Free Republic

After I retired, my wife insisted that I accompany her on her trips to Target. Unfortunately, like most men, I found shopping boring and preferred to get in and get out. Equally unfortunate, my wife is like most women - she loves to browse. Yesterday my dear wife received the following letter from the local Target. Dear Mrs. UNOWHO, Over the past six months, your husband has caused quite a commotion in our store. We cannot tolerate this behavior and have been forced to ban both of you from the store. Our complaints against your husband, Mr. Samuel, are listed...

1 out of every 6 Americans will participate in some form of online shopping today:Cyber Monday.Black Friday is the day when we stand pressed together in the dark waiting for doors to open at our favorite retail outlet. We race the aisles and grab and elbow our way to shopping nirvana.Today, Cyber Monday, is the day we do it from the comfort of our own home via the internet.

Just got back from the local Home Depot (the one that Joe biden has never set foot in). Bought my Christmas tree, among other things for the yard. Lady at the checkout noticed my USMC hat and jacket and gave me 10% off. Anybody else see this in their part of the country? Oh, and welcomed the Merry Christmas greeting. Semper fi

Another Thanxmas shopping season, another collection of news stories about social retards who don't know how to behave in public... People in other parts of the world fight over food, water or religious freedoms; we fight over DVD players and toys Store employees are to blame when two women get in a fight over a pair of discounted pajamas.  Just like... ... Teachers are to blame because our kids behave like spoiled brats, little sluts, and junior gangbangers. ... George Bush is to blame when people too benumbed by corrupt liberal governance don't know how to get out of...

Early Reports Point Toward A Nationwide Black Friday Shopping Frenzy John CarneyNov. 27, 2009, 10:58 AM If local media reports are accurate, shoppers have turned out in huge numbers across the country for Black Friday. We did a survey of local news sites to gather the latest Black Frdiay news. And it looks very good for retailers. Cincinnati, Ohio: "A long line of shoppers looking for the best priced toys for Christmas waited outside a Western Hills Toys R' Us store on Glenway Avenue, since late Thursday night to be among the first in line. After the doors opened at...

If the holiday shopping sea son gets off to a bad start today, maybe we should blame all the blessings we were thankful for yesterday. It's heresy to say this -- what with retailers looking to sell Americans a lot of stuff this Christmas -- but sometimes people just have enough things. So, as families sat down at their Thanksgiving table yesterday, the decision-makers probably looked around the room and saw gadgets galore that were bought during better times. And since said decision-makers are petrified about the job market -- and are about to be even more scared next week...

Yesterday we came across this amazing YouTube video of a Good Morning America segment profiling Kathy Spencer, who runs How to Shop for Free. By using a few techniques highlighted in the video, she manages to feed her family of six for less money than you probably have in your sofa cushions right now. Here at Unclutterer, we were wondering how much of Kathy Spencer’s shopping involves buying unneeded items just because of the savings, so we did a little digging and found this an eHow article by Spencer in which she addresses that particular issue: People always say why...

When all is said and done after the holidays, filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection may be the only option for many chains, Cohen added. Then again, maybe retailers can rely on Cramer's optimism that everyone is massively underestimating the unemployed consumer who has bet the house and the dog on those one hundred shares of Amazon stock. In the past, for example, retailers like Nordstrom would bring in holiday merchandise early and reorder the best-selling items. This strategic tool likely will not be available to them this year. “Reorders will be down significantly this year, simply because the merchandise...

How often do you shop for groceries? I don't mean for the last-minute half-gallon of milk or package of cigarettes from the convenience store, but the heavy-duty grocery shopping. All the older siblings and their spouses appeared to shop once a week, filling up the automobile or van to the rafters. I on the other hand have always emulated the parents, who shopped for groceries every single day excepting Sundays (but then and again, it needs pointed out franksolich has no spouse and dependents, so it's a somewhat different sort of thing). In the town of circa 3,000 alongside the...

ST. LOUIS (Nov. 16) -- Nearly three years after Heather Ellis switched checkout lines at a southeast Missouri store and touched off what she calls a racially charged dispute with white customers and authorities, the young black schoolteacher faces a trial that could send her to prison for 15 years. Witnesses have told authorities that Ellis cut in front of waiting customers at the Walmart in Kennett on Jan. 6, 2007, shoved merchandise already placed on a conveyor belt out of the way and became belligerent when confronted, according to court filings. Ellis maintains she was merely joining her cousin,...

Detectives are hunting a convicted murderer who absconded while out on an escorted shopping trip. Patricia Gillette, 41, escaped at around 3pm on Friday while visiting shops in West Wickham High Street, near Bromley, south east London. Gillette, of Streatham, south London, was being held at the nearby Bethlem Royal Hospital. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1227788/Dangerous-murderer-escapes-shopping-trip-prison.html#comments#ixzz0WvpECzWW

I'm posting this thread earlier than usual this year due to the economy, people looking for good buys, and as a help for you to make a shopping list. Please add to this thread. I'll update this thread through CyberMonday. Happy Shopping. Cindy

I’m not materialistic… Think back to your trip to the mall to return a sweater that was the wrong size. Was it really too small or did you realize you don‘t need it? I no longer have control of my gut feeling when shopping. I feel guilty after almost all my purchases. When I see good deals, I don't take advantage of them instead they engulf me. I buy multiples of things I don't need, mostly due to coupons.Coupons are not to help you, sure they can get you a good deal when you have money to spend and things...

Penny-pinching Americans are getting cold feet at the checkout — thinking twice about spending and ditching items before they're rung up.They're leaving sweaters in the dress department, dumping cookies near the grocery cashier and....

I'm tired of the government appropriating my money for liberal causes, therefore I wish to limit the funds that go to leftists either through taxation and especially with discretionary spending. I would like to know if there is a website that lists conservative owned and liberal owned businesses. A repository site like Angie's list or Yelp where conservatives can go to find local or national owned conservative businesses. I know this information isn't always available but sometimes it is through political signs during elections, personal contacts with the owners, or the conversations that take place in businesses etc. I no...

A New Zealand couple nearly found themselves in a financial hole when their three-year-old daughter bought an earthdigger in an internet auction. The child, Pipi Quinlan, was trying out her online skills while her parents were asleep in bed. They only unearthed the truth when they received an email demand for NZ$20,000 (£8,000) from the seller. Pipi's mother, Sarah, had left the computer logged on.

Amid Recession, Some Save By Turning To Pre-Money Commerce: The turtleneck from designer Marc Jacobs costs hundreds of dollars at Neiman Marcus or Saks Fifth Avenue. But at one Brooklyn bar, the charcoal-gray sweater was free for the taking - along with jeans, belts and shoes. The neighborhood watering hole called Sycamore will never be mistaken for a department store, but for some recession-battered consumers, it's serving a similar purpose. It's a chance to update their wardrobes and capture the adventure of shopping without having to open their wallets. "It's guilt-free shopping," said Shannon McDowell, a bartender and swapper. Friends...

Friday, April 17, 2009 Print ShareThisThe free ride may soon be over. For the past decade and a half, most Internet shoppers haven't been forced to pay sales tax while buying goods online. But now, according to CNet News, an alliance of "brick-and-mortar" retailers and state governments has teamed up to end that — and they've crafted federal legislation that may be introduced in Congress as early as next week. Previous attempts in past years to do so have flopped.

PHOTO CAPTION: "A second al-Qaeda terror cell is believed to be planning carnage in the UK." SNIPPET: "Senior security sources last night revealed they are hunting extremists aiming to bomb a location such as a nightclub or shopping centre. They believe the cell will target London rather than the North- West, where 11 men were arrested on Wednesday, as the capital holds more "international significance"." Evidence gleaned from the arrests was revealed to Cobra, Whitehall's emergency committee of intelligence chiefs and ministers.

A man was butted by an unexpected assailant while shopping at his local supermarket in a Stockholm suburb on Friday - a roebuck deer. "I was caught unawares when the roebuck suddenly came at me," Anders Östeberg said to Aftonbladet of his meeting with the deer at a Coop store in Liljeholmen in southern Stockholm. It is thought that the deer sneaked into the building when the loading bay was left open in connection with a delivery. The frightened deer ran into the store and Östberg was unfortunate to be in the rampaging animal's path. The deer butted Östberg on...

Photos by "Beobuild" The biggest shopping mall in the Balkans and the latest consumer hotspot will be opened in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, on 31 March 2009, regardless of the economic crisis or anything else, for that matter. The Usce Shopping Center investment is worth 150 million euros. The investor is MPC Properties. The shopping mall will take 130,000 square meters of space, of which commercial space will be 50,000 square meters. The hyper-market will take 4,000 square meters of space; there will be 150 brand stores, with many familiar brands, but also with about 50 world brands that...

If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to have a million dollars you probably only thought about the cars, the yachts and the bling, and overlooked the details like what kind of toilet seat or fancy tennis ball cans you’d use. We tracked down 24 of the most ridiculously expensive everyday items you could blow your wad on. Concrete Aalto Doorstop - $3500 While the rest of us are using cinderblocks we found outside for doorstops, somewhere in some mansion there’s a chunk of cement holding a door open worth $3500. You may (but probably don’t) notice...

A woman's love of shopping is a throwback to her days in the caves, according to a new study. Shoppers are using instincts they learnt from their Neanderthal ancestors, researchers have found. Dr David Holmes, of Manchester Metropolitan University, said skills that were learnt as cavemen and women were now being used in shops. He said: "Gatherers sifted the useful from things that offered them no sustenance, warmth or comfort with a skill that would eventually lead to comfortable shopping malls and credit cards. "In our evolutionary past, we gathered in caves with fires at the entrance. "We repeat this...

The struggling economy has brought more dollars to dollar stores. As other companies head into the red, these national chains say they're seeing increased amounts of green.Shopper Sebrina Slade hasn't just changed product brands."We've never done the shopping here like we do now," Slade said.She's swapped stores. "I used to have a negative connotation about shopping at thrifty places, but that's a thing of the past," Slade said.Because of the current recession, Slade heads to the South Knoxville Family Dollar store at least once a month to try and save, just in case."I know FedEx has had some layoffs so...

COB ADDER — Iraqi businessmen held a grand opening for the new Oasis Market here Jan. 23 as part of a program initiative to spark the local economy in Dhi Qar Province. The market opening is part of the Iraqi-based Industrial Zone Program (I-BIZP), which started in October 2008 to help local businesses develop within the security of a military installation. Both military and civilian customers can purchase some of the latest electronic equipment at the market, to include televisions, DVDs and other entertainment products. Yassir Ahmed, a salesperson working at the Oasis Market, said the I-BIZ program is an...

Scientists have found that the pleasure women get from making love is directly linked to the size of their partner’s bank balance. They found that the wealthier a man is, the more frequently his partner has orgasms. “Women’s orgasm frequency increases with the income of their partner,” said Dr. Thomas Pollet, the Newcastle University psychologist behind the research. He believes the phenomenon is an “evolutionary adaptation” that is hard-wired into women, driving them to select men on the basis of their perceived quality. The study is certain to prove controversial, suggesting that women are inherently programmed to be gold-diggers. However,...

Shopping online can be a way to find bargains while steering clear of crowds—and sales taxes. But those tax breaks are starting to erode. With the recession pummeling states' budgets, their governments increasingly want to fill the gaps by collecting taxes on Internet sales, which are growing even as the economy shudders. And that is sparking conflict with companies that do business online only and have enjoyed being able to offer sales-tax free shopping.

So I took the kids out to the mall to shop for Mom two days before Christmas. I want them to know that Christmas is not just about receiving but giving as well. Now let me ask a weird hypothetical. If I showed up at the Mall wearing only briefs and say my wife showed up in a minuscule bra and panties we'd likely be dragged from the premises and arrested. And rightly so, especially if you've seen me in briefs. But no matter what, it's bad, right? So why is it OK for some of these stores to have...

SEATTLE (AP) -- Amazon.com Inc. said Friday that the 2008 holiday season was the online retailer's "best ever," with more than 6.3 million items ordered and 5.6 million units shipped during its peak day on Dec. 15. Amazon's upbeat take on the holiday season bucked the drumbeat of generally dismal news from retailers. Holiday sales typically account for 30 percent to 50 percent of a retailer's annual total, but rising unemployment, home foreclosures, the stock market decline and other economic worries led many shoppers to slash their shopping budgets this year.

Retailers are feeling the heat as the economy slips deeper into recession, and many shoppers are changing their spending habits as the end of the holiday shopping season approaches. “We’ve done really well Sunday, yesterday — [customers] didn’t start coming out in full force until Sunday — but they’re looking for bargains and sales,” said Verna Baer, who works part time at the Waldenbooks in Alexandria’s Landmark Mall. “Before that, we were running about 60 percent of what we were last year.” Indeed, some shoppers in the area are adjusting their spending habits as Christmas inches closer. Customers milled through...

NEW YORK (AP) -- If you're looking for an extra bargain before the holidays, you may only have to ask. With holiday sales shaping up to be the lowest in years, possibly the worst since the industry began annual comparisons in 1969, retailers say they're taking consumers' demands for good deals seriously. Some are extending return policies, while others are matching competitors' prices. Many are volunteering on-the-spot discounts and even letting customers haggle prices well down from what's marked in a desperate bid to make the cash register ring. "You'd have to be a moron not to ask for a...

In the world of genetics and commerce most men may not have been blessed — or plagued — with the shopping gene. "It's not up there on the top of my list of things I like to do — but it's one of those things you've got to do," Stuart Kaufman of Longview said of Christmas shopping. He was among the men shopping at Dillard's on Tuesday night during a special shopping event geared toward helping them find the right holiday gift. this was the first year the store held a shopping promotion specifically for men. As enticements, the store...

The Christmas shopping season is upon us and soon I will join in the festivities by making the annual gift shopping trek to Little Rock to peruse the glittery, enticing fare from my favorite stores. Bright Christmas trees and assorted decorations will adorn the malls, restaurants and streets as my mother-in-law and I weave through the crowds, sipping our cappuccinos in search of that perfect “something.” It is not only which restaurant we will treat ourselves to or who has the best sale on this or that, but our “safety plan” that is at the top of our “to do”...

I'm one of those smug bastards who has finished his Christmas shopping. Probably will not get the wrapping done until 'eve though. Love these knives:Warther Kitchen KnivesHe started making knives because he was a whittler.

We spend so much time saving a few bucks on Black Friday. Maybe we should be just as diligent to spent time saving dollars in other dealings in our lives.

Black Friday has come and gone but the virtual version of Black Friday - known as Cyber Monday - is tomorrow, December 1st, 2008. Cyber Monday is when online retailers offer coupons, discounts and free shipping offers. It's a good day for consumers who can get some holiday shopping done and save some money at the same time. There will continue to be deals throughout December but they generally aren't quite as good as the offers you can find on Cyber Monday. Here are some Cyber Monday highlights. * The National Retail Federation says nearly 84% of all online retailers...

Call it the Anti-Mall. The tree-lined stretch of College Avenue heading south from the Rockridge BART station in Oakland is a shopping mecca for miles around. But no hordes of desperate customers lined up for steep discounts on Friday. In this shrinking economy, the small, independently owned shops that anchor the Rockridge district are pinning their survival not on cost-cutting but on the loyalty of a limited customer base whose lives and values they study closely. Nishan Shepard, the founding owner of the toy and baby supply store Rockridge Kids, can tell you that 740 infants are born at nearby...

Liberty Counsel is already waving a green flag for Christmas and a red flag for its opponents through this year's "Friend or Foe Christmas Campaign." Liberty Counsel founder Mat Staver, who is also dean of the Liberty University Law School, has launched the sixth annual campaign to determine what stores want to take "Christ" out of Christmas. "We'll be the friend of those entities that honor Christmas and do constitutionally what they're supposed to do; and the foe of those who intentionally try to censor Christmas, whether it's in the public square or whether it's in the retail," he explains. Liberty Counsel's website...

The 34-year-old man was at the entrance of the Valley Stream Walmart store just after it opened at 5 a.m. local time and was knocked to the ground, the police report said. The exact cause of death was still to be determined by a medical examiner.

Hello Freepers. It's that time of year again. Let's boost the economy. LET'S GO SHOPPING!!

How leading retailers’ messages rate Last updated: 11/19/08 We welcome your use of these ratings in your shopping decisions. As an additional way to help you communicate with the retailers we evaluated, we are providing the convenience of a petition which you can sign by visiting focuspetitions.com. Retailers will be presented with petitions — thanking those that embrace "Christmas," and alerting those that have purged or marginalized "Christmas" that you object to the secularization of Christmas. We hope you will "stand for Christmas" with us and encourage the continued acknowledgement of this historic Christian observance in our culture.

Just like stylish clutches and killer heels, gloves are this fall’s must have accessory. You can’t shop without picking up some glamorous ones. The Fashion Time editors take a look at this season’s best gloves for under $100. Carolina Amato Cashmere Blend Cuff Link Glove in Turquoise ($85) MICHAEL Michael Kors deep red quilted leather gloves ($50.15)

October 12, 2008 Losing my religion in the aisles of the new cathedral of consumerism Europe’s biggest city-centre mall is about to open in London – just as India Knight begins to break faith with shopping A shopper in London's Bond Street taking advantage of the sales I am standing on a ledge gazing down at the innards of the new Westfield shopping centre in west London. Outside, in the real world, Iceland is suddenly poorer than Africa. Inside, they are preparing for the ultimate shopping experience. Below the undulating glass roof the site is almost unimaginably enormous – the...

Curious. I always comment to my family about tv ads and how dumb they are....I would never by that product due to that stupid ad. Ok now I fell for one. How many others have an ad and what is it that compelled yall to go out and buy the product soley because of the commercial? I have an employee who does the cleaning and I jokingly tell her when I buy new a new floor mop that I got her a new boyfriend (ya I can be pretty silly in a lame way). Well now that swifter Mop ad...

California, with its long coastline littered with white bags, needs a better approach, one that encourages people to make informed choices between disposable and reusable bags. Here are the options: • A piecemeal, voluntary approach by stores. • A hard-line approach, such as a ban. • A simple, market-based solution: a consumption tax. Ireland has taken this route. Since 2002, consumers who forget to bring a bag are charged a 15-cent tax at checkout. Before the tax, Ireland's 3.9 million people used 1.2 billion bags per year. Now it's 230 million. About $9.6 million was raised from the tax in...

Adhamiyah residents look at the clothing being sold at the Adhamiyah Market Council Mall at the once-violent Omar Abdul Aziz street in the northern Baghdad District of Adhamiyah, Aug. 7, 2008. Photo by Sgt. Zachary Mott, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs. ADHAMIYAH — Omar Abdul Aziz street was the scene of some of the fiercest fighting in the months that followed the initial surge of Coalition forces into Iraq’s capital in the summer of 2007. But now, one year later, residents of the Adhamiyah District welcomed a new shop to the area – one that will...

The council plans to ban plastic carryout bags in the city's stores by 2010, unless the state imposes a 25-cent fee on those who request them.

Sadly enough, this is what life looks like here in grim old Thule: "State environmental protection officials plan to forbid all new development of large shopping centers located outside established retail districts within Norway's cities and towns. The goal is to discourage driving...

No denial. France of today is a magnificent nation. The almost perfect blend of shopping opportunities, beauty of architechture and landscape, nice freeways, marvelous food, well educated people and high-tech solutions are just about everywhere. Today, even a place like Paris or Monaco (not "de jure" French) has become poorer than Hamburg, Switzerland, Inner City London and Scandinavia, but Paris and Monaco still live up to their former reputation in many ways. Personally, I admire good old France. Just have a look at it: 25% study Sociology 25% are retired 25% are unemployed 25% are on strike Where does the...

Britney Spears stunned sales staff at a Betsey Johnson store in Sherman Oaks, California on Sunday (13Jan08) when she stepped out of a fitting room completely naked. A day before Spears' bizarre antics outside a Los Angeles courthouse cost her visitation rights to her young son for a month, the singer was stripping in front of shoppers. Spears and her paparazzi boyfriend Adnan Ghalib caused a stir at the upmarket store upon their arrival, and as trendy shoppers watched, Spears grabbed a Betsey Johnson dress and took it to a fitting room. But when she re-appeared, she wasn't wearing the...