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Don’t have a lot of extra dough for Christmas gifts this year? Join the club. In fact, retailers all across the country are altering their game plans as people alter their budgets. Many retailers are anticipating smaller holiday gift budgets, and are making sure to offer plenty of “small ticket” items at great discount—apparel , DVDs, small electronics and toys, books, etc. In fact, there just doesn’t seem to be a real stand-out “big ticket” item being marketed to the masses this year.
Retailers are actually taking a cue from the general anxiety many people are feeling this year, and are pushing many “comfort items”—deep discounts on merchandise that could be considered the grilled cheese and tomato soup of gifts.
Many of these deep discounts have already begun prior to the typical kick-off Black Friday sales, and many will continue well beyond. If you’re planning on heading out early Friday morning, I recommend checking out BlackFriday.info. They’ve got all major retailers’ ads for Black Friday.
Here are a few “comfort items” that I recommend.
- Give the gift of ‘Friends’ to your friends. If any show could be considered “comfort viewing,” it has to be ‘Friends.’ You know those cold evenings when you’re lazily channel surfing, and you stumble across an old ‘Friends’ episode—maybe the one where Ross buys the leather pants—and you just have to watch. It’s like curling up with a cup of cocoa and animal crackers. And this Friday at Target, 15901 Ford Road, you can get every season of ‘Friends’ for only $8.99. How you doin’?
- How about getting something handy and practical? This Friday at Home Depot, 5951 Mercury Drive, you can pick up a Workforce 50-piece screwdriver set for only $4.88. Or if you’re in need of some Christmas stockings to put your gifts in, you can pick a couple up for $3.98 each.
- Is there anything that says “comfort” more than a crock pot? Beef stew, pot roast and potatoes, bean soup…does anything come out of a crock pot that isn’t comfort food? You can pick up 4-quart crock pot at Best Buy, 16221 Ford Road, this Friday for $14.99.
- With people spending less to go out for entertainment, how about something to help encourage in-house entertainment? ACO, 22611 Michigan Avenue, is having a three-day sale (Friday, Saturday and Sunday), where you can get a Magnavox DVD player for only $19.99. Combine that with a few of those ‘Friends’ DVDs, and some lucky friend or relative will be happy to stay in for the next few months.
- Or how about the ultimate stay-at-home fun? Board and card games! Toys R Us, 24411 Michigan Avenue, has many games either half-off or buy-one-get-one free, including UNO, Gnip-Gnop (remember that one?!? With the ping-pong balls!), Monopoly Card Game, and Wheel of Fortune Board Game.
For those of us crazy enough to brave the crowds on Friday, here are the Black Friday hours for several local retailers (as well as extended holiday hours for Fairlane Town Center):
Fairlane Town Center, 18900 Michigan Avenue. Black Friday, 7a-9p.
Saturday, November 28: 9am – 9pm
Sunday, November 29: 10am – 7pm
Monday, November 30 – Saturday, December 5: 10am – 9pm
Sunday, December 6: 10am – 7pm
Monday, December 7 – Thursday, December 10: 10am – 9pm
Friday, December 11 – Saturday, December 12: 9am – 10pm
Sunday, December 13: 10am – 8pm
Monday, December 14 – Thursday, December 17: 9am – 10pm
Friday, December 18 – Wednesday, December 23: 8am – 10pm
Thursday, December 24 (Christmas Eve): 8am – 6pm
Friday, December 25 (Christmas Day): MALL CLOSED
ACO, 22611 Michigan Avenue. Black Friday, 9a-9p
Toys R Us, 24411 Michigan Avenue. Black Friday, opens at 4a.
Best Buy, 16221 Ford Road. Black Friday, 5a-10p.
Home Depot, 5951 Mercury Drive. Black Friday, opens at 6a. |
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