10A HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE
THE UNIVERSITY OF DARIE KANSAN
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2007
SHOPPING
Consumers avoid crowds to eliminate stress; some say chaos is worth that extra discount
BY HELEN MUBARAK editor@kansan.com
This holiday season, Rachel Schieber is planning to avoid high-profile shopping days at all costs.
"I don't like to be stressed when I shop," Schieber, Kansas City, Mo., junior, said. "Although it's cheaper and there is a lot on sale, I would so much rather pay full price when there is absolutely no one else there."
According to the research company ShopperTrek, sales rose by 8.3 percent on the day after Thanksgiving compared with last year. In anticipation of the surge in customers during the holiday season, some retailers have increased their store hours and held rehearsals to prepare their employees for the crowds.
Megan McGillin, store manager at J.C. Penney, 3311 Iowa St., said
the Friday after Thanksgiving and the Saturday before Christmas were the busiest shopping days of the year. In order to prepare for such high-profile shopping days, McGill said she looked at sales figures from the previous year to see what times were most busy, and planned accordingly.
"We got an hour-by-hour sales read, so we knew when to have enough associates to help customers," McGinn said. "Basically everyone in the store, including people who usually have behind-the scenes jobs, was working on the day after Thanksgiving this year."
McGillin said this year's day after Thanksgiving sale brought in more sales for JC Penney than it had in the past few years. She said the sales on that day amounted to eight or nine times a regular Saturday.
On the day after Thanksgiving,
Photo Illustration by Andrew Wacker
Samantha Foster went to work at 3:45 a.m. Foster, Lecompton freshman, is an employee at JC Penney.
Besides the stress of spending lots of money,waiting in long lines and dealing with congested traffic,answering the question of what to give people can make shopping less fun.
"I'm actually glad I came in so early," Foster said. "I had to close my first year – it was awful. I'm sure we stained an hour past closing."
Foster said JC Penney was constantly busy during the holidays. JC Penney and other department stores usually count on holiday sales to expand their yearly sales. While the season is profitable for retailers, Foster said it was often stressful for pro-
"People are just in a hurry. They want to get in, and hopefully get out, before the line gets too long."
stressful for employees.
get out, before the line gets too long. So instead of talking to people and asking what they're looking for, they mostly just ask you where it is and then rush over and grab it."
"The store just becomes an enormous mess," she said. "There is a lot of folding and finding where things go."
Devin Sinha participated in holiday training two weeks ago. Sinha, Lenexa sophomore, is a wireless specialist for Best Buy, 2020 W. 31st St.
Sinha said the training was to ensure that all the employees knew what their departments were going to look like during the holiday season and how the employees were supposed to handle all the customers.
DEVIN SINHA Best Buy employee
Sinha worked for Best Buy for more than two years and this will be his third holiday season working for the retail store.
Sinha said at times, the line of customers waiting to pay wrapped
"During the holidays, you can see some vicious customers," Sinha said. "People are just in a hurry. They want to get in, and hopefully
to play. Wraps around the entire building. He said Best Buy employees tried to separate the lines so customers who were still shopping could move around the store more easily.
Despite the crowds, Sinha said the deals were worth the
stress of shopping during the holidays.
"There are some amazing deals," he said. "In pretty much every department, you can find something on sale."
Electronics could be hot items this shopping season. Sony Corporation representatives said that strong demand for high definition televisions, digital cameras and laptops will deliver its best holiday sales to date.
Tom Hudson, Los Angeles sophomore, plans to brave the crowds in order to save money. He said he expected huge discounts because a majority of retailers used sales to unload their profits and boost their numbers near the end of the year.
"This is always a good time to shop," Hudson said. "I'm mainly buying gifts, but I always get something for myself, too."
Photo Illustration by Andrew Wacker
The Holiday season can be a stressful time to shop in large department stores. Spending lots of money and waiting in long lines can make the giving experience less enjoyable.
Although Tyler Wills, Olathe freshman, is saving his holiday shopping for much later in the season, he said the women in his family were shopping extremists.
"My mom and my aunt are shopping by 5 a.m. on Friday morning," Wills said. "They pretty much spend the whole day shopping. There have been nights when my mom doesn't come home until 10 p.m."
Wills said they made a list, evalu
ated the importance of each item and planned a detailed route to stores in the Kansas City area. He said that sometimes they overbought and then had to return certain items.
Wills said he was brave but he was reluctant to face the holiday crowds.
"I definitely can't spend a whole day shopping," he said.
— Edited by Rachael Gray
What do you think? BY ALEX DUFEK
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE HOLIDAY WINTER BREAK MEMORY?
IAN OSLER
Garnet sophomore
"Every year, eating a big Christmas meal with my family."
KATIE KISNER
Lawrence freshman
"Stealing a Santa."
CHARLIE MULLINS Denver freshman "Nighttime skiing on Christmas Eve."
PAUL DESANDRO
PAUL DESANDRO
Colorado Springs, Colo., junior
"Getting snowed in and making huge snow forts and having snowball fights."
STILL
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