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Posted
Nov 02 2007, 12:05 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Blogger Meredith H. Kaiser describes her education about the power of advertising in a wonderfully entertaining post called " You're ugly, poorly dressed and uncool -- basically a loser " at SavingAdvice . It seems that Meredith was always cognizant of advertising's potential. As a teenager, she was convinced that subliminal messages to buy popcorn were flashing on the movie screen. Several years later, she got the real lowdown from an ad executive stranded with her on a grounded plane: He schooled her about product- placement pollution in movies. "I’m sad to see the opportunity that artists have to inspire wasted on one more explosive chase scene in a certain brand of car whose logo gets as much screen time as the lead actor," she writes. Now she's acutely aware of the prompts to purchase all around us (we hope her cynicism about TV news is misplaced) and their not-so-hidden message: If you don't own this, you're a loser.
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Posted
Oct 29 2007, 09:19 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
If the Toys “R” Us Big Toy Book is here, can Christmas be far behind?
Well, yeah. Fifty-eight days behind. But face it: No matter how much we whine about too-early holiday marketing, retailers aren't going to change their ways. We're the ones who have to change, i.e. adjust our reactions to the hype.
"Beebegurl," a Smart Spending message board reader, pays no attention to the retail calendar. In a thread called “Christmas Gifts,” she wrote that she shops for her grandkids long before holiday hysteria sets in. This allows her to look around "without pressure and at my own leisure and make a rational decision."
The most rational decision of all? Once she finds the perfect gift, she waits for it to go on sale. "I never ever pay retail for any toy."
Clearly, Beebegurl rocks.
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Posted
Jul 22 2009, 10:10 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This guest post comes from Jason at Frugal Dad.
Recently my wife and I took the kids to a local department store for a little back-to-school shopping a couple months early. I had cashed in some very old credit card rewards from a card we paid off in exchange for a gift card to a well-known department store. Combined with a 30%-off store sales flier, we figured we could snag a couple deals before school starts.
I consider myself a fairly patient dad when it comes to shopping. During most shopping excursions my son and I take up our post outside the girls' dressing room and hold "buy" and "put back" merchandise as my wife scurries back and forth from the dressing room to the clothing racks.
During this particular visit I noticed a garbled announcement over the store's intercom system every few minutes followed by a rowdy cheer from store employees. By the fourth or fifth time, I was curious enough (and sufficiently annoyed by the irrational exuberance) to ask a nearby employee what the celebration was about. "We just signed up another credit card," she replied enthusiastically.
My sarcastic reply was, "And why are we celebrating?" She scowled and went back to folding new shirts to put on the store shelves.
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Posted
Sep 16 2009, 02:24 PM
by
James Dlugosch
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
The economy is improving, but does that mean people will again go out and blow a few hundred dollars on designer jeans? I don't know about you, but I certainly will not.
Instead, I’m falling back onto old standby: The Gap (GPS).
Do you remember when Gap was cool? I do. I shopped at the GAP from the mid-1980s until the end of the 1990s. But I stopped shopping at The Gap at the turn of the millennium.
Bing: More on Retail Stocks
The timing was no coincidence; a lot of people did the same.. More choices, more niche brands and premium jeans retailers sprung up like weeds as the bull market wore on. The Gap got lost in the crowd, and its business suffered
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Posted
Dec 05 2007, 07:15 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Partner blogger J.D. Roth of Get Rich Slowly alerts us to a Web site that reduces one of the pains of shopping. PriceProtectr will alert you if the cost of an item you've purchased drops, so you can pocket the difference if the store has a price-protection policy. PriceProtectr monitors prices at 70 different stores. J.D. says he hasn't paid much attention to price-protection guarantees -- up until now. "I don’t pay close attention to ads, and I’m certainly not going to keep going into a store for 30 days after I buy something just to save a few bucks. But PriceProtectr sounds like a great way to make this process painless," he writes. He notes that yapta provides a similar service for airline tickets.
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Posted
Jun 01 2009, 11:39 AM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
 Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) rather arrogantly thought it could maintain its prices for its clothes while the country hurtled into a recession. Then came the company's first-quarter loss, a disastrous 31 cents a share when analysts had been expecting 10 cents.
The loss was an uncomfortable dose of reality, and chief executive Mike Jefferies said that shopper price-consciousness was "unlike anything I have ever seen." So now, the company has rolled out a massive markdown of its clothes, hoping to lure back the teens who used to happily plunk down money for anything with the A&F logo. So how does that reflect on the stock? Analysts are split on the markdown's effectiveness. Adrienne Tennant at FBR Capital Markets recently upgraded the retailer to outperform,
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Posted
Mar 05 2008, 09:15 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Which deal sounds better: buy one item and get 50% off the second, or get 25% off each of two items?
What's more attractive: a low monthly payment or a high one?
Are deals like "six for $10" capitalizing on people who are bad at math?
Smart Spending message board reader "SC CDF" started a thread about "math games" that retailers play with consumers' heads.
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Posted
Aug 26 2008, 10:57 AM
by
Minyanville
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
The slumping housing market continues to take a bite out of home improvement - and there’s no immediate relief in sight.
Consumers are pressed by high gasoline and food prices, leaving less cash to upgrade the kitchen or bathroom.
Home Depot and Lowe’s have already taken a hit.
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Posted
Sep 09 2009, 01:22 PM
by
InvestorPlace
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
This post was written by Jim Woods of InvestorPlace. Wall Street was treated to a big run higher Tuesday in shares of automotive after-market chain Pep Boys (PBY). The stock was up 8% in anticipation of the company’s earnings release after the closing bell. Well, Pep Boys did manage to post an increase in second-quarter profit, but did so largely as a result of a pedal-to-the-metal cost-cutting effort. Bing: More on Pep Boys Stock
The Philadelphia-based company said its second-quarter profit revved-up 42% over the year ago period to $7.7 million, or 15 cents per share, even as revenue fell 2%. Although the company cited growth in revenue from its service segment, the all-important retail barometer of same store sales declined 2.3%. Merchandise sales also declined in the quarter, slipping 4% compared to the year ago period.
To be certain, Pep Boys earnings gains, achieved via a combination of revenue contraction and belt-tightening, is nothing new. This quarter’s earnings reports have been replete with companies managing to beat their bottom line numbers, yet stall out on their top-line figure. But in the case of Pep Boys, does this mean the company is likely to run out of gas in for the rest of the year, or do they have a little more fuel left in the tank
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Posted
Sep 05 2008, 12:23 PM
by
Anthony Mirhaydari
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
A weakening employment outlook only adds to a dismal economic picture for millions of Americans. Retailers have quickly realized that price has superseded factors like quality and brand as middle-class consumers struggle to maintain their lifestyle. Increased interest in private-label products and promotional items is a testament to this.
Month after month, we are reminded of how Wal-Mart's business model is perfectly positioned for the current recessionary environment. But Wal-Mart isn’t the only beneficiary. Although some grocers have gone up-market in recent years, Kroger has committed itself, through investments in its supply chain, to a low-price position without sacrificing incremental improvements to the quality of its food.
So low, in fact, that in some areas the supermarket chain not only beats its peers on price, but Wal-Mart too
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