shopping
Morning Deals
By 11.29.07
"Black Friday Is Obscene And Needs To Die"
By 11.28.07
SF Gate columnist Mark Morford hates Black Friday, and he’s written an over-the-top Network-style screed against it, backing it up with some cringe-inducing YouTube clips of giddy, running Americans swarming into retail outlets last Friday morning.
By 11.28.07
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“Cyber Monday” spending rose 21% from last year. 61% of those purchases were made using computers at the office. [NYT]
The Washington Elite Shop At Costco
By 11.27.07
Apparently, the current crop of Washington elite shop at Costco for all their fancy dinner parties, which is certainly the most sensible thing we’ve heard about the douchebags who populate our nation’s capital in a long time.
Shopping Tip: 100 Notable Books
By 11.27.07
The New York Times has released its list of the 100 Notable Books of 2007, so if you’re shopping for bookworms… you get the idea.
Beware! Apple Stores Have Mysterious Tractor Beams
By 11.27.07
Your local Apple Store is home to a mysterious tractor beam that pulls in unwitting shoppers who venture less than 25 feet from its storefront, says Apple Insider. An anylst from Piper Jaffray spent 6 hours monitoring traffic in front of various Apple Stores and found that shoppers were inexplicably drawn to the big glowing Apple.
Find Out How It Sucks
By 11.27.07
HowItSucks.com is an interesting project that scrapes just the negative consumer electronic productive reviews from Amazon.com. Search by type or brand, and a red bar shows you how much it “sucks,” based on the negative feedback. Pass the mouse over the item and the popup lists the essential statement from three of the reviews. Could be an interesting tool for comparison shopping. Negative reviews are a good starting point if you’re trying to choose between similar products. You always need to be a critical reader, though. I bought an iPod sports band once and on the Apple site were all these people complaining about how it was too big and was falling off their arm. I then thought about how a number of Apple users are very picky and have twig-like bodies, whereas I have chunky biceps. I bought the sport-band and it fit perfectly.
Morning Deals
By 11.27.07
By 11.27.07
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The folks at NPR would like you to know that they’ve added a “Green Room” to the NPR Shop. In addition to not wrecking the planet, your purchase supports NPR’s general awesomeness. The glassware made from recycled wine bottles looks pretty darn cool. [NPR]
Shallow Materialism Caused By Low Self-Esteem?
By 11.26.07
A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research says that there may be an actual causal relationship between materialism and low self-esteem in teenagers. The study’s authors, Lan Nguyen Chaplin from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Deborah Roedder John of the University of Minnesota, “studied children of different age groups and found that, generally, self-esteem increases from middle childhood (8-9 years) to early adolescence (12-13 years), but then declines during adolescence until the end of high school (16-18 years). This mirrors patterns in materialism, which increases in early adolescence but decreases in late adolescence during the transition into young adulthood,” says a press release about the study.
Cyber Monday Isn't The Busiest Shopping Day For Online Retailers
By 11.26.07
ABC News informs us once again that so-called “Cyber Monday” (today) is a creation of the National Retail Federation, and is “by no means the busiest day for online sales, just as Black Friday is not the biggest day of sales for most stores.”
Black Friday: More Shoppers Spent Less Money
By 11.26.07
The Los Angeles Times is reporting that traffic was up in stores around the country, but that shoppers were spending about 3.5% less per person than last year, or about $347.44.
Fry's Employees Sell Opportunity To Cut Black Friday Line
By 11.25.07
Fry’s employees in Renton, Washington sold Black Friday aspirants the chance to cut to the front of the pre-dawn line for between $108.79 and $200, including tax. Puzzled shoppers were assured that the money went to Fry’s, not the employees. A Fry’s worker explained the situation with disarming naiveté:
When KING 5 asked about this at the customer service desk, one employee said: “Oh they stopped doing that. They weren’t supposed to.” The employee said the store manager put a stop to it.
Anyone who paid the advancement fee will receive a full refund. The rogue salesmen will be sent to the back of the unemployment line.
Florida Shopper Punched In Face In Black Friday Scrum
By 11.23.07
A shopper was punched in the face in the 1am scramble outside a Macy’s in Central Florida at the Altamonte Mall. Way to shop, indeed. “They couldn’t open the doors because there were too many people pushing,” Rhonda Wega told the Orlando Sentinel. “It was chaotic.” Once again we have a problem with outward-opening mall doors. Guess they need to invent futuristic inward-opening inward AND outward opening mall doors, or better cordon off the area immediately outside the doors.
Minimize Your Risk Of Theft While Shopping
By 11.23.07
The Seattle PI has a report on car prowls at malls while victims are inside shopping, and some advice on how to minimize your risk. Never leave anything of value in your car, and don’t assume that by throwing a coat over it you’ll disguise it. Instead, put it in the trunk.
