Thread: holiday sales slumps

Originally Posted by butterbean

Stores in my area opened their doors after Thanksgiving at 12 midnight, and alot were opening at 4 a.m. for sales. I would rather do my shopping on-line than go out into that mess. I hope sales do poorly because of all the crap imported from China. Maybe that will wake the idiots up in D.C.

Almost every single item I wanted to give to my granddaughter is now "Made in China". I have found other toys and stuffed animals on websites that claim their products are made in the USA, but none of the toys are what I had in mind. My kids grew up with a Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit stuffed animal that played "Here Comes Peter Cottontail..., but the only one I found was in the U.K. When I wrote to them to ask if it was "made in China", they wrote back and said yes, unfortunately everything is "made in China". I am really disapointed. I had my heart set on that stuffed bunny. It makes me sad.

Another thing to consider is that while something may be assembled (made)
here.....where have the materials/ingredients come from?? I think we need to
be pressing for "country of origin" of every ingredient on any food or item we buy.
Its time for us to put our feet down! Hard! With our pocket books!

Could it be that you never learned how to balance a budget?

Quote:
We are also trying to rent a home we can't sell, almost can't even find a renter for it. There are NO people out there willing to rent your house, either. If we dont' rent our house, we will be strapped with TWO very overpriced. mortgages.

"we will be strapped with TWO very overpriced mortgages". I don't know the circumstances, but for some reason I DO NOT FEEL SORRY FOR THEM. This doesn't seem like the problems of A TYPICAL MIDDLE CLASS FAMILY".

Butterbean, don't be so quick to judge. We have an older daughter in college, and we do choose to send our kids to Catholic schools. That in itself would break anyone's budget. And yes, I DO believe that is the life that many AMericans would aspire to. And I have to say, why not? We earned it -- we both worked hard in our professions, kept our noses to the grindstone -- saved, worked, saved, worked.

We live in the East coast, inside the beltway of Dc. If you want a descent house, not a townhome, with a yard and a garage, you're going to have to pay over $2500 a month in rent. We moved further in so our youngest who is autistic, could go to a better school district.

I'm working as a nurse. . . not a corporate mogul for crying out loud. My husband is an Army officer -- we're definitely not rich. And the mortgage is overpriced as the housing market is very inflated.

This is what I'm talking about . ..overinflated housing prices, which are not plummetting, overpriced education, food, fuel, everything. You can make a descent income, yet still have no cash to spend because you're spending so much on the basics.

According to the latest reports sales are down 3.5% from last year.

We got our son 3 toys from OompaToys (online). They are mostly wooden and generally made in Europe. So basically OompaToys got our $ this year. However, we do own lots of stuff from Fisher-Price and never had any problems or any recalls (so far, so good). We also plan on buying our newborn a baby swing by Graco despite being made in China, it's something we feel is good for our son who has acid reflux and needs to remain upright after feeds (long story).

Do I wish baby products were made only here, you bet! I'd even pay more money for them but alas, we do what we have to do to get by.

Now as far as general Xmas spending goes, we don't really do that here since we celebrate the Winter Solstice. However, we did get a tree and decorations. Again, probably all made in China though but my two year old absolutely loves it. So how can we not do it, know what I mean...

Anyway...
I do believe sales will definitely be down this year for various reasons. We also live on the East Coast where everything is expensive but you can sure as heck bet the Walmart here was packed with Hispanics over the holiday weekend! I'd rather order online, pay more, than deal with rude people. I heard from a friend who was brave to go to a Walmart on Saturday and she said it was a nightmare.

Originally Posted by JenniferB

We got our son 3 toys from OompaToys (online). They are mostly wooden and generally made in Europe. So basically OompaToys got our $ this year. However, we do own lots of stuff from Fisher-Price and never had any problems or any recalls (so far, so good). We also plan on buying our newborn a baby swing by Graco despite being made in China, it's something we feel is good for our son who has acid reflux and needs to remain upright after feeds (long story).

Do I wish baby products were made only here, you bet! I'd even pay more money for them but alas, we do what we have to do to get by.

Now as far as general Xmas spending goes, we don't really do that here since we celebrate the Winter Solstice. However, we did get a tree and decorations. Again, probably all made in China though but my two year old absolutely loves it. So how can we not do it, know what I mean...

Anyway...
I do believe sales will definitely be down this year for various reasons. We also live on the East Coast where everything is expensive but you can sure as heck bet the Walmart here was packed with Hispanics over the holiday weekend! I'd rather order online, pay more, than deal with rude people. I heard from a friend who was brave to go to a Walmart on Saturday and she said it was a nightmare.

JenniferB, I went to Oompatoys.com and the 1st few 3 or 4 items were "Made in China". BE CAREFUL!

I also want to add that these were rattles I would be purchasing for my granddaughter. These poison items would have gone into her mouth!

We (my family) have agreed that this will be a "Made in China" free
Xmas! No matter what!

I had thrown my sewing machine away when we moved 5 years ago
thinking "Im not sewing anymore"......well, guess who is going to buy
a machine? Surely I can find one not made in China! I dont care
where else it is made but Red China is off the list of acceptable imports.

Anyone remember when we looked down on "made in Japan" items?
Oh for the good old days. "Made" anywhere other than China looks
good to me anymore!

I remember when I was a kid(60's) just the phrase,
"Made in Japan" was cheap. At that time I didn't even know why.

My husband has always insisted in trying to shop American Made. Last year I ordered him two stools for his workshop out of Penny's catalogue, I was so happy because they said "Made in America". As it got closer to Christmas and they hadn't arrived I called Penny's to find out what the problem was. I was told they were stuck in custom's at the Canadian border. Turns out they were made in the U.S. but assembled in Canada. What is one to do!

As it got closer to Christmas and they hadn't arrived I called Penny's to find out what the problem was. I was told they were stuck in custom's at the Canadian border. Turns out they were made in the U.S. but assembled in Canada. What is one to do!

LOL! If they WERE assembled here, chances are it would have been done by an illegal anyway.

I took time today to needle the companys whose products I have used for
a long time, makers of Olay skin care, Johnson&Johnson, Unilever co.,
and of all things a bottle of Colgate Total Gel toothpaste said "made in
Mexico". I was nice, mostly, and told them that I could no longer use
a product even though I really liked it, that was putting Americans out
of work....and thanked her for her time.

I could not get any answers from any company regarding the source of
their ingredients.

This is a big thing to me!