Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Disappointed After-Christmas Sales

I have to admit- I was sorely disappointed with the after-Christmas Sales this year.

I luckily didn't "need" much.  I had already made the decision to wait until wrapping paper and bags went to 75% off because I have such a good stock of them already.  We have plenty of Christmas cards and ornaments, so I was mainly there to find a replacement Christmas tree (ours burned out) and take advantage of any interesting little things- special candy, baking items, etc.

Target was a bit of a disappoint, as I knew it would be. They had no Christmas trees, the candy was 30% off or less and paper goods were impossible to find.  It looked like a tornado had hit the store, but I accept that is due to rude shoppers and not due to anything Target did.  Most of the baking items weren't on sale and there were no dog toys or anything else of interest there.  They appeared to mostly have ornaments and wrapping paper left.

Walmart was a bigger waste of time-the first one had almost nothing.  The second Walmart did yield a green, pre-lit Christmas tree (we got the only one there that was pre-lit with white lights!) and I found a table top white tree.  It is much smaller than what I was looking for, but it will work for my purposes.  We picked up very little else- I found a small travel cup that was on sale for half off, but most of the candy and food items we were interested in were not on sale at all, even though they were in the Clearance aisle.  Tricky Tricky Walmart.

The best yields came from Bath and Body Works and Michaels.

At Bath and Body Works I spent $38 and saved $90.  Considering $30 (not including tax) was spent on Christmas gifts for five folks next year, that isn't bad at all! :).  I also splurged on a few little $3 body washes for myself.

Michaels is where I did my best deal of the day.  I bought myself a crochet needle case with 24 needles in it for $17.50!  It had normally been $35, but they had a 50% off one item coupon and I was quick to take advantage of it. 

Overall, it appears to me that stores are stocking less merchandise for the holidays. I've heard from numerous people that some are taking apart certain gift baskets and selling the items individually for regular price- which seems to me to be illegal.

I think more people are out and about hunting the deals.  The crowds are pushing shoppers to get up earlier and earlier- I just refuse to be up at 5am to be out shopping.  

I suspect this year will be my last year of feverish after-Christmas shopping.

-Kristen

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