Sparse shelves greet post-Christmas deal hunters

[discocrisco01]

Source: AP

Shoppers headed to America's malls Saturday, many with gift cards in hand, hoping to snag after-Christmas discounts. They were greeted with big markdowns — in some cases topping 75 percent off — but often found limited selection.

"Everything's been picked over," said Donna Brown, a 52-year-old hairdresser from Seaford, Del., as she sorted through what was left of the fleece pajamas marked down 60 percent to $11.99 at a J.C. Penney store in Salisbury, Md.

Crowds were mixed during the kickoff of the week after Christmas, which last year accounted for nearly 15 percent of holiday retail sales.

This year, it could be more important because snowstorms that socked much of the country cut sales by 2.1 percent for the weekend before Christmas compared with the same weekend a year earlier, according to research firm ShopperTrak.


Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091227/ap_on_bi_ge/us_after_christmas_shopping_14

[regnaD kciN]

1. No kidding...

Our daughter got a Wii this year and, after looking it over, I decided we needed a second controller. I first tried a game store and a department store near our house. Nothing there, and I even heard a clerk at one of them tell a shopper (who was looking for a Wii herself) that there was not a single one to be found in the area. Later, I stopped by a Fry's about a half-hour away -- they had a whole wall devoted to Wii controllers, with every hook empty.

[Dover]

2. I wonder if the weather has disrupted deliveries as well?

If so, I'm guessing the sales will pick up again soon.

[Abq_Sarah]

3. Retailers cut down on the amount of merchandise

Carried in the stores this year. Stuff was looking picked over two weeks before Christmas.

I did most of my shopping online this year and focused on electronics. I got some excellent deals Thanksgiving week.

[fasttense]

4. You are right Abq_Sarah

I live in a very rural area but last year there was much more available to chooses from. This year I couldn't find a curtain swag, a Venetian glass necklace, a clocky, several book titles that had been sold out after Thanksgiving and never restocked, a wood floor cleaner I had been using for years and a black forest ham I love. I could go on but you get the point.

I ended up getting several of the items on line but some of the items, I just gave up on. Not only were specific items missing but the quality and quantity of most items on display was very poor. It was as if someone had wiped out half the quality selections of last year. I would have bought more but there was nothing around worth buying.

[charlie]

5. I wonder if the Arrow Trucking shutdown had much to do with it

Really prick move by the company, leaving truckers away from home on Christmas eve with no way to get back.

Arrow Trucking Shutdown Strands Drivers

Flatbed carrier Arrow Trucking suspended operations this week, stranding hundreds of drivers around the country on Christmas Eve as the company reportedly tries to get new financing to resume business.

Company drivers learned of the shutdown when the Tulsa, Okla.-based company canceled its fuel credit cards on Tuesday, according to published reports. The company sent workers at its headquarters home Wednesday and by Thursday its phones were not operating and Web site was shut down.

Truckload carrier Schneider National issued a statement Thursday saying its trucks and drivers would offer rides home, “or as close to home as possible,” to an estimated 1,400 drivers who may have been stranded by Arrow’s abrupt action.

Arrow CEO Doug Pielsticker, meanwhile, issued a statement to the Tulsa World newspaper saying the 61-year-old company is trying to resume business.

“The company has been in negotiations with its principal lender. Those negotiations are continuing, but the lender has elected to proceed with securing its collateral. The company is communicating with several interested parties and continues to see a prompt resolution,” Pielsticker said...

http://www.joc.com/node/415450