Christmas shopping

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In Gwyneth's Holiday Gift Guide: $100 Slingshot

Entire guide would set you back $23K

(Newser) - Gwyneth Paltrow has released her GOOP holiday gift guide , and let us start by reminding you that this is the woman who brought you the $90 white T-shirt and who considers $970 glitter boots to be an "essential" wardrobe item. The gift guide is predictably amusing, and E! runs...

Neiman Marcus Gifts Include $1.9M Diamond Deal

Retailer out with annual luxury items

(Newser) - Need that one-of-a-kind stocking stuffer and have $1.9 million burning a hole in your pocket? Design your own diamond ring and travel to Africa to see where the stone came from. That's among the unique offerings for sale in the 87th edition of the Neiman Marcus Christmas Book,...

Stop Giving 'Disgusting' Grapefruit as a Holiday Gift

This terrible tradition needs to die: Katy Waldman

(Newser) - It's the holidays, which means some clueless older relative is sure to force a grapefruit or 12 upon you. Giving grapefruit as a holiday gift started up during the Great Depression, because people wanted their gifts to be "nourishing" during such tough times. But the tradition—the absolute...

Stores Make Holiday Shopping Awful On Purpose
Stores Make Holiday Shopping Awful On Purpose
OPINION
Dec 9, 2012 3:57 PM CST

Stores Make Holiday Shopping Awful On Purpose

Oliver Burkeman explains how stores make you miserable to make you spend

(Newser) - Do you hate holiday shopping? Does it sometimes seem like the entire experience—from the lights, to the confusing sales, to the incredibly loud endless renditions of "The Little Drummer Boy"—is designed to make you miserable? Well, that's because it is, Oliver Burkeman writes in today'...

'12 Days of Christmas' Gifts Will Set You Back $107K

Hey, swans-a-swimming aren't cheap

(Newser) - The perfect gift for that person who seems to have everything? How about 12 drummers drumming, 11 pipers piping, 10 lords a-leaping, and, well, you get the idea. This year, if you tried to buy all 364 items from the "12 Days of Christmas" song, including that partridge in...

Black Friday: Traffic Up, Sales Down

Thanks to Thursday store openings

(Newser) - There were nearly 308 million store visits on Black Friday this year, a 3.5% increase from last year, but sales were down 1.8% to $11.2 billion, according to a ShopperTrak analysis. Why? Blame stores that actually opened on Thursday night, CNN reports. "While foot traffic did...

10 Crazy Expensive Celeb Gift Ideas

Not sure what to buy? Go with a trip to space

(Newser) - Now that the holiday shopping season has officially begun, you're probably wondering what to get that friend who has everything. Maybe you can score some ideas from this list of the craziest, most expensive gifts of the stars, courtesy of E! :
  • Last year for Christmas, Nick Cannon got wife
...

The Craziest Black Friday Stories, Videos

Inside this year's throngs, crimes

(Newser) - It's not Black Friday until mob violence has erupted at a Walmart. Some of the craziest stories coming out of the day so far:
  • The Atlantic Wire points to two videos of crazy-looking throngs fighting over cheap cellphones at Walmart, and Mediaite has video of hundreds of young girls
...

Most Americans Plan to 'Self-Gift' ... to Tune of $140

We love shopping ... for ourselves

(Newser) - Go ahead and buy yourself that discounted cashmere sweater today. You deserve it. Wait. What? You had already planned to do just that? Yeah, we thought so. The National Retail Federation reports that "self-gifting" is poised to hit a 10-year high this year, with shoppers set to spend an...

Your Black Friday Strategy Guide

If you insist on going into the fray, here's what to do

(Newser) - "Black Friday is for suckers," declares Farhad Manjoo in Slate —but, assuming you still insist on going shopping tomorrow, he has some advice. So do Caity Weaver in Gawker , Matthew Ong in US News and World Report , and Herb Weisbaum on Today :
  • Download some of the new
...

Wrapping Paper Sales on a Tear
 Wrapping Paper Sales on a Tear 
Dec 24, 2011 11:14 AM CST

Wrapping Paper Sales on a Tear

Strong figures early indication of shopping rebound

(Newser) - Just how lucrative will this holiday season turn out to be for retailers? If wrapping paper sales are any indication, pretty darn good. Both shop owners and the public are awaiting holiday shopping statistics as a clue to American confidence and an economic rebound. An early sign is wrapping paper...

Slashed Prices Signal Retailer Worries

Chains hoping deep discounts will move merchandise

(Newser) - While store bargains may have shoppers saying "ho, ho, ho," they've got retailers thinking: "Oh-oh." Heavy discounts in the last days before Christmas are a signal companies are worried they'll be stuck with inventory that isn't moving off the shelves. Retailers had high...

Gift Card Scam Warning Issued
 Gift Card Scam Warning Issued 
Dec 19, 2011 3:50 AM CST

Gift Card Scam Warning Issued

Fraudsters are recording activation codes, Schumer warns

(Newser) - People buying gift cards for friends and family this Christmas should make sure that the concealing measures haven't been removed, Chuck Schumer warns. The senator from New York says fraudsters have been visiting stores where the cards are on the shelves and recording access codes in order to drain...

Hot Christmas Gifts: Ferrari, $45K Ping-Pong Table
Hot Christmas Gifts: Ferrari, $45K Ping-Pong Table
NEIMAN MARCUS LIST
Oct 19, 2011 10:20 AM CDT

Hot Christmas Gifts: Ferrari, $45K Ping-Pong Table

Fantasy gifts for 2011 unveiled in 'Christmas Book'

(Newser) - It’s that time of year again: time for Neiman Marcus to say, “Recession? What recession?” and urge you to purchase a $250,000 mahogany speedboat for your beloved this Christmas. Yes, the Christmas Book was unveiled yesterday. To really get into the holiday spirit, read on for the...

After-Christmas Shoppers Swarm Stores

This holiday season the best for retailers since 2007

(Newser) - The holiday shopping season continued to be a merry one for retailers, as shoppers packed stores yesterday searching for post-Christmas sales. An East Coast snowstorm daunted some—but not all—shoppers; even so, execs weren't concerned. "People will just wait a day to do exchanges and use their gift...

Shoppers Pack Stores for Christmas Eve

'Fantastic Friday' caps best retail season since 2007

(Newser) - A late holiday shopping spree led shoppers to stores in droves, giving a fantastic finish to what is already the best holiday season for retail since 2007, the AP reports. Sales are expected to reach $451.5 billion overall this year, a 3.3% higher gross than last year. "...

Shopper Cuts Line, Says She'll Shoot Grumblers

Black Friday madness in Madison!

(Newser) - Not a recommended Black Friday shopping strategy: cutting to the front of the line of patiently waiting shoppers ... then threatening to shoot them after they complain. A 21-year-old Wisconsin woman was arrested last night after making just such threats. The incident happened outside a Toys 'R' Us store in Madison...

Who's Spending the Most Today?

People in Austin, Texas, most likely

(Newser) - It's Black Friday, so Americans are out spending money in droves—but who's spending the most? In the Daily Beast , Anneli Rufus gets us a little closer to an answer, by way of 15 spending stats:
  • If you're an online shopper ... you spend 24.6% more than a brick-and-mortar shopper.
...

How to Survive Black Friday
 How to Survive Black Friday 
Nov 25, 2010 5:40 PM CST

How to Survive Black Friday

If you're serious about it, start doing your research this very second

(Newser) - For some, Black Friday will actually begin tonight. "I leave the house at 9:30pm on Thanksgiving," one serious shopper tells the New York Daily News . "Everything used to open at 6am, but every year it gets even earlier." With 138 million Americans expected to be...

This Year's Hot Toy: Squinkies
 This Year's Hot Toy: Squinkies 
Nov 25, 2010 1:19 PM CST

This Year's Hot Toy: Squinkies

If your kid absolutely needs one, you may be out of luck

(Newser) - Every year, there’s some toy that—often inexplicably—leaps off the shelves long before Christmas. This year, it’s the Squinkies. Toymaker Bill Nichols developed the tiny, squishy rubber characters (which come packaged vending-machine-style, in plastic bubbles) last year, figuring they would sell well in a struggling economy. And...

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