It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas — Christmas layaway that is. Forget about Halloween candy. It’s time to put all of your holiday gifts on layaway starting Sept. 16 at Walmart.
And, in a Bob Cratchit twist, Walmart has listened to consumers and lowered the price of its layaway for 2012 back to 2011 figures. According to LaToya Evans, senior manager of corporate communications at the retail giant, the fee was originally $15 but that has been, to borrow a Walmart term, rolled back to $5. Even that small amount, though, will be refunded upon the successful completion of the layaway. “We’ll refund it in the form of a Walmart gift card,” Evans said.
Toys R Us promptly went one better, offering free layaway in an effort to spur spending ahead of the holiday shopping season.
Toys R Us said it is waiving the upfront fees that it usually applies to layaway purchases. The company said that deal will last through Oct. 31. Layaway will still be available after that date, but with a $5 service fee.
The free layaway applies to a variety of its products, including toys, video games and swing sets. But the company said the deal does not apply to clothing, drinks, diapers, batteries and “holiday-related items.”
Toys R Us allows shoppers to secure the product by making a 20 percent down payment, so long as they pay 50 percent of the total price within 45 days and pay for the product in full by Dec. 16.
Toys R Us has faced tough competition from mass merchandise retailers like Wal-Mart and Target. Retailers are bracing for another holiday shopping season amidst a weak economy and high unemployment.
Layaway plans have become more popular lately due to uncertainty in the economy. Earlier this summer, Sears announced that it was offering vacation packages on layaway through its SearsVacations.com site.
Hot time for iGrill
The folks at iDevices in Canton have been on a bit of a magic carpet ride with their iGrill product. Great promotion seems to follow the grilling product, which uses an app to communicate with smartphones, wherever it goes.
First it won a major award at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January 2011 that brought it national acclaim. Now it’s received the blessing of Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook.
One recent evening Zuckerberg tweeted to his legions of followers, “I updated my grilling app, iGrill, today and it now has Facebook integration that lets you see what other people are grilling right now around the world. Awesome. I’m making a Fred’s steak.”
After that comment, the iGrill site was inundated with visitors, causing the site to go down for two hours.
That prompted a happy statement from Chris Allen, CEO of iDevices. “We were caught totally off guard by Mark Zuckerberg’s post and the immediate influx of traffic. We had quietly released this update for our users … and were waiting for it to gain traction, but this obviously gives us a huge head start, thus a quick add on of servers and bandwidth was needed. We are excited to see how this unfolds, but I would like to dispel the rumors that iGrill or iDevices received any investment from Mr. Zuckerberg to date, although we would welcome the opportunity to work with him, this is not something that has occurred yet.”
What transpired for iGrill was an immediate spike in sales. Karen Thomas, the company’s spokesperson, said sales spiked for the $79.99 product with 2,000 sold in the following days. According to an NPR news article, sales of the iGrill spiked 500 percent after the glowing recommendation.
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Bag rules cost jobs
Apparently a ban on plastic bags leads to lower employment and lost sales.
At least that’s the viewpoint put forward by the National Center for Policy Analysis. The NCPA surveyed store managers in Los Angeles County where a ban of thin-film bags took effect in July 2011, to determine the ban’s impact on revenues and employment.
According to a news release, over a one-year period before and after the ban, stores that fell under the bag ban experienced a 10 percent reduction in employment, while employment in stores outside of the ban slightly increased. Additionally, the majority of stores surveyed in areas with a ban reported an overall average sales decline of nearly 6 percent. However, the majority of respondents surveyed in areas without a ban reported an overall average sales growth of 9 percent.
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Sales numbers improve
Beating economists’ estimates and forecasts, retail sales edged higher in the month of July — breaking three consecutive months of declining growth — demonstrating that consumers are gaining some semblance of confidence this summer.
According to the National Retail Federation, July retail sales (excluding automobile, gas stations and restaurants) increased 0.8 percent seasonally adjusted from June and 1.2 percent unadjusted year-over-year.
“Halfway through the back-to-school season retailers are seeing positive signs that consumers are spending,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. “However, sustained retail growth hinges on Congress’ and the administration’s ability to make smart decisions about the economy and Americans’ confidence in our long-term recovery.”
July retail sales data released by the U.S. Department of Commerce showed total retail and food services sales (which include non-general merchandise categories such as automobiles, gasoline stations, and restaurants) increased 0.8 percent seasonally adjusted month-to-month and 4.1 percent adjusted year-over-year. If it were unadjusted, it would be 3.4 percent.
