Holiday Shopping

Teri Ann Renee Paisley, Gleaner Online Writer
My favourite time of year is fast approaching. No it’s not visions of sugar plums that are dancing in my head, it’s bargains that are just waiting as in a few weeks the shopping season will be in full swing.

Stores need to showcase their new stock, but before they can do so, they need to find a way to get rid of their older merchandise. Since they also need to make a profit from their investment, they can’t just give it away. The quick fix at this time of year is to offer a reduction on selected items throughout the store.

This might seem like a wonderful gift to consumers who struggle to afford basic necessities and so have very little left over to buy luxuries. However, it is rare that sales are really beneficial for consumers. This is because often the prices are so inflated that after the reduction the item now costs what it should have in the first place.

Another disappointing aspect of holiday sales is that they very often feature sizes that are either very small or very large. The quality of the garments on sale are also to be considered as they often have stains which can prove difficult to remove.

Those concerns aside though it is possible to occasionally discover stores which are offering attractive sales packages.

One such offer that caught my eye was the sale at Puzzles, a usually high end clothing store located in The Tropical Plaza.
They are currently in the process of closing that branch of the store and moving to another location.

I was hesitant at first about spending any of my hard earned cash on clothes which I thought would be over priced despite the advertised sale. Imagine my surprise and delight however when I was told that if you bought one of any item in the store, you would receive another item free.

There were some conditions of course, the item that you got free had to be lesser in price than the one you bought.
So for example I bought a dress for $4000.00 and received another dress that cost $3900.00 absolutely free.

The sizes were varied enough so that a wide array of shoppers in the store were able to find something to fit.
The clothing on sale in my opinion seemed to be well made and not damaged.
The sale began the 1st of November however the store clerk could not confirm when it would end.

So what should the smart shopper do during the holiday season?

Check out the sales!

Don’t let the shopping season depress you even with a limited budget you can enjoy the season!

Tags: Christmas, savings, shopping