Your retail winners and losers this year

[kydisneyfans]

With the deep discounting, bad publicity for non filling of orders at Best Buy, and steep gas prices, what stores got your money this year? Who got less than usual?

-The winners here:
Kohls-the $15 back for $50 spent on Black Friday and the 30% off everything the past 2 weeks postcard, along with $10 off anything emails lured us there often.

JC Penney-$10 off anything cards in the mail plus $10 off $25 on occasion lands a big thumbs up.

We find that buying anything from a coat to jeans to blankets is cheaper at Kohls/Penneys than the discounters with these coupons.

-The losers:
Walmart-Did they even run any ads? We bought some giftcards but know of at least 2 people with verified active gift cards with no money on them.

-Meijer-what happened Meijer, there was nothing outside of a few grocery buys that got us to shop there. The loss of the $5 off $50 gift card and lack of random amounts of savings coupons coming from the catalina computers this year sent us elsewhere.

The middle:
Macys-just didn't have much of what we needed this year.
Target-good ads, great commercials, the $10 GC when a $50 purchase was made was good too. We found the Kohls/Penneys coupons to be better.

Off the charts bad:
Best Buy-sad to order something a month ago only to not get it before Christmas and find the order cancelled-there is no excuse.

 

[nunzia]

I spent ALOT with Amazon..there is not many shopping opportunities here so I buy from them alot all year long.

The place where I work my little second job, Hastings, always has some cool and unusual stuff, plus the discount doesn't hurt.

Kohls..since I only shop the biggie sales with free shipping, got some nice deals (online...again, the nearest store is over an hour away)

Bought a few things at WalMart and Penneys..that about wraps it up..oh yea..some things at Hallmark.

 

[ssawka]

Another vote for Amazon! Since becoming a Prime member (I get it half price for being a student) I have a very hard time justifying a trip to the store. I just order what I want and get it in two days. I probably wouldn't even find the time to get to the store in two days. With Amazon, I can order from work.

 

[mrsklamc]

Amazon, the Lego store...normally don't go to Walmart but did have a good experience with site to store getting my nephew a leap pad.

 

[mrsklamc]

Oh and penzey's spices has a 'kind heart' gift box; I needed a small gift for my team and got these for 7.95 for those I know cook. Huge hit!

 

[QVCshopper]

I spent the majority at QVC, Target, and TRU. Also got little things at Hallmark and VS with all of those coupons. Overall, Target ran away with this one.

 

[bridget]

Best Buy
Barnes and Noble
Kohls
Amazon

I bought some gift cards for people to Walmart, Target, B&N and Outback.

 

[kimsuenew]

Kohls
Amazon
Cabelas
Ollies
Target
Meijers
Best Buy (no delivery problems... all were here well before today)
O.com
(in that order)

 

[pantherlj]

Amazon - awesome customer service and great prices

Kohls - can't beat the sales + the 30% off codes + Kohl's cash

Target - all those gift cards with purchase

Land's end 40% off sale price + free shipping

no bad store experiences this year - still waiting on one package from a company i never bought for, still hoping it will be here today. They shipped it fast, USPS hasn't updated the tracking information in 3 days

 

[usnuzuloose]

My best buy was for some pans that were needed, non stick.

Macys had the calphalon pans 2 for 50.00 I had there $10 off and then a $25 gc that was free, so I ended up paying $15 dollars. Other than that most of my money went to the outlets where I found great deals on clothes.

The rest went to the grocery store.

 

[powellrj]

I would say Amazon was my winner, followed by Cracker Barrel! I buy lots of gifts for gift exchanges and Cracker Barrel was great!

I didn't have a loser this year.

 

[LSchrow]

macys (ex: after being unable to find any boxes for my purchases, the saleswoman actually chased me down through the store when she discovered some hidden behind the counter)
christmas tree shop (almost all the employees were singing carols, grinning, offering help to any customer that hesitated for more than a minute)
bath and body works - great deals and nice ppl
old navy - same as above (btw, quality is about the same as gap outlet, but shopping experience and prices significantly better)
bass - as above


just okay
kohls - more employees stressed out and unhappy than previous years, prices not great for the quality
best buy - we did finally get our order, but they only "found" it after we called cs and pushed them. prices were satisfactory

never again
gap outlet - salespeople ranged from indifferent to downright rude, store messy and disorganized

i avoided the big malls this year (mentioned macys is a strip mall), did a lot online and at outlet mall. this was probably my most relaxing year ever

 

[rszdtrvl]

The winner for me is definitely Amazon.com.

I live in a small city - we have a Sears, JCPenney, and Walmart. Amazon has saved my rear from having to drive to get items I need. It's pretty sad when the only book store is at Walmart (not counting thrift stores).


I have purchased a lot from Amazon, and I foresee me doing the same next year. Their customer service can't be beat (I purchased a defective item for vacation, and they sent me a replacement with 2 day delivery to ensure it would be here prior to when I left).

 

[maggiew]

Winners:
JCPenneys
Kohls
Amazon

Losers:
Best Buy
Walmart


My kids are teen girls, so thankfully I didn't have to deal with ToysRUs, etc.

Maggie

 

[JamesMom]

Amazon got about 80% of my business this year - almost all of it on Thanksgiving and Black Friday lightening deals. Bought more as the sales came and went. Still kicking myself for not picking up Jurassic Park blu ray box set when it was $30 - but it wasn't on the list, lol!
Target fot the other 20% - the gift card promo for the Ipod and coupons I learned about here on the dis helped out greatly along with the 5% red card discount.
Other than a few small things in store from Best Buy and Barnes and Noble, that was it. I hadn't stepped into Walmart since before thanksgiving, lol.

 

[Jedana]

Winners:
Amazon (shipped 2 day at no charge because of a miscommunication)
Teavana: shipped 2 day at no extra charge without me asking
Barnes & Noble: shipped and received within a week of ordering
Walmart: had no problesm at the store this year (other than cranky people)
Home Depot: got my washer/dryer here with no problems and the delivery guys were awesome

Loser:
Target: deals posted on shelves that they didn't honor ($5gc when you buy $10 of products, but they were expired for a month); rude employees (when asked about the above issue); lack of stock!

 

[thebeesknees]

Winners:
Amazon - LOVE the free 2-day shipping, and they had the stuff on my listfor way less that the B&M stores around here (saved 70% on a couple of things)
Target - did pretty well with the $10 gc offers this past month

Losers:
Walmart - out of stock on stuff, things mismarked price-wise, messy displays
Kohls - indifferent employees, messy store

Overall, I did very well this year through Amazon, so I am sure that is who will get most of my business next year. Can't beat the free shipping with Prime, and the savings on my purchases paid for the membership pretty quickly.

 

[rentayenta]

No losers this year for us. Amazon is my new best friend.

 

[Scraggy]

Winners: -Gamestop (got all my video game stuff here. great service, too)
-Amazon (even though I had to send back 4 things, overall it was good)
-Kohls (shopped online Thanksgiving day. Great deals.. except that holiday body butter set. It smelled so disgusting, like comet cleanser)
-Land's End (gotta love that 40% off and free shipping deal. Nice stuff)
-Snapfish (got several photo mugs, some calendars and a mini book. All were great)


Middle: -Target (went last Saturday when they had the $10 off $75, plus I had a $5 off $50 coupon and other coupons/deals, but that's the only time I shopped there. Their store brand peanut butter jumped from $2.97 to $5.49. It's now more expensive than the national brands in the same size.)

Losers: -Wal Mart (bought absolutely nothing there. 10am on a Saturday with only 1 regular register open and 2 express lanes and 20 people wanting to buy numerous things?? Come on...)

 

[Evans Family]

Winners:
Amazon (75% of stuff bought was bought on line)
Best Buy (on line/free shipping)
Gamestop (B&M store)

Downward slide (spent much less here than last year):
Target
Barnes and Noble

Non-existant (didn't step foot in the door):
Walmart
Toys R Us
Anywhere in a traditional mall