J.C. Penny To Close 33 Stores - An Opportunity To Save!

Whenever someone of a particular age groups hears about the closing of a store with history, it tends to evoke thoughts of nostalgia, or memories of simpler times and experiences in that store. When J.C. Penny announced this week that it was closing some 33 stores around the country in an effort to save the struggling retailer some more than $60 million in annual costs and expenditures (and ending some 2,000 positions), this was probably the thinking that entered into the minds of some longtime and loyal customers of the chain. However, what I and other penny pinchers thought upon hearing this news was the opportunity to save money in the upcoming inventory liquidations that are sure to come in the wake of the closings. Granted, some stores will be moving their inventories to higher-performing stores designated to stay open, more isolated stores will probably be the ones to begin slashing prices in order to reduce their stocks in preparations for the closings, which are slated to being this New Year.
Below is a list of the stores slated to close, as reported by the Wall Street Journal yesterday. It is highly-advised that those looking for deals—especially in the vicinity of these particular stores—to keep a sharp eye out for sales indicating the beginning of inventory reduction.

State	City	Shopping Center
AL	Selma	Selma Mall
CA	Rancho Cucamonga	Arrow Plaza
CO	Colorado Springs	Chapel Hills Mall
CT	Meriden	Meriden Square
FL	Leesburg	Lake Square Mall
FL	Port Richey	Gulf View Square
IA	Muscatine	Muscatine Mall
IL	Bloomingdale	Stratford Square Mall
IL	Forsyth	Hickory Point Mall
IN	Marion	Five Points Mall
IN	Warsaw	Marketplace Shopping Center
MD	Salisbury	The Centre at Salisbury
MI	Marquette	Westwood Plaza
MN	Worthington	Northland Mall
MS	Gautier	Singing River Mall
MS	Natchez	Natchez Mall
MT	Butte	Butte Plaza Shopping Center
MT	Cut Bank	(N/A)
NC	Kinston	Vernon Park Mall
NJ	Burlington	Burlington Center
NJ	Phillipsburg	Phillipsburg Mall
OH	Wooster	Wayne Towne Plaza
PA	Exton	Exton Square Mall
PA	Hazleton	Laurel Mall
PA	Washington	Washington Mall
TN	Chattanooga	Northgate Mall
VA	Bristol	Bristol Mall
VA	Norfolk	Military Circle Mall
WI	Fond Du Lac	Forest Mall
WI	Janesville	Janesville Mall
WI	Rhinelander	Lincoln Plaza Center
WI	Rice Lake	Cedar Mall
WI	Wausau	Wausau Mall

And as with any store closing, prices will invariably being to cut more the closer each store gets to actually shutting its doors. The closing of these J.C. Penny’s stores might actually be an opportunity in disguise to do a little early gift-shopping in anticipation of next Christmas…or to indulge in a little self-pampering with savings on high-end merchandise. Stay tuned!

Catchy New K-Mart Ads...Laugh Out Loud Good!

As a child, I remember that K-Mart was the Walmart of the day. It was simply the place to go for people on the lower-end of the economic scale (which we were growing up). You could go there, and buy toys, electronics, and clothes (of course this was before the advent of clothing lines that were meant to convey status and/or popularity). K-Mart was the lower-end competitors to (then) higher-end stores like J.C. Penny, Sears, and the like. I can personally attest to the retail store saving many a Christmas growing up for my family as well as many others.
However, later came competition from other discount retail chains such as Target, Walmart, and the various “dollar only” stores. Because of these later competitors, K-Mart found itself on the economic ropes in recent years, even agreeing to merge with now fellow struggling chain store Sears…to less than stellar sales.
But K-Mart might have just redeemed itself from its years-long economic spiral into retail irrelevance with two new edgy television ads that even makes me want to go back to the retailer to see what deals I might be able to find. Take a look at the ads posted below as you struggle to try to avoid smiling, laughing out loud, or jump into your vehicles and see if the deals are as appealing as their new ad campaigns!

Needless to say, I will be reporting right here any values and deals that might be the result from this new-found interests in the age-old (and suddenly more interesting) retailer.

Target Looks To Win More Customers With Price-Matching

Over the last Christmas spending season, the Target store chain enacted a policy of matching the prices of its most noteworthy competitors (read: Wal-Mart) in an effort to attract more customers. And despite the fact that this policy didn’t attract the numbers it sought after all of the post-holiday tallies, the retail chain announced last Tuesday that it would begin matching competitor’s prices all year round. According to a recent news release,

“it has decided to keep the bargains coming on a steady basis by matching prices found on the websites of its most important competitors: Amazon.com, Best Buy, Wal-Mart and Toys “R” Us (See:  "Target to match prices year-round of rival retailers Walmart, Amazon, Best Buy and Toys ‘R’ Us" ). 

This means that if you purchased a “qualifying item” at Target, the retail chain will match the price from Amazon.com, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, or Toys “R” Us’s print ads, or from their online stores. Additionally, Target has said that it would “match its own prices if a consumer buys a product in a Target store and then sees it at a lower price in the following week’s Target circular.”
This policy is the latest in a rough-n-tumble fight among the major retailers to claim a share of consumer market where we are forced to save as much as possible when making a routine purchase of any kind. However—yes, there is always a “however” when looking for the best deals—Target tends to stock specialty and exclusive brands which are only sold at the chain’s 1,700 stores, such as its current Target + Neiman collection (a partnership with luxury apparel chain Neiman Marcus). This means that you as a savvy shopper are going to have to put in some work in order to find an item that you can actually buy at a lower price after the comparison shopping.
For example, if you are looking to purchase a Playstation 3 video gaming system, Best Buy’s online store has the basic system priced as $299 (Current Listing). However, the PS3 at Target's online store is listed at the same price, but comes in a “bundled” package that also includes a copy of the hit video game Assassin’s Creed as well as a 30-day trial membership in Playstation’s “Plus” online gaming network (Current Listing).
The upshot is that despite Target's attempt to beat out competitors by way of price-matching, this does in no way mean an automatic savings for shoppers.  It still means that in order to find the best deals, you will have to continue to do what the most savvy of shoppers have always done...comparison shop!

Where To Find Post-Christmas Bargains...

It's the day after Christmas 2012, and if you're like me, you are looking for the post-Christmas Day bargains that you weren't able to find prior to the biggest spending occasion of the year. And being early morning as I write and post this piece, you are probably chomping at the bit to dash out the door to hit the ground running to look for bargains. According to retail industry experts, many retailers have already begun slashing the prices of in-stock merchandise in preparation to make room to seasonal inventory. That's a boon for customers looking for deep-cut bargains.
Taking some time to search the 'net will pay for itself insomuch as bargains. Sites like Afterchristmas2012.com are a good start.
In addition, I have taken the liberty to post whom has, and where to find the best after-Christmas Day bargains.
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Target is also offering great deals on Christmas day online along with their after Christmas sale. Target is giving away a $10 gift card when your purchase is $75 or more. This store has deals in all their departments with an emphasis on electronics with great deals on all the gadgets you might have wanted for Christmas, but didn’t get.
Target: Promo code for your $10 gift card is XMASGIFT (this is good for online only).

Best Buy is also making preparations to get in on the post-Christmas sales rush. The troubled electronics retailer is featuring several big deals, including a bargain on the Galaxy Note II, which is dropped in price to $249.99 when you sign-up for a two-year activation. Best Buy is rolling out all types of sales and deals for the day after Christmas both in the store and online. This sale starts on Dec. 26, and continues for four days. In addition to the bargains being offered by the major retailers, bargain-hunters can get even more possible savings by searching out coupons and/or promotional codes.

Kohl’s department store is offering Gold star clearance items at between 60-80% off.

Amazon.com is boasting 60% off select books (my personal favorite past time) titles.

Gordon’s Jewelers is hosting up to 70% off on clearance items – plus an extra 20 percent off if you buy online More than 1,000 pieces have been discounted for this sale, including engagement rings.

In addition, sites like Coupons.com tend to have a line on coupons which can be printed out and used in many online and brick-and-mortar retailers.
Naturally this isn't an exhaustive list of after-Christmas deals.  However, it does illustrate the point that taking a few moments to research where the best deals are can save both money and the wear-and-tear on the seat of your pants as you kick yourselves for spending more than you should.

Look Out for (Hidden) Credit Card Surcharges

As if things weren’t bad enough with the average consumer having to diligently watch where every penny goes during these lean economic times, some retailers have began engaging in a questionable practice resulting in a slow nickel-and-diming of consumer’s bank and credit card accounts. As a result of the antitrust settlement reached earlier this year between credit card issuing banks and major retailers (discussed on an earlier posting: “The Higher Cost of Banking…and How To Avoid It”),some retailers have already started to instituting “checkout fees,” surcharges of $1 or $2 on purchases made with either debit or credit cards.

Retailers use these fees as a means of attempting to recoup processing fees levied in turn on them by the card issuing banks. Before the settlement, major card issuing banks such as Visa and Mastercard prohibited retailers from charging such fees. The sad part of this policy is that we shouldn’t expect it to go anywhere, anytime soon. In fact, it’s probably a safe bet—barring a major consumer revolt—that more and more retailers will start charging these fees in order to offset the costs they incur processing credit and debit card payments.
Bill Hardekopf, CEO of LowCards.com offers some times for beating these surcharges at the register:

* ASK ABOUT ANY CREDIT/DEBIT CARD SURCHARGES BEFORE THE TRANSACTION.

* RETAILERS MUST DISCLOSE ANY SURCHARGES BEFORE THE TRANSACTION.

* IF THERE IS A SURCHARGE, DECLINE IT AND REQUEST ANOTHER METHOD OF PAYMENT. If necessary, cancel the transaction and shop somewhere else.

* REVIEW YOUR RECEIPT. Even if you end up using cash, a check or your debit card, review the receipt to make sure the store didn't levy a surcharge. There should never be a surcharge on a cash purchase.

Click on the graphic to view how surcharges appear on sale receipts.

In addition, Consumer Report’s website has an online guide warning credit card hunters shopping around for the best credit card deals about what to look for in order to avoid being nickled-and-dimed by credit card issuing banks.
You should know that there are 10 states which by law prohibit retailers from charging checkout fees.  They are:

California
Colorado
Connecticut
Florida
Kansas
Maine
Massachusetts
New York
Oklahoma
Texas

If you find that you are either being charged in one of these states, or being charged excessively (relatively speaking), Visa offers an online reporting site where you can submit your complaints.  Additionally, consumers who are subjected to checkout fees in states where they are protected by law may report the retailer to their state attorney general's office.
When it comes to spending money, the first rule of thumb is to remember the advice our mothers gave us; always check your receipts!