Retail Sales Poor

[gnofg]

Retail sales were poor this weekend. I am talking to retailers everyday at the corporate level. Sales suck. Economy sucks. No matter what the WH says the economy blows. Republicans take a negative view on society. To them everyone is untrustworthy. That is why they care so much about guns because they think everyone is trying to rob them. This mentality crosses over to society's mood. The negative mood eventually damages the economy and people are scared for the future. That is why every time repubs get in the economy goes down. The only exception was Reagan and that was because he was positive and he is sheer force was able to make that the exception. Here is the link

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=509&ncid=749&e=10&u=/ap/20041220/ap_on_bi_ge/holiday_shopping

[johncoby2]

1. Wait for Jan and Feb! Everyone is going to have to

figure out how to pay for the presents! Spending is going to pucker up.

[librarycard]

24. Bush's legacy will to move Xmas to January, permanently

so the plebians can afford to buy a few presents.

[deadparrot]

75. Not to mention all the seasonal workers get laid off.

[RhodaGrits]

2. The local Kohl's distribution warehouse is laying off entire shifts.

"When a rich man becomes poor it is a misfortune, it is not a moral evil. When a poor man becomes destitute, it is a moral evil, teeming with consequences and injurious to society and morality." — Lord Acton

[PROGRESSIVE1]

3. I noticed that the local mall, while full of people, not many bags...

were to be seen.

In terms of stock, outside of the clothing retail stores, there is a lot of stock left to be sold.

[Politicub]

38. I made the unfortunate mistake of going to the mall this past saturday

I observed the same thing -- it seemed like there was a ton of stock left. Lots of people, but few shopping bags. I haven't spent much at all this xmas.

From what I've read in the paper, the only folks who seem to be shopping like crazy this season are the mega rich.

[KoKo]

76. Mary Farrell of Warburg Wealth Investment said Mom's too tired from

working will rush out at the last minute and spend. They are just all so busy with their kids and work they wait until the last minute to shop."

She said "I couldn't believe all the misinformation about our robust economy in this last election."

She used to be on Louis Rukeyser's "Wall Street" program on PBS for many years...What a Corporate Whore.... Maybe all her friends are waiting until the last minute to buy their kids toys from FAO Schwartz (I think it was coming out of bankruptcy) or buying their new Lexus...but most of Americ would look on Farrell and what she said with her smiling face as TRASH! It was disgusting. It was on C-Span on a Forum about the "Health of the Economy" this morning...I had to turn it off before I barfed my breakfast!

[hadrons]

4. even Reagan couldn't keep it up, look at how the Repukes lost the Senate

after Nov '86 election

I work for a retail company (main office, not the retail level) and things are OK for us (our company donates mostly to Dems although we are known as an 'evil empire' in our field) ... but I have noticed a real lack of seasonal hiring

[genieroze]

18. Pubs had their good friend Diebold, to let them win. eom

[The Flaming Red Head]

42. They'll never lose again. We're stuck with them.

[fnottr]

5. I think one if the largest issues is the so called 'Ownership Society'

Which has very little to do with actual 'ownership'. It's more like the 'Buy all the shit you want for 0 down and finance it at a horrible interest rate' society. Of course when you're already paying off a new Hummer, a 3000 sq ft house, a plasma screen entertainment center and a full set of stainless steel kitchen appliances all on a salary that hasn't gotten much larger since 1997, of course you're not going to be able to afford too many christmas presents. Credit cards do have maxes you know.

[Cocoa]

6. look on the bright side

Niemira noted that luxury stores — which have enjoyed robust sales as their well-heeled customers have benefited from the economy's recovery — had the best performance.

[SemperEadem]

36. meanwhile..

camels are flying through the eyes of needles

[NashVegas]

7. from the article

NEW YORK - A much-hoped for sales bonanza for the nation's retailers appeared not to materialize on the last weekend before Christmas, despite an abundance of deals on toys and apparel.

Merchants needed a hefty sales surge this past weekend to recoup lost business after seeing a slow start to a holiday selling season that never gathered steam. Now, they'll have to rely even more heavily on the final days before Christmas and post-holiday sales to meet their holiday sales forecast.

"We are not getting the kind of lift we need. Traffic and sales were below expectations" on Saturday, said Michael P. Niemira, chief economist at the International Council of Shopping Centers. He serves as an adviser for ShopperTrak, which tallies sales results from 30,000 retail outlets.

[Lorien]

8. And the SPIN:

Total sales were down 7 percent to $6.7 billion on Saturday, compared with the same Saturday in 2003, according to ShopperTrak. ShopperTrak will be releasing sales for the overall weekend later on Monday.

Niemira noted that luxury stores — which have enjoyed robust sales as their well-heeled customers have benefited from the economy's recovery — had the best performance. Stores like Sears, Roebuck and Co. and J.C. Penney Co. Inc. that catered to the mid- to-low income shoppers, who have pulled back on spending as they have been more vulnerable to higher heating costs and a volatile job market, attracted big crowds with deep discounts and expanded shopping hours.

What is hurting merchants is that there is no must-have item, except in consumer electronics — iPod music players and the PlayStation2 (news - web sites) video game console, for example, have become difficult to find in many areas, according to Marshal Cohen, senior industry analyst at NPD Group Inc., a market research company based in Port Washington, N.Y.

(snip)


So, luxury stores are benefiting from the economy's recovery, but the rest of us just can't find that "must have" item. Uh-huh.:eyes:

[hatrack]

11. I thought "lack of must-have items" pretty much described modern Christmas

:shrug:

[genieroze]

19. Good, those working class stores all supported * for re-selection.eom

[underpants]

9. Local TV anchor was spinning about how gift cards don't count yet

she had to have mentioned it 4 times in 5 minutes

but but but

YEah whatever.

[Lorien]

15. Rove must have gotten his message out this weekend

once again, the media is lockstep. :grr:

[Lone_Star_Dem]

16. Someone had to pay money for the gift cards.

Isn't that when the sale is made? :shrug:

[AllegroRondo]

21. Most companies count gift cards as revenue when they are sold

because about 20% are never used.

that, and then they get to count it as revenue for 2004.

[Jeff in Cincinnati]

23. You're correct...

The purchase of a gift card is booked as a sale on the day the revenue was received.

The media, as usual, is spreading utter bullshit.

[underpants]

51. Well I don't know but from a strictly accounting stand point

you wouldn't book the revenue. You would book the cash as an asset and record a liability-no good or service has been provided for the money taken...yet.

I don't know she is usually so full of sh*t ("the weakened dollar will help our trade balance") it is hard to say.

[jmowreader]

72. How we do it

In my computer is a "Sales by Department" report. Gift cards, deposits and tool rental are their own departments. They get summed into a non-retail subtotal.

Then come the retail departments--lumber, building materials, flooring, paint, hardware, plumbing, electrical & lighting, garden & seasonal, kitchen & bath, and decor. Those ten departments--it should actually be eleven because appliances is now its own department--are summed into a retail subtotal. This we call "sales."

When the gift cards are redeemed for products from the retail departments, we call them sales at that point. If you called gift cards "sales" when they were purchased, you'd be counting that money twice.

Also, a lot of gift cards are mailed to relatives and friends in other areas. If Home Depot of Raleigh sells a gift card that is redeemed at Home Depot of East Spokane, and gift cards were counted as sales, who would get to count the revenue?

[NVMojo]

82. I worked retail clothing in the past and gift cards were counted at the

time of sale not redemption ....and this was a clothing chain.

[warrens]

62. No, they can't recognize them as revenue. And the cards are not good news.

They're better than no sale, but January is clearance time, and shifting dollars from full retail or modest discounts to deep discounts and even losses wipes out a retailer's profitability.

Apart from Best Buy and some of the upscale department stores and specialty shops, it is not a nice Xmas at all. Costco seems to be doing great, though. They put in some really nice stuff, like Waterford crystal, at great prices, and they are a major player in the gift market this year.

[cliss]

34. I don't think that's true.

Stores count gift cards as revenue. They count it right away. They don't necessarily have to turn over some merchandise in exchange. Most retailers know that it might take a few weeks for recipients to cash in their cards or certificates.

Shoppers may want to wait until after the holiday to get stuff on sale.

[AgadorSparticus]

39. i don't understand this. how could it not count yet? a sale is a sale.

[jayfish]

47. Until The Cards Are Redeemed...

they have a huge liability (money they accepted for the cards) that offsets the income made from the sale. They may report it as a wash. Just my .02, I may be incorrect.

Jay

[underpants]

49. Technicaly you are right it is a liability

they haven't provided a service or a good for the money yet.

Ah I knew that accounting degree would pay off.

[jayfish]

53. And It's Likely, most of, The Cards...

will not be redeemed until 2005. There is also a little kicker in those cards; if they have a balance and are voided (expired) that balance goes directly to an income account. Seems to me that most of these cards will have a small balance ($.01-$1.50) on them forever. If they void 1mil. cards at expiration that is a nice chunk of change.

Jay

[underpants]

50. If she was right (big if) it is cash (an asset) but not really revenue

it is a liablity.

[Bouncy Ball]

55. That anchor is an idjit.

The gift cards DO count on sales right now because they have to be PURCHASED by the consumer.

Good try, though. Snarf.

[Massachusetts]

10. The Corporate Monsters

must be starved in OUR country. The influence they have on OUR elected (ha, ha) officials is out of control.

The ONLY way we can get back control is to hit them where it hurts, in the wallet.
:think:

[Mobrule]

12. Retail sales

There is a problem with your reasoning here, and that is that an increasing share of retail sales are going over the net. This is not counted in government stats. It has nothing to do with a "mood" and a lot to do with Amazon.com or B&N. Heck, I don't even shop in mainstream retail stores any more if possible.

[Megahurtz]

13. Republicans ARE negative and selfish

that's why they hoard all of their money.
Bush gives them all big fat tax cuts and they think ALL MINE ALL MINE!
MUST GET GUN TO PROTECT WHAT'S MINE!
They don't trust anyone, they think that all poor people are just sponging for a free handout.
They seem to believe that everyone is able to create their own destiny, so they believe that if a person is poor, they must have been lazy so they did it to themselves. "they get what they deserve"

The GOP feeds the fire for this selfish mentality. The poor (and now the middle class) get poorer and bitterer, and the wealthy get tighter and greedier.

It seems preety somber around where I live, pretty quiet for this time of year. Oh but those luxury stores are just teeming with life!

I still can't believe we have to put up with four more years of this. :(
I'm not confident about the four more years afterwards, either! :scared:

[Deja Q]

14. Well, ask 59 million lemmings to re-vote and see what heppens.

I dare sayeth "There will be no difference."

:-(

[jobycom]

17. Transference

Republicans know that they are weak, greedy thiefs, so they assume everyone else is, too.

[genieroze]

20. VOTE with your wallet, show them * didn't really win. eom

[Terran]

22. You must be young

Your take on Reagan is pretty sentimental and utterly baseless. The economy *did* suck during much of Reagan's tenure; unemployment was, what, around 9-10% for a long time. And although Reagan may have been "positive", being positive has no effect onm the economy, and no President can improve the economy by 'force of will'. This is what I mean by sentimental. Your outlook on Reagan is likely colored by all thr Saint Ronnie Reagan propaganda you probably grew up with. Reagan was almost as bad as Bush, in his own way.

[gnofg]

33. wrong

I'm 53 and well aware of reagans fault. True taht unemployment was about 10% during the first 2 years of his term but things did start to get better during the last 2 years of his first term. I will give him credit where credit is due. His economy got better because he went with almost pure keysenian policies and I disagree with you that force of will doesn't matter. I believe that the president is the salesman of negative or positive feelings. Our basic spending is determined by our expectations of the future. Clinton was a master of the expectations of things getting better. Bush is the master of things getting worse. A great percentage of our populus is feeling we are going down a rathole and that is enough to put us in a tailspin. WQe are going into a very slow year next year.

[hadrons]

57. I understood what gnofg meant ....

the economy under Reagan sucked (it only got better because it was impossible to do worst then Reagan's first two years), but Reagan was able to keep the country spirits (using smoke & mirrors, but still ...)

[Trajan]

25. Hey .... Its just a matter of time ....

We only have to wait for the SUPER RICH to decide what else they want to buy ....

And YOU thought the GOP hated the redistribution of wealth: They LOVE it when it is concentrated in THEIR hands ....

More money to THEM, they say ....

What fucking hypocrites ....

I have three kids, and I am borrowing $200 so I can have SOME presents under the so far empty tree ....

Ill scrape another hundred from the bill money, whatever may actually exist ....

I have NOT had a WORSE xmas ..... ever ...

[mongo]

26. Tell me about it

Try being a small mom-n-pop retailer. Sales are sluggish at best. We were counting on the holidays to pull us out of the hole a little.

Why the hell do my wife and I work 50 hours a week for less than min wage?

Not to mention the customers that try to take advantage to you any way they can - and get mad at you for enforcing your return policy.

But I must be rich because I own a store right? That's what everyone around here thinks.

[jzorlando]

35. Small Business Here As Well

I completely understand your situation as well. Our family owned business is mail order through our catalog and the Internet. In 7 years of business, nothing has come close to the past year and a half with regard to sluggish sales.

Like clockwork, as soon as the Administration and press started the drumbeat to war, we literally watched our sales fall week by week in lockstep with the war.

Our business has our worst year in '04 based upon customer numbers and the general public, that 70% that keep the economy chugging along, are simply tapped out. Little items of $4-5 each have become a stretch for many folks now. It takes 6x the customers to equal the sales of the prior year. Those are poor numbers.

But, listen to the talking heads out there, they tell us that things are great, the economy is booming. As a small business owner, I'll sure as hell take "higher" taxes with a Dem because at least I know that our business will be making money. Great, now we have lower taxes, and a lower customer base.

[mongo]

59. Do you belong to NFIB?

The National Federation of Independent Business? We do, but we won't be giving them any more money.

The came out with tons of flyers on why us business owners should be voting for Bush. HA! Apparently, they only support the biggest of small business.

[NYC]

52. That's not what everyone around here thinks.

There are many proponents of shopping in mom & pop stores instead of corporate chains. There are also many emails going around to that effect. (I've been sending some.)

Corporate chains buy politicians. Mom & pop store owners are our neighbors.

[NuttyFluffers]

81. i worked for a small retailer. i have no illusions about how they suffer.

they suffer plenty, poor things. it's a rough business to survive in, retail is. and a bad holiday season can destroy them. it's horrible.

if i had money, and you had a product i desired, i'd spend moeny with you... alas, it's been a very shitty 4 years, now going on 8.

i've given up, i'm high-tailing it for a foreign country as soon as i can graduate and get hired. 4 years of looking for a career/job/indentured servitude has left me so tired and desperate. there is no fortune in america anymore, it's time for me to leave and help get my loved ones out of this nightmare, too.

best of luck, and hopefully your store gets some exposure on those 'buy blue' sites. we all seem to be on the same sinking boat i fear though...

[lebkuchen]

27. I just returned from Alsace, France

Sales are brisk, the streets were full of shoppers huddled in all the mom and pop stores, the Christmas markets were booming, the streets were full of traffic, the parking lots packed.

[byronm]

28. It's the year of the rebates...

Not many "Deals" to be found. Everything is a rebate here and there and even then they're betting that you won't file for them.

Me personally, our family decided to spread out the cost of christmas and get a couple of nice thinks - new couch and such. Just an "early present" for the family..

[kysrsoze]

31. Yeah, the discounts haven't been all that great from what I've seen

Here are examples of typical ads I've seen:

"Here's the new U2 iPod at a special regular price of $349, no matter where you shop. It's a fabulous suggested retail price, so there is no need to discount."

"You can save an extra 20% off the sale price of a single, clearance clothing or accessory item which cannot be a designer brand and doesn't include items like outerwear."

"You can have anything that we couldn't possibly sell at regular price for 10% off. Anything even remotely in demand will be full price."

"Enjoy the fabulous prices of our HDTV's, even though it's a few hundred more than you would have paid a few months ago."


Screw the retailers. They simply don't compel customers to buy things from them. It's rare to find one store selling an item a dime cheaper than the others unless there's some kind of rebate attached. Given their unwillingness to discount items, I'd rather shop online for everything. You can still get somewhat better prices from online retailers.

[quiet.american]

44. I hear you about rebates

I recently bought a very basic DVD player with a mail-in rebate. Normally, I don't buy things with a mail-in rebate, because, as mentioned, I never get around to mailing it in!

However, I figured I would make a definite exception this time.

First, I cut the bar code out of the bottom of the box. Then, in reading the small print, the bar code itself would not be accepted, I needed to make a copy of the bar code, then submit it.

Next, I needed to fill out two rebate "receipts" printed out for me at the sale and submit it along with the actual receipt to the company, but I had to ensure the actual receipt was not the "customer copy," but the rebate copy.

After this, the rebate will take two months to arrive.

It doesn't sound like much, but it took about half-an-hour to cut, copy, sign, assemble and double-check the paperwork.

But, dammit, if they're offering a rebate, I'm taking it!

[eek MD]

29. Oh, but, but

everyone's waiting to do their shopping on christmas eve....when they all have off of work.... /sarcasm

[0007]

30. The soup line is getting longer these cold days!

[texpatriot2004]

32. Good. I am glad to hear it. Boycott them. No shopping for

anything but necessities. Hit 'em where it hurts.

[chomskysright]

48. right on Tex

[Danmel]

37. I went to the Outlet Malls this weekend

We thought it would be very crowded but we got a parking spot immediately. There were people there, but it certainly was not mobbed or anything. My husband bought himself two shirts form the GAP with a gift card from his birthday.

We bought 6 75 cent teaspoons to replace missing teaspoons (do they hide with the socks????)

And my husband bought me two pieces of Le Creuset Cookware with a 35% off coupon- so the only big ticket item we bought was Made in France!

(I'm making Julia Child's Beef Bourguignon recipe as we speak)

Business must be pretty bad- usually those places are crammed during the holidays.

[llmart]

40. I just got back from the VERY......

upscale shopping mall in one of the wealthiest areas of our country and I could not find a parking space. I have never seen so many people before! Ah, yes, the rich are happy as larks and the rest of us can just sit back and try to pay the bills and give a gift or two to our loved ones.

this is exactly what Repugs like.

[maxsolomon]

41. Saturday at 11 a.m.

Target was empty. Or so Mrs. Solomon reports.

I didn't step foot in a chain all weekend. Fuck them. I bought from independent owners only.

But don't worry; i'm getting an ipod mini tonight like a good little sheeple.

[ginnyinWI]

43. makes sense to me!

People are worried--about the dollar, the war, their jobs, the future, national security, and what this White House is going to think up to do next to tear down our middle class.

And everyone who voted for Kerry and Edwards last month is depressed! Hard to feel like shopping! We are cutting WAY back this year. Last year it we spent something like $1000, this year it will be more like $200.

[Sara Beverley]

45. Boycott, boycott Xmas sales. It's beginning to work.

When you add up your savings you will be amazed.

[Lorien]

54. There's an entire DU forum devoted to this issue:

the Economic activism and Progressive living Group:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=255

Lot's of resouces for buying Blue and living with less. Hope to see you there! :hi:

[chomskysright]

58. here's the letter I wrote to 'mall' people:

December 20, 2004

Hello Ms. Duker, Ms. Szluka, and Mr. or Ms. Kavanaugh:

I read with interest this article from today's NY Times: http://www.ajc.com/business/content/shared-gen/ap/Finan...

"We are not getting the kind of lift we need. Traffic and sales were below expectations" on Saturday, said Michael P. Niemira, chief economist at the International Council of Shopping Centers. He serves as an adviser for ShopperTrak, which tallies sales results from 30,000 retail outlets.

Total sales were down 7 percent to $6.7 billion on Saturday, compared with the same Saturday in 2003, according to ShopperTrak. ShopperTrak will be releasing sales for the overall weekend later on Monday..."


Please be aware that your buying public are the 'blues' who were cheated, once again, from placing into office the person that they elected: yes, cheated as associated with corporate malfeasance.

If most of the the 'blues' are like me, we intend to take this economy down. No more Dell computers, for instance (re: Mr. Dell giving $250,000 to the presidential inauguration) ...and no more shopping at the mall. No more WalMart; no more Sam's Wholesale Club.

Let this corporate democracy wither.

We are the people, the educated people, with the incomes. We are not buying from corporate America until it listens to us.

[NuttyFluffers]

83. "get your money outta my politics!!"

damn, makes me wanna go marchin' onto zion when i read that letter.

yes, it is time that corporations realize that their fiddling with politics garners ill will and they shall reap the whirlwind. i want all lobbyist money outta politics, if i can. so i'm glad we are starting where we can, against those 'enablers' corporations. squeeze those bastards 'nads 'til they cry uncle, i say. and if a few bastards faint on the way, good, i say to them "get yer money outta my politics!!" no quarter!

[Chico Man]

46. We need bigger stores, bigger roads, and bigger cars, of course

I avoided the mall area like the plague. I was driving about a mile away and that is where the traffic started. A buch of mad sheep going to feed, a la "Dawn of the Dead".

If the last holiday weekend can cause that much traffic and madness, and it is still a dud, what the hell is wrong? Are the malls even capable of handling a "good" weekend?

How many people didn't go shopping because it was just too crazy out there? Me, for one.

[Bouncy Ball]

56. Just as I suspected

and by the way, that figure the mainstream is quoting? That "sales are down 7%" figure?

Add at LEAST 10% to that. There's no way it's as low as 7%. I'm here in Dallas and the stores have been consistenly half-empty when last year you couldn't park your car ANYWHERE (it got so bad people had family members simply drop them off and come back later to pick them up, like a cab service, to avoid parking altogether).

There are a LOT of bush voters here which tells me this is not just the result of Kerry voter boycotting. Everyone seems to be worried, and I know too many people who are due to be laid off in Jan and Feb. There's no way they're going out and charging up the credit cards right before they are getting laid off!

Interesting, isn't it, that * gets re-elected (ahem, sort of) and then we have totally crappy Christmas retail sales?

[Merrick]

60. Posted big signs around the streets leading to the mall last weekend

with a couple friends. Some examples:
Credit Card Slavery 1/4 mile ahead
Its Not How Much You Love Her, Its How Much You Spend
Jesus Made His Own Damn Presents
Hitler Loved Wetzels Pretzels And he shopped at The Gap
Want a Hummer? Get a Girlfriend (there's also a hummer dealership nearby.

Drove by the next day, and out of 15 there were still 5 or 6 up.

[arkie dem]

61. Shit!!! Raygun about starved me to death,

the worthless pile of dog vommit.

I've done my part to contribute to sucky sales. Haven't spent a dime with wal-mart/sams club, and cut my spending about in half over last year.

When I read that walmart execs contributed the max. amt. for individuals to the * presidential campaign they went on my Do Not Do Business With List.

[0007]

63. Why is the stock market going up the last few days?

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

64. A freeper at work has been whining this week about how poor she is

(she is a single (divorced) mother of two); she's our office manager. I felt like saying, "You voted for Bush...what did you think...he was going to give YOU a big ass tax break??!" After hearing the freeper bitch whine, I went online and donated some money to the local free clinic for people who can't afford health care.

[0007]

67. Your my type of hero!

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

68. Actually, if I were really a "hero" I wouldn't have posted that I made a

donation. Thanks for the sweet comment, though.

I'd encourage everyone, if they're able, to donate something to a non-profit this week (whether it be a food bank, free clinic, etc.).

[adigal]

65. I need Mr. Dell's email

Does anyone know where I can reach the CEO of Dell Computers? You see, I need a new computer, and I have a Dell laptop now and recently bought my sons a new Dell, but after finding out that Dell contributed $250K to the inauguration, I cannot buy a Dell. I was a Kerry voter and live in a blue state; hence, I have no moral values so I would hate to send Dell my tainted money. I will send it to a company that has no moral values, just like me.

Thank you,
Adigal

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

66. Good wording...hope you send that one. n/t

[NuttyFluffers]

84. Buy Apple :) Join the Ivory Tower, Sushi eating, Latte drinking, elitists!

heh, j/k. but seriously though, my next computer is going to be an Apple. for the politics, for the simplicity, for the integratedness, for the aesthetics ... apple.

steve jobs definitely worked his magic and resurrected them. love the new apple.

(and you can finally hang out with the trendy emo kids and blend in :D)

[belab13]

69. good!!! if the terra alerts have curtailed rampant consumerism

in this country then they have accomplished something positive.

[Just Me]

70. Well,...until the "profits over people" corporate campaign ends,...

,...we are going to witness that infamous snake eating its tail thingy,...the snake's head being corporate domination of this country and the tail/body representing our people.

All I can say is,...so what if the corporatists "bring on" another turn of the century freakin' collapse. The only thing that really buggars me,...are those who are both inciting and profiteering from such a disaster. They are doing it,...on purpose,...and, if I only I could wage a plague against them.

[tuvor]

71. Well, it's gotta be bush, because in Canada, sales are great.

I heard that we've already exceeded all of last year's holiday spending by 400 million.

Let's lay the blame where it belongs.

[yorkiemommie1]

73. just talked to a nurse who works at UCLA

she said nobody she works w/ feels like shopping. people are saying target is empty because of the fundie boycott. i don't know if that's entirely true because i live in a blue area of a blue state.

i'm just depressed and pissed off.
i can't celebrate when people are dying in an unnecessary war.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

74. But the stock market was hot today

Probably a flash in the pan

[Mr_Spock]

77. I agree with you

I've been describing this (in almost the same words) for years to anyone who would listen.

[union_maid]

78. What's really weird is that the stores are emptier than usual

I was in Border's twice in the last couple of weeks. On a normal weekend there's a long line at the register and usually around Christmas it goes all around the store. AND, this Border's used to have a separate point of sale for the music and it no longer does, and still, no lines either time. Also, plenty of tables available in the cafe. That's way down from their normal business. Our Border's in next to Kmart and you can't really ever get a parking spot real close, but we did this time. My sister stopped in Kmart and found no lines at all at the registers. I mean, not even one person in front of her. This is unheard of at any time of year. I made one trip to the mall, just to Macy's. There, the parking lot was crazy, but inside, not huge crowds and they were almost literally giving the merchandise away. Macy's got too expensive for me years ago, but not this year. The stuff was priced like it was Walmart and I'm talking about big brands and good selections of everything..sizes, colors, etc. If we had any money we could have had a hell of Christmas. :) In fact, it all just didn't cost that much this year.

[yorkiemommie1]

79. re: Macy's

does your macy's have tv screens tuned to FoxNews in the women's fitting room areas? Ours does. During the war they blared FauxNews endlessly. There was a sign on the screens instructing employees to keep either Faux or some sports station (espn probably) on. i would sidle up to the screens and shut the vol. off. i complained several times in person and in writing over the last 18 mos. annd...i have left the store without buying a thing!

[union_maid]

80. I don't know

I haven't actually tried anything on there in years. I haven't seen TVs in fitting rooms in any stores as yet. I really just go there very occasionally for gifts mostly and then it's because I go so seldom they send coupons because "we haven't seen you lately". I still have a Macy's chargecard that I got in the 70's when they were more moderately priced. Looks like that's coming around again even if it's not intentional.

[greymattermom]

85. retail

We went to a brand new department store in a very upscale shopping area to look for some pants for my husband, who wears a somewhat unusual size (33/34). All the merchandize was jumbled up, no order to it at all. After about 10 minutes of not finding anything in his size, he gave up, went home and ordered from Land's End as usual. There all styles available in all sizes and you don't waste your time sorting the merchandise yourself. At the store, most of the shirts were made for cufflinks. Is that back in style? Computer geeks don't want cufflinks.