Mervyns & Linins are biting the dust, closing the doors, going by by - save
your coin for the sales.

If someone is going to be screwed it should be the creditors.

Right?

Dimitri

..
NEW YORK (Market Watch) -- The tightening credit market has claimed the life
of yet another retailer, with bankrupt department-store chain Mervyn's the
latest to call it quits.

After exhausting all other options, Mervyn's, the 59-year old retailer in
California and the Southwest, said it plans to hold "going out of business"
sales during the holidays at all of its remaining 149 locations. The
Hayward, Calif.-based company, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
protection in July, said that it will offer deep discounts to drive traffic
to its stores.
"We are disappointed with this outcome," said Mervyn's Chief Executive John
Goodman. "Although we took a number of steps to improve our financial
performance, we were unable to return the company to profitability."

Mervyn's joined other retailers such as Linens 'n Things that decided to
fold their operations after the financial-sector meltdown squeezed off
sources of financing for companies across the board, let alone struggling
chains seeking a turnaround, analysts have said. Mervyn's deep discounts
during the holidays, the industry's biggest selling period, are also
expected to further pressure rival department stores and other retailers
that already are headed for their worst holiday season, by some measures, in
17 years.

"Dimitri" > wrote in message
...
> Mervyns & Linins are biting the dust, closing the doors, going by by -
> save your coin for the sales.
>

If Linens & Things has a going out of business sale, we might see the first
fair prices there. They gouge you just like BB&B does.

cybercat wrote:
> "Dimitri" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Mervyns & Linins are biting the dust, closing the doors, going by by -
>> save your coin for the sales.
>>
>
> If Linens & Things has a going out of business sale, we might see the first
> fair prices there. They gouge you just like BB&B does.

Linens & Things has already liquidated and closed up in my area. During
their clearance sales, there were no bargains. The first thing the store
did was raise their regular prices, then "mark down" and "discount"
clearance stock.

There is one supermarket here that uses the same strategy during
"sales": Albertson's. Mark it up first, then return sale items to the
original price.

"Pennyaline" > wrote
>
> Linens & Things has already liquidated and closed up in my area. During
> their clearance sales, there were no bargains. The first thing the store
> did was raise their regular prices, then "mark down" and "discount"
> clearance stock.

Ugh. How long ago was that? I wonder if the current economic climate might
get us some better deals in NC.
>
> There is one supermarket here that uses the same strategy during "sales":
> Albertson's. Mark it up first, then return sale items to the original
> price.
>

Such an old, tired, crappy tactic! This is one reason I love Marshall's and
Macy's. They both have real sales all the time.

cybercat > wrote:

> Such an old, tired, crappy tactic! This is one reason I love Marshall's and
> Macy's. They both have real sales all the time.

Federated Department stores (Macy's and their cousin stores) are
infamous for selling things at way above their suggested retail
price, and then lowering them to normal prices only during a sale.

Or advertising things as "Regularly $599.99, now only $429.99", then
they were never sold at the $599.99 price anywhere.

I got suckered into buying a set of luggage the latter way. It's
decent luggage, but it turned out the suggested retail price from
the manufacturer was the same price I paid. I've noticed it on
other "sale" items as well since then.

-sw

In article >,
"Dimitri" > wrote:

> Mervyns & Linins are biting the dust, closing the doors, going by by - save
> your coin for the sales.
>
> If someone is going to be screwed it should be the creditors.
>
> Right?

I don't have a lot of sympathy for Mervyns. Lia posted in another
thread about "themed" restaurants, and how they didn't last forever,
generally. Well, Mervyns was a "themed" department store. Their theme
was, "we will sell no merchandise at the marked price". I'm sure there
were some people not familiar with the store who paid the marked price,
but after shopping there a few times, if it was for sale at the marked
price, and it wasn't an emergency item for the customer, they would just
wait a couple of weeks until it was marked down. Maybe they had
multiple markdowns, I don't remember. I seldom shopped there, even
though I do most of my shopping within walking distance, and Mervyns was
right on my street about seven blocks down.

My daughter worked there for a few months. They had very little
employee loyalty. Fortunately, my daughter works very hard, is very
smart and very loyal. After three weeks at Mervyns, there was a problem
in the store. I think it was an unhappy customer. There was a
supervisor there, who had no idea what to do. Well, my daughter doesn't
tolerate problems. She doesn't hide, she doesn't run away and she
doesn't pretend that she doesn't see them. She just gets right in there
and fixes them. So she did, and everybody was happy. Afterwards, an
experienced employee (someone who had been there a few months and was in
her thirties, that's an experienced employee at Mervyns), told my
daughter that she should be a manager. My daughter laughed. She had
only been there three weeks, she had no management experience, she had
just graduated from high school and she was only 17. The woman said it
didn't matter, she fixed problems and that's what managers do.

My daughter worked very hard, and was rewarded with lots of hours.
Occasionally, she even worked 38 3/4 hours in a work week, which was the
maximum. That was five shifts at 7 3/4 hours per shift. Nobody worked
8 hour shifts. If I remember right (and it's been five years now), an
eight hour shift meant two 15 minute breaks and a half hour lunch, all
paid. So, the maximum shift was 7 3/4 hours, and my daughter got a lot
of those. My daughter's favorite shift was the Wednesday unloading the
truck shift. She could wear old clothes and didn't have to take a bath
first. If she didn't stink going into the shift, she certainly did at
the end. She also liked the exercise, since it helped control her
weight. Their shifts were weird, though. Sometimes she would get the
shift that included cleanup, and she got off at midnight. Sometimes she
got the shift that included setup. On a big sale day, that started at
5AM. About once a month, she'd get the shift ending at midnight, and
then she was expected to be there five hours later. Fortunately, she
was very young and had a lot of energy and could survive on little sleep
(she made up for it the next night, though).

After just a few months, she took two weeks off to run a church camp.
When she returned, she was greeted enthusiastically. But not as a
returning employee. After being gone for two weeks, almost nobody
remembered her! I don't know if they had just forgotten, or they had
all been hired during those two weeks. They had a huge turnover. My
daughter's best friend went to work there for a while. She lived about
ten miles from us and had no car. Her father drove by us and the
Mervyns most mornings, but not in time for those 5AM shifts. So I would
get up in the morning for work, and there was Gwendy asleep on our couch.

My daughter had signed up for a one semester study abroad program
through the junior college, in London, so she quit Mervyns, as she would
be out of the country for several months. Since she lived at home while
working at Mervyns, she had saved up most of that money for expenses in
London. Between some savings, a couple of scholarships and money from
us, she was able to pay for the semester in London, which she just loved.

I will probably do some Christmas shopping this year at Mervyns. Still,
how do you know what's a good price? The markdown is no clue, since
almost everything was already marked down all the time.

--
Dan Abel
Petaluma, California USA

"Sqwertz" > wrote in message
...
> cybercat > wrote:
>
>> Such an old, tired, crappy tactic! This is one reason I love Marshall's
>> and
>> Macy's. They both have real sales all the time.
>
> Federated Department stores (Macy's and their cousin stores) are
> infamous for selling things at way above their suggested retail
> price, and then lowering them to normal prices only during a sale.
>
> Or advertising things as "Regularly $599.99, now only $429.99", then
> they were never sold at the $599.99 price anywhere.
>
> I got suckered into buying a set of luggage the latter way. It's
> decent luggage, but it turned out the suggested retail price from
> the manufacturer was the same price I paid. I've noticed it on
> other "sale" items as well since then.
>

The clearance sales are always good values. I compare prices before I buy.

Dimitri wrote:
> Mervyns & Linins are biting the dust, closing the doors, going by by
> - save your coin for the sales.
>
> If someone is going to be screwed it should be the creditors.
>
> Right?
>
> Dimitri
>
Isn't Mervyn's part of the Target chain out of Minnesota? I seem to recall
having to set up all their workers comp and liability insurance stuff...

Jill

On Sat, 18 Oct 2008 23:46:12 -0500, Sqwertz wrote:

> cybercat > wrote:
>
>> Such an old, tired, crappy tactic! This is one reason I love Marshall's and
>> Macy's. They both have real sales all the time.
>
> Federated Department stores (Macy's and their cousin stores) are
> infamous for selling things at way above their suggested retail
> price, and then lowering them to normal prices only during a sale.
>
> Or advertising things as "Regularly $599.99, now only $429.99", then
> they were never sold at the $599.99 price anywhere.
>
> I got suckered into buying a set of luggage the latter way. It's
> decent luggage, but it turned out the suggested retail price from
> the manufacturer was the same price I paid. I've noticed it on
> other "sale" items as well since then.
>
> -sw

i'm not sure this is legal. i thought they must have 'offered' the item at
that price, however briefly. you do often see the words 'intermediate
markdowns have been taken' somewhere in those ads.

it is sometimes hard to resist 'oh my god, i can save a hundred bucks'
though.

your pal,
blake

On Sat, 18 Oct 2008 22:58:25 -0400, cybercat wrote:

> "Pennyaline" > wrote
>>
>> Linens & Things has already liquidated and closed up in my area. During
>> their clearance sales, there were no bargains. The first thing the store
>> did was raise their regular prices, then "mark down" and "discount"
>> clearance stock.
>
> Ugh. How long ago was that? I wonder if the current economic climate might
> get us some better deals in NC.
>>
>> There is one supermarket here that uses the same strategy during "sales":
>> Albertson's. Mark it up first, then return sale items to the original
>> price.
>>
>
> Such an old, tired, crappy tactic! This is one reason I love Marshall's and
> Macy's. They both have real sales all the time.

i sometimes buy shirts and underwear at a marshall's near me. name brands,
good prices.

your pal,
blake

In article >,
"jmcquown" > wrote:

> Isn't Mervyn's part of the Target chain out of Minnesota? I seem to recall
> having to set up all their workers comp and liability insurance stuff...
>
> Jill

Not for a couple years at least. It was offloaded.
--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://web.mac.com/barbschaller, Thelma and Louise
On the Road Again - It is Finished