Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Marilynn Lopez-Vega of Elgin plans to use some of her winnings to buy toys for children in need.
An Elgin mom is putting her family first after winning a $2,500 shopping spree from Algonquin Commons this past week. Marilynn Lopez-Vega, 35, learned Monday she won the gift card through a raffle she entered while shopping during the early morning hours on Black Friday. Her first purchase was for her two young girls, Sofia, 5, and Annalys, 2. The girls got two new Christmas dresses with “super glittery shoes.” “Then I went to Trader Joe’s for a couple things we needed. I didn’t want to go crazy,” she said. Next up, she plans to buy several toys she will donate to the Algonquin Commons’ Toy for Tots campaign. “This came as a complete surprised so I want to spend some of this money and give back to make other kids happy as well,” she …
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Which shopping bonanza do you prefer? Take our poll and let us know why you shop the way you do in the comments section.
Do you look forward to getting up in the wee hours the day after Thanksgiving for the best Black Friday deals at places like Target, Macy's or Walmart? Or do you prefer to sleep in over the long weekend and start your shopping from the comfort of your desk chair on what's become known as Cyber Monday? If you prefer Black Friday, you're part of a long shopping tradition. Black Friday has been around for more than 100 years, according to an article on its history in Time. It was already such a crucial kick-off to the holiday shopping season during the Great Depression, that retailers urged President Roosevelt to move Thanksgiving earlier in order to extend the shopping season. He did, but handled the messaging poorly and few people realized …
Friday, November 23, 2012
The first day of Christmas, in the merry old U.S.A., is about credit cards, and Black Friday.
A Comics Patch cartoon by illustrator Charley Krebs.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Apps to help you navigate and find the great deals on Black Friday.
Black Friday sales require a good strategy, comfortable shoes and a lot of coffee. There’s one more thing to add to the list: your iPhone or Smartphone. A variety of apps can turn your phone into a shopping tool that will help you navigate stores, get coupons and find the best prices. Wired reports more apps are being rolled out as retails “acknowledge the new reality of anytime, anywhere retail, a reality in which getting someone to tap an app on Black Friday is at least as important as getting them through the door.” A few recommendations from PCWorld.com includes: Google Maps Google Maps provides maps for stores like Macy’s and Nordstrom. This app can also be used to help you plan out your route and find items on store shelves. Google …
Put your Black Friday shopping ideas in the comments to this story and we will share the best of them Thursday morning. Ready, set, shop.
Black Friday begins at 8 a.m. Thanksgiving Thursday for north and northwest suburban Chicago shoppers and Patch wants to know your plan. Will you head to Toys R Us or Walmart at 8 p.m. Thursday before or after the Thanksgiving dishes are done? Target opens an hour later and will have more than 24 hours of continuous shopping. How will you take advantage of the deals at both places? How will you be planning to navigate from Toys R Us or Walmart to Macy’s at midnight and not be too far behind the line for the best of the bargains? Does your plan include a partnership? Will you trade lists with a friend and then become a placeholder while someone shops for you? Will you have a thermos of coffee or hot chocolate? Will you have your …
Monday, November 19, 2012
Many area stores won't wait until Black Friday to open
- THE NEIGHBORHOOD FILES
- Amy Johnson
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Monday, November 19, 2012
Thanksgiving has become the new Black Friday when it comes to Christmas shopping. Die-hard shoppers can barely button up their pants again after the feast before they need to be out the door and in line for at their favorite stores. Some stores are even opening their doors before the turkey is carved. This year, K-Mart in Crystal Lake will be open from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day. The store will then take a break for turkey time, and open again at 8 p.m. for more shopping. Other area stores and malls will at least wait until after your family has time to give thanks for their blessings this year before they start selling. Just barely though. While it used to be that many would eat turkey and mashed potatoes, sleep it off a little…
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Thanksgiving weekend deals are no longer confined to the day after the holiday.
Thanksgiving remains the dividing line between a holiday almost devoid of commercialism and the biggest shopping season of the year. Although as the Washington Post noted, the start of the Christmas shopping season – "Black Friday" – has continued to be pushed forward. First stores opened at 5 a.m. And then earlier and earlier, until midnight became time for doors to open. The turkey isn't even fully digested before the shopping frenzy begins. As Patch noted, Walmart actually is starting its "Black Friday" sales on Thursday, opening stores at 8 p.m. That means people will have to scarf down dinner, shoo the relatives out the door and high tail it to Walmart to get a good spot in line. For those who enjoy the deals and the chaos, …
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Have you started your holiday shopping already? Sound off in our poll.
So, it's the day after Halloween — is it too early to start thinking about holiday shopping? For some residents and businesses, the Christmas lights will be hung as soon as the Halloween decorations come down. But hardcore shoppers know when their dream season begins. Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, has become the accepted if unofficial start time of the Christmas rush. It's a huge day for retailers but only the first of a roughly month-long extravaganza. And thanks to Abe Lincoln, who decreed Thanksgiving a national holiday, Franklin D. Roosevelt, who signed into law that it should fall on the fourth Thursday in November, and Pope Gregory XIII, who blessed the calendar we use by papal bull, 2012 has the longest possible …
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Set for Saturday, Nov. 26, the American Express campaign promotes local, brick and mortar businesses.
Some businesses earn the majority of their profits during the holiday shopping season, and in a struggling economy, those dollars are even more important. American Express has created a campaign specifically designed to help small, local brick-and-mortar enterprises draw more shoppers. "Small Business Saturday" is scheduled Nov. 26, and area shops including Bella's Short Stacks in Algonquin are promoting the program. Although many area businesses don't know what it is, they may just reap benefits from it anyway. "I had to Google it to find out what it was," said Russell Farnum, Algonquin’s community development director. "We're really not doing anything with that because it would be difficult to promote one local business over another." …
Friday, November 25, 2011
Check out some of these deals from local businesses in the area.
- HOLIDAY GUIDE
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Friday, November 25, 2011
Big-box stores aren't the only businesses offering Black Friday deals this holiday season. Check out some of these local businesses offering shopping opportunities throughout the area. Barrington Spend $50 in shoes or boots get $50 in gift certificates from Young Tootsies Children's Shoes in the Ice House Mall. The deal is good through 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 3. Customers who spend $75 you are also eligible for $100 gift certificate drawing that is good for all stores there. Learning Express Toys is offering 20 percent off everything through Nov. 28. Participating Barrington Area Chamber of Commerce businesses are offering $12 for a $25 gift certificate. Barrington Home Shoppe is offering 20 percent off almost everything in the store from 8…
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