Black Friday Mayhem

From sleeping outside all night in anticipation of a store opening at 7:00 am to a worker being trampled to death as the doors open. Nothing is surprising when it comes to Black Friday. Customers went nuts over the deals that stores offered the day after Thanksgiving. At the same store where the man died workers had to repair a door that came unhinged due to the mad rush. One paper said, "shoppers had pushed glass sliding doors to the ground, bending their aluminum frames like an accordion." That is a little extreme. People cannot be saving that much money to justify these types of actions.

I decided to stay out of some of the mayhem and didn't venture out until afternoon. At least by then it wasn't as busy and I didn't travel into any of the major shopping stores. By doing those I also didn't get any o the good sales. Actually I didn't really even buy that much. But at least I didn't get trampled over my a sale-thirsty mob.

Spam Lines instead of Soup Lines

Spam is making a comeback, so says the New York Times. When the economy falls, Spam sales climb. The workers of the Hormel plant in Austin, Minn. have been working seven days a week since July and will continue too with no break in sight except one day for Thanksgiving and one for Christmas. Whether to be mocked or eatten, everyone knows the name of Spam. While other, expensive foods are seeing a decrease in sales, the owners of Spam are sitting back and watching the numbers rise. Spam is a cheap way to get your protein.

Spam was invented by Jay Hormel during the Great Depression. Whether you may want to know this or not, it is a "combination of ham, pork, sugar, salt, water, potato starch, and a 'hint' of sodium nitrate 'to help it keep its gorgeous pink color.'" Besides cheap protein another added benefit is that it can last in its can for years.

Other products that are seeing a rise in sales include; pancake mixes, instant potatoes, vitamins, fruit and veggie preservatives, and beer. A spokesperson for the Safeway grocery chain reported a double-digit increase in the sale of rice and beans. Kraft Foods have also had growth with their macaroni and cheese, Jell-O, Kool-Aid, and Velveeta.

For more information you can access the article at : http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/15/business/15spam.html?pagewanted=2&em

Circuit City's Not the Only One Hurting

A recent article in the New York Times reported Best Buy cutting their 2009 earnings forecast. Lately all we have been hearing about is how bad Circuit City is doing and how they filed for bankruptcy and are laying off thousands and thousands of people. Yet, they're not the only electronics company doing poorly. Best Buy is also hurting. A Best Buy spokesperson is quoted saying, "Rapid, seismic changes in consumer behavior have created the most difficult climate we’ve ever seen," and it was " being hammered by the worst retail environment in its 42-year history." Over the Christmas season the store plans to offer deep discounts to keep customers coming in, which si good for us!!

Maybe now we'll be hearing more about Best Buy performing poorly also. The article stated the company's same-store sales fell 7.6% in October. They predict same-store sales will fall another 5-15% from November to February. Even though many analysts knew Best Buy would have to cut their earnings, no one predicted the magnitude at whcih they would. The forecasted revenue fell from $45.4 billion to $43.7 billion. Expected earnings decreased to $2.30 to $2.90 from $3.25 to $3.40 a share.

To access the article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/13/technology/companies/13best.html?ref=business

McDonald's Reports Big Sales Growth for October

An article published in the New York Times on Nov. 10 reported that McDonald's had an 8.2% sales growth in the month of October. They speculate this is due to consumers not being able to afford more expensive restaurants and they are trying to watch their spending. Many conventional restaurant chains reported step declines in sales during October. Some new products such as the Southern Style Chicken sandwich also drew in people along with the company's launch of its annual Monopoly promotion.

I have actually noticed that I have been going to McDonald's more or even just fast food places in general. It almost seems that its quicker, easier, and cheaper just to eat out as compared to trying to go buy groceries and then cook a meal. Groceries aren't cheap anymore and you also have to consider your time to buy the groceries, the gas to get there and back, and the time to make a meal. As compared to driving two minutes down the road and getting a quick value sandwich.

You can go to http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/11/business/11mcdonalds.html?ref=business to read the entire article.

Pegasus Taverna

Never before have I had Greek food, been to a Greek restaurant, or just basically enjoyed the whole Greek dining experience. And quite an experience it is!!! Pegasus was a very enjoyable dining experience with good food, good drinks, and a good wait staff. For a Friday night, with group of seven women, we were in and out in less than an hour. We ordered appetizers, drinks, full meals and they arrived very promptly, I was shocked. You can't even get that fast of service in Muskegon on slow day. On top of that the waiter never once wrote anything down and got it all the special orders right. He also had quite the personality and cracked dry humor jokes when you weren't expecting it that made the whole table break out in laughter. The food turned out to be delicious and all of us were complaining of how full we were, even though not one of us finished our plates. Overall, this was a great dining experience and I would definetly recommend stopping by this restaurant whenever your in downtown Detroit.

This is a year of firsts for my daughter. First Halloween, first Thanksgiving, first Christmas, first everything! So of course she has to have outfits for every occasion. She has Halloween pjs, a ghost shirt, and an outfit that says "Mommy's under my spell". As for Christmas, I can't even count all of the outfits she has. She'll be wearing them the whole month of December. The only holiday she doesn't have an outfit for yet is Thanksgiving, which they do have, I've seen them but have been putting it off until after Halloween. Although now, even though its not yet November or Halloween for that matter, there are no outfits left. Maybe one or two in a store but as usual, not her size. So maybe she won't have a Thanksgiving Day outfit. Its just crazy they put everything out at the same time and before its even the month of the holiday they're sold out. And they're probably not ordering more. Even the Halloween costumes are practically all gone. I'm just happy I got her early in order to make sure I got her size.

It Pays To Complain

Coming from a small town. You would expect the restaurants in it to be good. I live in Spring Lake, a very small town and I must admit some of the fast food places in it are awful. I would rather drive to a neighboring town than eat at McDonald's, Subway, or Burger King in Spring Lake. I'm not sure if its the workers or the management but your food is either wrong, awful tasting, or takes forever to get.

One experience sticks out in my mind whenever I think of the Subway in Spring Lake and always causes me to go to the Fruitport store. I was on a Subway binge for a few weeks and decided to go to the local Spring Lake one. I walk in and it is very busy but all I can hear the employees complaining about working. There are only three people behind the counter but only two are taking orders and running the cash register, the other is making a sub for herself, which is actually holding up the line. I patiently wait, anticipating my grilled chicken sub and ask for it to be toasted but not too much because I don't want it burnt. The employees are very rude and you can tell they're just annoyed to be working. I get home and go to eat my sub and the chicken is so burnt its brown, the bread is so bad it crumbles when I try to break it off. I was so disappointed I decided to e-mail the general manager and complain.

I actually received an e-mail back from the manager apologizing and asking for my address so he could send me some free sub coupons. I was shocked. I had expected at the most an automated e-mail, but that wasn't the case. Needless to say, the Spring Lake Subway was not where I used my coupons.

Do People Not Work During the Day?

My mother and I recently went shopping on a Wednesday. We went to Younkers, Kohls, and a few other various stores. The reason we went was for their sales that started that day. We shopped from about 12:00-2:00, thinking this is a time when no one should be shopping, everyones at work, it won't be very busy. Except it was just the opposite!! Everyone was there snatching up all the sale items, it was crazy!! It made me think, what job do these people have that they can get out to shop all day? Will someone please tell me because I want that job!! I know they were all out because of the sales that had started, but what about waiting until after you get out of work? Did they just take the day off to enjoy their shopping experience?

This also gets me thinking about why businesses such as these start their sales on a Wednesday, right in the middle of the week. Why not start it at the beginning of the week like Monday? Or the beginning of the weekend, such as Friday or Saturday, when people don't have to work and they have the time to go shopping? Is this some marketing tool that they use to get people to come into their store more during the week?

Holidays Come to Early

Today is the first day of Autumn yet already decorations for Halloween and Thanksgiving have been out in stores for weeks. I think stores put these decorations out earlier and earlier every year. It was just the beginning of September when I started seeing Halloween costumes. Why would people even buy things that early when by the time it is actually Halloween they will all be on sale.

This will be my daughter's first Halloween and she definetly needs a costume but I am not going to spend $25 on an infant Halloween costume. I just keep waiting it out, watching as the price gets lower and lower. Who knows if I buy a costume now it might not even fit her by the time its Halloween, we still have another month and a half practically!

I was in Hallmark over the weekend and noticed that they already have a lot of their Christmas decorations out. As if Halloween and Thanksgiving aren't enough, now they have Christmas stuff out too. I guess its just the stores' way of stretching out the holidays but they could at least wait until after Thanksgiving to put out the Christmas things. One holiday at a time please!

Auto Parts Experience

Recently my car needed an oil change and being a college student the last thing I want to do is go to a quick change place and pay $50 to get my oil changed. So I decided to just have my boyfriend do it for me, except I had to go and buy all the stuff. I know nothing about cars and when I walked into the Advanced Auto Parts I must have looked completely clueless. The man at the counter was so helpful! I walked over to him and told him I needed oil and a filter, but I had no idea what kind or how much. He looked up my vehicle on his handy computer and led me right over to where everything was. He even picked out everything for me and he didn't even pick the most expensive oil or filters. He was almost like a personalized shopper. All I had to do was go in tell him what I needed and paid.

I must say of all places I have ever been, the best service has always been at an auto parts store. Everytime I go in for something they look my vehicle right up and show me exactly what I need. When you buy windshield washer fluid the employee comes right out and puts it in your car. You can't ask for better service than that.

American Eagle Return Policy

Now a days there are so many stores that are so alike it is hard to decide which one to shop at. You can shop at Meijers, Target, or Wal-Mart or if your apparel shopping you have American Eagle, Abercrombie, Hollister, or Aeropostale, just to name a few. Yes, they all have some unique thing about them be it the "Everyday low prices" of Wal-Mart or the distinct look of an Abercrombie outfit. Consumers go out knowing what they want and what store they are going to shop at.

I think we need to start focusing on a new section of the stores when deciding where to shop and that is the store's return policy. Of all stores I think Target has the worst return policy, that is strictly enforced. They will practically do nothing for you unless you have a receipt, which 75% of the time I never have mine. Which means make SURE you really want that item and its the right kind, shape, and size because they will give you a hard time if you want to return it.

The most liberal return policy I have ever seen was when I was working at American Eagle. They will take back anything, tags or no tags, receipt or no receipt, worn or not. I had had customers return something that was 2 or 3 years old. Can you imagine how many times they had worn it? But we still had to take it back. Although this may be a benefit for the customer I think it really hurts the company.

Once while I was working I had a customer come to me with a pile of clothes that he wanted to return, with no receipt, and then another pile of clothes that he wanted to buy. Well none of the clothes he was returning were his size and I could tell he had a brought a bag in with him and stuffed it so he looked like he had came into the store with them and then just returned them to get money. I pulled my manager aside and told him about it but there was nothing we could do. So the customer got away with walking into the store, stuffing a bag full of clothing and then returning these clothes for clothes that he had picked out.

Who knows how many people have actually done this but I know the store got ripped out a few hundred dollars that day. It pays to have a return policy that people respect but a company is not wise to have one as loose as American Eagles.

Surprising Wal-Mart Experience

Today I visited Wal-Mart to do my grocery shopping. Normally the only employee you come into contact with there is the greeter and the cashier, but today I was pleasantly surprised. Tired after shopping for forty-five minutes, while carrying my infant daughter, I was upset to find a frozen bag of food was unsealed. While I was debating whether or not it was worth it to travel back to the frozen foods section a nearby employee came to assit me and actually went back and got a new package for me! I was so happy with my service, it made my day and long wait at the cash register a little more pleasant.

I have tried to search online for other people that have had good customer service at Wal-Mart but have come up empty-handed. It seems most people have never had good customer service there or if they have, have never thought to write about it.

Most of the press that Wal-Mart does receive is all negative when concerning their customer service. Consumeraffairs.com(http://www.consumeraffairs.com/retail/walmart_customer_service.html) gives a list of many customers that have experienced bad service from Wal-Mart. Yet, the underlying theme in most of these complaints is that the consumer normally returns to do business with Wal-Mart.