Retail Manipulation

Kohl’s must be apopleptic. Right in the middle of its Black Friday prequel, the power went out at the local shopping center. I can hear the collective gasp of the cash registers.

The Games Stores Play

Did I mention that I hate shopping? The sales games. The card loyalty games. The coupon games. Every time I go into CVS and I’m asked, “Do you have your card?” I want to scream, but I respond in a clipped tone. “Use yours.” And the clerk duly swipes the store card. I get the discount without the yards of paper touting so-called bargains I have little use for.

However, I’ve been dealing with deferred consumer demand. My eyeglasses were 12 or 15 years old and it had been 10 years since I had an exam. I needed underwear. My favorite 400 and 600 thread count sheets were fraying and/or torn and I had resorted to mix and match; even that wasn’t working any more.