Posted in My Favorite Things, Shopkeeping talk on December 4, 2008| 2 Comments »
If your Santa’s like mine, there’s nothing they dislike more than aimlessly wandering through stores trying to figure out what you might want for Christmas. It’s not that they don’t love you with all their hearts, but shoppers, they ain’t.
Now fiddlers in the home workshop…there’s a role for my Santa, and perhaps yours. When I saw (more…)
Posted in Shopkeeping talk on December 1, 2008| 2 Comments »
Am I just too jaded or…is everyone, including your consignment and resale customers? With retail looking bankruptcy in the face, their desperation is showing. How can we get people in? I know, let’s offer 10% off.
With a spate of 10% off offers in my e- and real-life galvanized mailbox, I find myself (more…)
Posted in Shopkeeping talk, tagged christmas on November 28, 2008| 6 Comments »
B, a counselor for L School District, said she usually spends about $1,000 in Christmas gifts for friends and family, but is cutting back to no more than $500 this year — and all of it will go toward her 3-year-old daughter, N. “I can’t afford to shop for myself. Everything has to go to my child. You have to pay bills, so some of those bills are going to get stretched out.”
That’s a few sentences out of a “news item” about the shopping scene on Thanksgiving Friday. Now, I am no expert on three-year-olds, but chances are, that little girl wouldn’t notice if her mother spent $50 or even $5 on Christmas presents and put the rest in reserve: for those bills B mentions, or for daily living expenses, or, if B and her daughter N are particularly lucky, taking the $450 not spent on “presents” for a toddler but invested for the child’s education.
$450 invested for 15 years, at 6% compound interest, would be about $1100 by the time N is ready for college. That would be, umm, just about the time when she realized that she had no specific memory of this coming Christmas…other than she was loved and warm and well-fed. I think N would rather have her textbooks paid for then, than a bunch of forgettable stuff now.
Or am I crazy? Does it really make sense to spend $500 on a child whose imagination and enjoyment can be fulfilled by a rag doll and a fairy wand? Or who’d be thrilled with a set of tea cups from the thrift store?
You’re right. What do I know about 3-year-olds? Well, here’s some thoughts from those who do:
I would be totally remiss if I did not remind all of my readers that many of the things a 3-year-old would love are available at gently-used good prices at consignment, resale, and thrift shops. That way, not only are you saving for your toddler’s future expenses…you’re actually saving the planet for her as well. And isn’t THAT a wonderful holiday present to give the next generation? Priceless, indeed.
Posted in Shopkeeping talk, tagged christmas, shop local on November 28, 2008| 1 Comment »
Yesterday, I mentioned shopping for Christmas gifts in your local museum shops. Today, I did. What (more…)
Posted in Shopkeeping talk, tagged christmas, holidays on November 26, 2008| 1 Comment »
Did you realize that you can help your town recover from (more…)
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