On 24/11/2012 10:01 PM, Steve Pope wrote:

>> The difference is nursing pays better and it is an essential service.
>> Some people need 24/7 care. There is no good reason to have big sales on
>> holidays.
>
> The purpose of holiday sales, Christmas gift-giving, etc. is to
> guilt people into purchases they otherwise wouldn't make.
>
> Is this bad? Probably not. It's these suckers who keep the
> economy going.


I thought it was more about dumping their excess inventory. Stores
always get lots of extra stuff in for Christmas. Stock rooms that
usually have only enough to replenish stock at a regular turnover rate,
but in the weeks leading up to Christmas they stockrooms are usually
packed with a lot of extra stuff. Stores do not want to run out of the
hot items. Not only do they miss out on sales, but they get a
reputation for not having the food stuff in stock so people get into the
habit of shopping elsewhere.

Stores usually end up with tons of unsold merchandise....a lot of money
tied up in inventory. It is cheaper and easier for them to dump the stuff.

The problem is that post Christmas sales became such major events that
the competition got stiffer. They started having more and more stuff
just for the sale, and even lower prices. Of course there is always the
disclaimer about limit stock for the really good deals.. so come early.
People started to clue in that they could get what they wanted at the
post Christmas sales, so they stopped shopping before Christmas. Instead
of giving presents, a lot of people started giving cash so that the
recipients could go out to the sales and get what they want themselves.
Pre Christmas sales volume started dropping, so some of the stores
started pushing the pre-Christmas sales.