Christmas shopping

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15 Best Stores to Hit on Black Friday

One will even give you free breakfast

(Newser) - Planning your Black Friday shopping agenda? The Daily Beast rounds up the 15 stores you should definitely hit up, having ranked the largest national retailers based on prices, hours, and extra perks offered. The ones that scored the highest:
  1. Sam's Club: Opens at 5am and offers a free breakfast of
...

On Black Friday, $89 Kindles
 On Black Friday, $89 Kindles 
Nov 24, 2010 6:48 AM CST

On Black Friday, $89 Kindles

Amazon.com announces deal on Facebook

(Newser) - There's no need to leave your house to snag a killer Black Friday deal, like the one Amazon just announced: a Kindle e-reader for $89. The site disclosed the deal on its Facebook page, David Carnoy reports for CNET . The only catch: You can only get the previous generation (Amazon's...

iPad Coming to Wal-Mart This Month
iPad Coming to Wal-Mart
This Month
Oct 9, 2010 1:25 PM CDT

iPad Coming to Wal-Mart This Month

Apple covering all bases ahead of holiday shopping season

(Newser) - Because those Christmas rushes on Wal-Mart weren't crazy enough: The world's largest retailer will have the world's most popular tech gadget on shelves in plenty of time for the holiday shopping season, reports MacRumors . A company email sent to store managers says about 1,000 stores will be carrying the...

Holiday Sales Up 3.6%
 Holiday Sales Up 3.6% 
Dec 28, 2009 3:29 AM CST

Holiday Sales Up 3.6%

Online spending surge fuels modest recovery

(Newser) - Retail holiday sales ticked up this year for a 3.6% improvement over 2008's disastrous showing. The modestly improved overall picture included a 15.5% surge in online shopping, thanks in part to snowstorms that stranded many shoppers at home the week before Christmas, as well as an almost 6%...

Love It or Hate It, Tinsel Thrives at Cheap-O Xmas
 Love It or Hate It, Tinsel 
 Thrives at Cheap-O Xmas 
RECESSIONOMICS
Dec 23, 2009 4:56 PM CST

Love It or Hate It, Tinsel Thrives at Cheap-O Xmas

Sole US manufacturer of 'icicles' says sales up 40%

(Newser) - Decorating Christmas trees with tinsel is a divisive practice, but one thing proponents and detractors can agree on is its economy, a factor that appears to be the deciding one in this holiday season of scarcity. At the only major US maker of the shiny plastic strips, sales are up...

You'll Never Use That Fancy Waffle Maker
 You'll Never Use 
 That Fancy 
 Waffle Maker 
HERE'S A SHOCKER
Dec 21, 2009 1:17 AM CST

You'll Never Use That Fancy Waffle Maker

Gift desires dissolve when confronted with complicated gizmos

(Newser) - Hard as it may be to believe, many people ask for fancy holiday gifts and then barely use them, a shocking new study reveals. “Sometimes the reality of owning an object doesn’t quite measure up to our expectations,” explains a psychologist. Some 59% of gifts in the...

21 Kinky (and Gross) Christmas Gifts

From Santa dildos to boobie ornaments, these gifts are truly disturbing

(Newser) - Ah, the holidays: A time for family, a time for eggnog and roasting chestnuts, a time for…reindeer thongs? Simcha Whitehill selects the 21 most disturbing "sexy" gifts on The Frisky —check out a few, above, or click here for the complete list.

DVD Box Sets of TV Shows Are Pure Evil

Even the best programs will end up seeming superficial

(Newser) - This holiday season, have some pity on your friends and relatives—spare them the DVD box sets of their favorite TV shows. "The DVD box set is the newest and most terrifying form of ritualistic abuse we inflict on one another," writes Grady Hendrix. Not only are we...

Sales Rise Even Though Shoppers Spend Less
 Sales Rise Even Though 
 Shoppers Spend Less 
thanksgiving weekend
Nov 29, 2009 4:58 PM CST

Sales Rise Even Though Shoppers Spend Less

$41.2B weekend total beats 2008 haul by $1.2B

(Newser) - Thanksgiving weekend retail sales totaled $41.2 billion, a .5% jump over last year's $41 billion, but the average shopper spent 8% less than in 2008, $343.31 against $372.57. Discounts, especially on electronics and toys, were the overwhelming attraction as cautious consumers pried open their wallets, Bloomberg reports....

Black Friday Sees Strong Crowds, Picky Shoppers

Early reports suggest a decent start to the holiday retail season

(Newser) - It will take a few days for the Black Friday sales numbers to be crunched, but early indications show a decent, if unspectacular, shopping day. A retailer trade group reported "strong crowds" across the board, notes Bloomberg , with high-def TVs, laptops, winter coats, and those ubiquitous Zhu Zhu hamsters...

Holiday Shopping Tip: Money Can Buy You Love
Holiday Shopping Tip: Money Can Buy You Love
george will
Nov 26, 2009 9:49 AM CST

Holiday Shopping Tip: Money Can Buy You Love

Yuletide economics dissected

(Newser) - Christmas is coming, and the "voluntary December calamity" of destruction of billions of dollars in value is under way, writes George Will. People will splurge on gifts their relatives and friends don't want or need, and the discrepancy between the cost of the present and its value to the...

What Not to Buy on Black Friday
 What Not to Buy on Black Friday 
Farhad Manjoo
Nov 24, 2009 11:39 AM CST

What Not to Buy on Black Friday

Netbooks, e-books and other bad deals

(Newser) - Step away from the gizmos. Even if you make it through the Black Friday crowds unharmed, you may do serious damage to your wallet, writes Farhad Manjoo in Slate , who runs down what to buy and bypass at the big box store: Don't Buy:
  • E-book readers: The market is heating
...

What She Always Wanted: Reindeer Dung Necklace
What She Always Wanted: Reindeer Dung Necklace
who needs pearls?
Nov 24, 2009 9:07 AM CST

What She Always Wanted: Reindeer Dung Necklace

Zoo aims to plug budget holes with droppings

(Newser) - For that special someone: An Illinois zoo is selling sterilized reindeer droppings in the form of "Magical Reindeer Gem" pendant necklaces available at its gift shop and through mail order. The $20 glitter-encrusted necklaces are a bit silly, a zoo spokeswoman admits to the AP , but they're selling fast...

Ho-Ho-Hold on a Minute, Xmas in July?

Stores launch summer promotions to snag holiday dollars early

(Newser) - It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in malls across the country as stores angle for some extremely early holiday dollars, the Wall Street Journal reports. Retailers like Toys'R'US, Sears and Kmart have dragged Santa away from his summer break and launched July Christmas promotions, hoping to boost sales...

Shoppers Turn to Funny, Useful Gifts

Boots, joke books, comfort clothes score big in recession

(Newser) - Christmas shoppers are thinking small this year, and the gifts they're buying reveal how Americans are coping with recession, USA Today reports. Here's a list of today's trends:
  • Practical: Nearly half of the most popular items searched for online were boots, according to one mall inventory service. Gifts that help
...

Israeli Salesmen the Kings of the Mall Kiosk

Pushy vendors bring bazaar-culture to holiday shopping

(Newser) - Chances are that shopping-mall cart vendor offering you spa lotions or whimsical toys this Christmas season is an Israeli transplant who knows how to hustle and haggle. Cart owners avoid hiring shyer Americans because "Israelis are natural-born closers," said one marketing director, and they're edging out other Turkish,...

Shoppers Are Even Grinchier Than Expected

Over a third of shoppers spent less than the same time last year

(Newser) - Holiday shopping sales are looking even worse than forecast, Reuters reports. A new survey conducted over the traditional weekend launch of holiday gift-buying, found that 38% of shoppers said they spent less over the weekend than during the same period last year—and 30% were unimpressed by this year's discounts....

Wal-Mart Death a Fitting Symbol of the Times
 Wal-Mart Death a Fitting
 Symbol of the Times
ANALYSIS
Nov 30, 2008 1:54 PM CST

Wal-Mart Death a Fitting Symbol of the Times

Desperate consumers, ailing economy make for dangerous combination

(Newser) - When shoppers charged into a Long Island Wal-Mart at the stroke of 5am Friday and trampled to death a temp who happened to get between them and the $388 flatscreen TVs inside,“it was a tragedy, yet it did not feel like an accident,” Peter Goodman writes in...

Twitchy Retail Braces for Black Season

'Black Friday' starts days early and continues throughout season

(Newser) - For years, retailers across America have dubbed today Black Friday, when shoppers descend like locusts on cut-price merchandise to signal the start of the holiday season. But as the New York Times reports, stores have been slashing prices for weeks now, often with little effect. From toys to electronics to...

Even Santa's Getting the Old Heave-Ho-Ho-Ho

Gigs cut, pay slashed, big elf not so jolly

(Newser) - St. Nick is already doing some serious belt-tightening in New York City as cash-strapped stores and malls head into the not-so-jolly season, thanks to the economy. Far fewer jobs and slashed pay rates are leaving wanna-be Santas with little clause to celebrate.

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