Karen’s Opinion

Listen up everyone! If you are interested in great deals this holiday season, you will want to pay attention! Sears is offering great deals through their friends and family promotion but it ends November 16 so you need to hurry. Many of you hate to deal with the hassles to get the bargains you can find at the Black Friday Sales event and now you don’t have to. You can find the best deals with out all the hassle when you participate in Sears Friends & Family VIP Night. No need to drag your butt out of bed at the crack of dawn the day after Thanksgiving. Just look at all the great buys you’ll find at Sears. You will save an extra 15% off on apparel and that black and white diamond necklace your wife has been drooling over in Sear’s fine jewelry. You will also save an extra 20% off that new coat your son needs because all Sear’s outwear is included in this promotion!

I have my eye on some new fuzzy warm pajamas for myself! Hey! There is no rule that says all of my purchases have to be for other people. Now, get to Sears and start shopping!

The news reports say that no one is shopping this Christmas season. Well, I don’t know where they are looking because when I went to the mall in Indianapolis yesterday, it was packed. They weren’t just browsing either. Whenever I went to the register to pay for my items there were lines. The lines went quickly and were not a problem but those lines meant that people were buying.

The stores are sending out coupons and other incentives in order to get our business. One of the most inviting changes in customer policy is the one Kmart implemented. Kmart Layaway is back! Layaway made my shopping so much easier this year. I was able to start my shopping early and grab some of the most popular items being advertised. I grabbed a Kodak EasyShare digital camera that is going to make one little girl very happy. Putting it in layaway enables me to keep it hidden from snooping eyes and allows me to pay for it over time instead of charging it on my credit card. I am going into this shopping season with a plan and a list. Kmart is helping me achieve my budget and that makes the season brighter for my pocketbook.

I remember, when I worked in a retail clothing store, how popular it was for customers to use the lay-away plan. I used it to buy clothes when they first appeared in our store. I didn’t have the money to buy the item right then but would be able to pay for it when I got my paycheck. Working at the store let me have first pick of clothes when they were put out for display. It was a perk for standing on my feet all day.

Many stores did away with offering lay-away, much to my dismay. Kmart has had the insight to bring it back! Hurrah! Lay-away makes buying Christmas gifts so much easier. It spreads the payment out to make each purchase more affordable. Lay-away is also great because Kmart stores the item for the buyer. It makes it so much easier to hide gifts from the kids and our spouses.

I found a beautiful watch at Kmart’s website that I am going to have to show to Santa. I hope he utilizes Kmart Lay-Away!

I admire Kmart for taking this step. By offering lay-away, their customers can shop for Christmas without using their credit cards. We all seem to be feeling the economic pinch and have to stick to our guns about not running up those crazy interest charges and fees. Thank goodness for Kmart. They are making it easier for us to have a great Christmas.

My daughter mailed me her Christmas list but has already given me an update for it. Who the heck is Taylor Swift? Wasn’t he on American Idol?

My daughter quickly corrected my thinking that Taylor Swift was the gray haired guy on American Idol. I am not in the know! I admit it.

From Wikipedia:
Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American Grammy-nominated country music artist who began her career as a teenager. Signed to the independent Big Machine Records label in 2006, she made her debut on the Billboard country charts with the release of her debut single “Tim McGraw”. This song, which peaked at #6, was the first of five singles from her self-titled debut, which was released in late 2006 and re-issued in 2007, and has been certified 3× Multi-Platinum by the RIAA. Following “Tim McGraw” were the #2 “Teardrops on My Guitar”, the six-week Number One “Our Song”, the #3 “Picture to Burn” and another Number One in “Should’ve Said No”. All five singles from her debut were Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, as was her song “Change” from the AT&T TEAM USA Soundtrack. Her second album, Fearless, will be released on November 11, and its lead-off single “Love Story” has become her highest Hot 100 hit.

Now wonder I didn’t know who SHE was. She was born in 1989! I have her name and the name of the cd in my title. That should jog my memory.