Section B · Page 10
The University Daily Kansan
Thursday, December 3, 1998
Popular items make gift giving fun,unreliable
By Matt Gardner Special to the Kansan
The doors open at exactly 9 a.m. and the first shoppers show up nearly two and a half hours before the first employee enters the building.
As holidays approach, so does the craze to snatch the most popular gifts of the holiday season. With Christmas almost three weeks away, Shana Love, assistant store manager at SuperTarget in Lawrence said that there are three areas that have the big sales.
"The three big areas are usually the toy section, electronics and houseware," Love said. "Those are the areas that we try to really be ready and stocked up on during this time of year."
Mark Kohls, Ellsworth freshman, was puzzled about what to get his infant cousin for Christmas. After a little planning, Kohls found that perfect gift at a very interesting place — Kansas Memorial Stadium.
I went to the game when they were giving away the Bean Bag Jayhawks, but you had to be 12 or under to get one," Kohls said. "After a little convincing, they actually believed I was 12 and I got the Jayhawk."
Bean Bag Jayhawks, which were available at the Kansas vs. Texas A&M football game and at the Kansas and Burge Unions, sold out at the Unionns within a week after the game said Dominique Call, gift and clothing clerk at the Kansas Union.
Call said that she thought that the unions should receive another shipment of the Jayhawk before Christmas. Each will sell for $8.99.
Bean bag dolls, including the
Bean bag bags, including t
popular Ty Company line of
Beanie Babies, continues
to be a hot item on
the market. Prairie
Patches, 811 Massachusetts St., store owner
Cindy Garrison said
there were plenty of
Beanie Babies in stock in the $5.99-
6.95 price range.
The Furby is suppose to be an educational
and can learn how to speak. Love said that the Furbies are so popular, that the store had not any in stock for weeks.
Love said she thought that Sesame Street items and items from this year's new Nickelodeon series, *Blue's Clues* should be popular.
Also entering the toy market this year is the Furby, a stuffed animal that moves
The Blue's Clues series has inspired several items including stuffed animals, educational flash cards and memory games.
Love said.
Snowmen in all shapes and forms are a hot gift item this year. These ceramic snowman can be found at any Hallmark store. Photo by B Matt J. Daugherty/KANSAN
"We've been trying to keep them in stock, but we've already sold out and probably won't get any in again until closer to Christmas," Love said. "They're really popular
this year because they are suppose to help with a child's development and help make a child more responsible as they have to take care of their Furbies."
Love said Playskool wow
remarketing the GloWorm,
foot-long worm which body
lights up when hugged. The
GloWorm was first marketer
in 1981.
Barbies and Hot Wheels continue to be a favorite by tykes through the years and the purple pandemonium about Barnie continues to be strong said Nick Farrell, support manager at Wal-Mart in Lawrence.
Many of the more expensive toys can be found in the electronic section in department stores.
Farrell said the more traditional toys would continue to sell well like they did every year.
Farrell said one of the many, newer products making a strong debut this year were DVD movies and players. A DVD is an alternative to the video cassette recorder and tapes.
Although DVD players seemed to be very expensive when they first arrived on the market, Toshiba and Panasonic now supplies more affordable units at a retail price between $200 and $400.
“Computers are always a big seller for us this time of year,” Farrell said. “Then we always sell a lot of televisions, VCR's, telephone and the DVD's are getting real big.”
As compact discs continue to be popular stocking stuffers and late minute gifts, prices for audio units continue to drop.
Farrell said that video game systems including the Sony Playstation and the Nintendo 64-bit unit and their wide variety of games remain a big seller, Wal-Mart, SuperTarget and the Best Buy chain sell both systems for $129.
Another section that has more seasonal gifts is the houseware section.
Love said SuperTarget always seemed to do well in selling houseware items and were prepared with a variety of new things for this year, especially items with holiday or Christmas themes.
"We have stocked up on items like picture frames, candles, platters and things with holiday themes that always seem to sell very well," Love said.
High prices make some gifts unattainable
By Amanda Kaschube
Special to the Kanson
For the person that has everything, thinking of a new gift idea every year may be a difficult task. This holiday season, to ease the stress of shopping, a number of stores offer buyers a variety of expensive and unique gifts ranging in price from $130 to $5 million dollars.
FAO Schwarz, Neiman Marcus, Sharper Image and Victoria's Secret have designed gifts for different occasions.
FAO Schwarz has a selection of toys and games available for younger children and those young at heart.
FAO Schwarz is selling 100 classic and new Gund toys for $2,995 to commemorate the 100 years of the Gund toy factory. Shoppers are also offered a chance to visit the Gund factory in New York and design a stuffed animal for $10,000, said Chadwick Brooks, personal shopper for FAO Schwarz at the Plaza.
Collector items at FAO Schwarz always sell faster. Brooks said.
more, collected Barbie dolls as a child.
"We don't know if we'll sell any of these items," he said. "They are only for special people and we might sell one a year."
"We have Barbie dolls that sell for over $1,000," he said. "But people always buy them, especially collectors."
Carrie Waters, Overland Park sopho-
"My parents always bought them for me for Christmas," Waters said. "But never for that large amount of money."
A classic rocking horse for $5,400, batery powered Mercedes and Jaguars for children for $395 and a Godzilla pinball game for $5,995 are also on the market at FAO Schwarz.
Meghan Reding, Pittsburg sophomore, said she would like a more useful gift for such a large amount of money.
"If my parents were to spend a substantial amount of money on me, I'd want it to be more than just another toy," she said.
For the financially established buyer, Neiman Marcus, a large department store, has designed a wide variety of gifts.
A classic Brooklyn Dodgers seat was saved before the stadium was torn down in the 1960s. Neiman Marcus is selling them this year for $2,750 for two and $3,750 for three.
"Nineteen ninety-eight is known as the year of baseball," Kellie Patrick, spokesman for Neiman Marcus said. "We've sold five already in our New York store."
Scott Zimmerman, Overland Park senior, said he would like to have the Dodgeers seat.
"I think it would be a great part of baseball history that you could show off in
"If my parents were to spend a substantial amount of money on me, I'd want it to be more than just another toy."
Meghan Reding
Pittsburg sophomore
your home," he said.
Patrick said she felt that Neiman Marcus had a gift for everyone.
"We travel the world for gift ideas and we think we have a wide variety available for our buyers," Patrick said. "The same people basically buy the gifts every year."
For Wizard of Oz fans, Neiman Marcus sell a room designed totally in Wizard of Oz merchandise. A yellow brick road will lead the way from the bed to the door, a hand-blown tornado lamp will light the way and an apple tree play station with two benches will sit in the corner. The room is on sale for $150,000.
"We think this will be popular in Kansas because of the ties to the movie," Patrick said.
The Sharper Image, an electronic store on the Plaza, is known for expensive and unique electronic gifts.
Mark Rabbit, Overland Park senior, visits the store often.
"I love that store," he said. "I never really buy anything, but I like to go in there and browse."
The "Citybug" scooter with a 24-volt battery helps people move around without the vibrations, fumes and mechanical complexities of a noisy gas engine, according to the Sharper Image catalog. The item sells for $699.
For the more eccentric buyer, Victoria's Secret offers two fantasy gifts for that one-of-a-kind person.
A 1998 white Lamborghini Diablo with a V12 engine, CD changer, navigation mapping system and leather interior is on sale for $350,000, according to their catalog. Also included is a three-day trip to Las Vegas for private driving lessons, Italian luggage, leather driving gloves and a white cellular phone.
A few inquiries have been made for the car, but no one has bought it yet, said a fashion consultant for Victoria's Secret.
A bra with 77 carats of rubies and 330 carats of diamonds also is offered for $5 million.
"The people I came in contact with would never even think about buying the bra," she said. "The whole idea is silly to me."
Waters worked at Victoria's Secret in Overland Park this summer.
Sharper Image on the Plaza in Kansas City, Mo., offers this "Citybug" scooter which sports a 24-volt motor to noiselessly propels its rider around. Photo by Matt J. Daugherty/KANSAN
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