put it there. You don’t think the wind blew it there do you? Oh, please! Let’s go down the list and find out what your lady really wants for Christmas. I abbreviated everything for clarity and to be concise. That means the 27 items she really wants are condensed to just five. Get it?
1. Jewelry – You had to ask? What woman doesn’t want something shiny to wear on her fingers, around her neck, her wrist, her anklet, her belly button…Okay, I’m not talking custom jewelry either. I’m talking about something that will retain its shine in all weather conditions and can be counted in the number of karats it possesses. You can count on it setting you back at least through the following June, probably as late as Thanksgiving… - What Gramps Really Wants For Christmas!
Trying to find that perfect gift for Grandpa can certainly be a difficult task. Your Gramps has seen it all, tried everything, and is long past the age of following his youthful pursuits. Still, the old man has a life and one that can certainly be enriched by one of the following gift ideas I have listed for you. Go ahead and make an old man happy. Goodness knows he has been grumpy for way too long!
1. Hearing Aid -- That’s right, Gramps hasn’t been able to hear much lately and what he does hear he changes around. Give the gift that keeps on hearing and he’ll be very grateful. Opt for the fashionable model that sticks outside of his ear canal and comes in your choice of invigorating colors: rad red, bionic blue, glittery green, or psychedelic orange. - Black Friday Is Coming!
A day is soon coming that some folks are looking at with dread, for others in eager anticipation, while the rest of us are scratching our heads not knowing what to make of it. So, what am I talking about? Why, Black Friday, the day immediately following Thanksgiving Day in the US.
So, why so black and why on a Friday? Traditionally, the day after Thanksgiving used to mean one thing for retailers: it was the first day in the lengthy retailing calendar where a store could make enough money [move merchandise] to see yearly losses [for bookkeeping purposes represented by the color red] turn into gains [represented by the color black]. Supposedly, all the sales completed throughout the year were done at a loss until that one big day, Black Friday, whereby enough merchandise is sold to reverse course and to begin to turn a profit for the year. - Welcome to Cyber Monday!
Well, I learned something new this past weekend. Specifically, the Monday following Thanksgiving weekend is one of the busiest days for online retailers. Dubbed “Cyber Monday” by some, online merchants track one of the largest one day spikes in sales on this particular day much like “brick and mortar” purveyors experience with “Black Friday” the day that follows Thanksgiving. It is the Christmas shopping season…happy Cyber Monday to you!
According to Shop.org, an association of online retailers, more than 75% of their members reported a significant surge in traffic on the Monday following the extended Thanksgiving weekend in 2004. Shop.org gives the following reasons for the surge:
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