Retailers and Christmas

11/19/2014

We haven't even cooked our Thanksgiving turkey yet, and already the retailers are rallying for our business, particularly our on-line business!

With the exception of one or two of the "mart" stores, I haven't been in an actual department store in a number of years.  Why?  For a host of reasons: parking issues; crowds; noise from music that management believes you want to hear; no assistance from clerks and least but no less annoying, the perfume counter.  Don't get me wrong I love perfume and have worn Chloe for over 30 years and have never tried anything else.  So when I walk past the cosmetics area, I don't need a clerk trying to push some fragrance on me - or worse - spraying me with said fragrance.  Aaaaack.

I shop online because I can literally find anything for anyone.  And, since my left hip is not completely in working order, it's easier for me to sit and shop.  I received Benjamin's Christmas list this week complete with the requisite number of !!! for each item!

First on his list was a Barbie and she scored !!!.  Must want a Barbie pretty bad.  He also wants a guitar, microphone and a paint set.  These last items were only worth !!, but I'm sure that he wants them equally as much as Barbie.  Buying a microphone is no biggie, but a guitar could be tricky.  Jeff and I are thinking about buying him an electronic keyboard which would come with a microphone and he could spend endless hours dancing away in the living room.  And, not to brag or anything, but he's a very good dancer!

Target has announced that it will not charge for shipping until December 20th.  That's tempting but my go-to online shopping place, other than Ebay, is Amazon.  Returning things to Amazon is easy and I have a prime account so most of the things I buy are eligible for free shipping.  

I want to be fair so I will check out Target and see how their prices compare to what I would/could buy on Amazon.  I think it might be hard for retailers to compete with the hugeness of Amazon, but we'll have to wait and see when the Christmas shopping season is over.

Happy shopping.

P