Dear Reader:
We are currently reorganizing ljpsearch.com. Due to this reorganization, we have temporarily closed our retail department. We are expected to reopen before the Christmas shopping season. Our blogs -- Fragrance Man TV, youtube.com/fragranceman; The Fragrance Man: The Extended Reviews, fragranceman.blogspot.com; and The Huntress, theshoppinghuntress.blogspot.com -- will still be operating. If you have shopped at ljpsearch.com, we want to thank you for your patronage.
Sincerely,
Lawrence Johnson
CEO/Owner of ljpsearch.com
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
The Great Art and Window Shopping Hunt
I want to talk to you about art. I love paintings, wood carvings and photos, but I have limited funds. I love the clearance art section of any store. It is my personal rain forest, abundant with the fruits of the red clearance sticker. Two of my favorite art hunting grounds are Pier 1 and Cost Plus.
Recently, I went into Pier 1 to do my window shopping spree -- wait, let me digress for a minute. People do not acknowledge the importance of window shopping. Window shopping is important because it gives you an opportunity to get the lay of the land. You are able to study the inhabitants, the store employees and products. Are there other window shoppers, consumers only, or people that wander around confused on the store's lay out? What sections seem popular? How many times do the natives (employees) approach you to ask if you need anything? All these are important factors to help you decide if this is the prime water hole.
If people just seem to graze, you know that the store has great deals -- they are waiting for the sale, waiting for the prey to get weak. That means red clearance stickers galore when the time is right. The most delicious prey, you ask? The beloved 75% off the clearance price . . . mmm the most delicious of delicacies and well worth the stalking. If there are people only buying and at full price -- retreat your store has mad dog disease, because they must be crazy if they think you are going to pay this much! Theses stores never have any significant sales -- return only after the holidays and end of the season sales to over-priced country. If the natives are too friendly, you better be careful because they are looking for captives. They will try to convince you that paying a little every month and getting 10% off today is the best deal. They do not want you to be free of financial debt! Watch out SHOPPERS! Get out of there and run before you see the Egyptian Cotton 800 count sheets!
Okay, back to my great deals. I was on one of those missions, my window shopping hunt, when I spotted the art I’d tagged on a previous visit. Hold your breath! It was originally 30% off, but there was an additional 50% discount. Each piece only costs $7 each! HELLO!! We all know number 7 is heavenly and lucky. Now when people visit my place they ooh and aah! They ask me how I decorate on a budget. I tell them, as every good huntress knows, patience. You must know when to go in for the kill.
Recently, I went into Pier 1 to do my window shopping spree -- wait, let me digress for a minute. People do not acknowledge the importance of window shopping. Window shopping is important because it gives you an opportunity to get the lay of the land. You are able to study the inhabitants, the store employees and products. Are there other window shoppers, consumers only, or people that wander around confused on the store's lay out? What sections seem popular? How many times do the natives (employees) approach you to ask if you need anything? All these are important factors to help you decide if this is the prime water hole.
If people just seem to graze, you know that the store has great deals -- they are waiting for the sale, waiting for the prey to get weak. That means red clearance stickers galore when the time is right. The most delicious prey, you ask? The beloved 75% off the clearance price . . . mmm the most delicious of delicacies and well worth the stalking. If there are people only buying and at full price -- retreat your store has mad dog disease, because they must be crazy if they think you are going to pay this much! Theses stores never have any significant sales -- return only after the holidays and end of the season sales to over-priced country. If the natives are too friendly, you better be careful because they are looking for captives. They will try to convince you that paying a little every month and getting 10% off today is the best deal. They do not want you to be free of financial debt! Watch out SHOPPERS! Get out of there and run before you see the Egyptian Cotton 800 count sheets!
Okay, back to my great deals. I was on one of those missions, my window shopping hunt, when I spotted the art I’d tagged on a previous visit. Hold your breath! It was originally 30% off, but there was an additional 50% discount. Each piece only costs $7 each! HELLO!! We all know number 7 is heavenly and lucky. Now when people visit my place they ooh and aah! They ask me how I decorate on a budget. I tell them, as every good huntress knows, patience. You must know when to go in for the kill.
Monday, June 18, 2007
A Deal… A Bargain… What the Hell is This?
When I shop, I get a tingle down my spine. I once saw a report on 20/20 that explained how our basic hunting and gathering instincts are brought out when we shop. That’s right, I thought, the great hunt! I am an animal waiting for the kill, and when I see a good deal, I pounce!
Tonight, at Target, one of my favorite bargain hunting grounds, I saw that a closet organizer was on sale by California Closets. So, let’s just say I am excited to see their next selection on sale. As I walk, I grimace at the memory of the messy clothes in my walk-in closet, overflowing the hamper. The hairs on my arms stand up, and I tingle at the thought of the add-on sale -- thirty-six smackaroonies!
As I approach the aisle, I notice a couple rounding the bin behind me. Was it my imagination or is she eying my closet system? I notice her watching me out of the corner of her eye too. I take a quick look -- one shelf left! Oh no, honey, this one’s mine! I walk a little faster. So does she. I think back to “Christmas with the Kranks” and how Jamie Lee Curtis raced another woman to the last ham in the grocery store. What would this woman do? I quickly turn my cart to block her view of the closet system, and I wait, heart thumping. She starts to open her mouth as if to say ‘excuse me’, and I shake my head, looking her dead in the eye, nostrils flaring. She backs down, I have won. I am the warrior queen! The huntress!
As I turn toward my conquest, I am on cloud nine, and I float down the aisle, patting myself on the back for being frugal enough to wait for this sale when -- Wham! -- this is not the California Closet in Cherry, but some watered-down, flimsy, manufactured, cheap-as-can-be (dare I even call it wood?) imitation!
I dragged myself home deflated, my clothes metaphorically torn by the battle that -- well let’s face it -- only happened in my mind. So I send this message to you. Don’t wait too long for the deal. I was been slapped in the face by my own prudence. Sometimes you have to pay a little more. Settle for 20% instead of waiting for 50%. I shall live to hunt another day because the huntress always lives inside. I wait in the grasses of sales and clearance. My shoulders are thrown back, my teeth are bared, and I watch for that opportunity, ready to pounce.
Visit ljpsearch.com to read my newest article.
Tonight, at Target, one of my favorite bargain hunting grounds, I saw that a closet organizer was on sale by California Closets. So, let’s just say I am excited to see their next selection on sale. As I walk, I grimace at the memory of the messy clothes in my walk-in closet, overflowing the hamper. The hairs on my arms stand up, and I tingle at the thought of the add-on sale -- thirty-six smackaroonies!
As I approach the aisle, I notice a couple rounding the bin behind me. Was it my imagination or is she eying my closet system? I notice her watching me out of the corner of her eye too. I take a quick look -- one shelf left! Oh no, honey, this one’s mine! I walk a little faster. So does she. I think back to “Christmas with the Kranks” and how Jamie Lee Curtis raced another woman to the last ham in the grocery store. What would this woman do? I quickly turn my cart to block her view of the closet system, and I wait, heart thumping. She starts to open her mouth as if to say ‘excuse me’, and I shake my head, looking her dead in the eye, nostrils flaring. She backs down, I have won. I am the warrior queen! The huntress!
As I turn toward my conquest, I am on cloud nine, and I float down the aisle, patting myself on the back for being frugal enough to wait for this sale when -- Wham! -- this is not the California Closet in Cherry, but some watered-down, flimsy, manufactured, cheap-as-can-be (dare I even call it wood?) imitation!
I dragged myself home deflated, my clothes metaphorically torn by the battle that -- well let’s face it -- only happened in my mind. So I send this message to you. Don’t wait too long for the deal. I was been slapped in the face by my own prudence. Sometimes you have to pay a little more. Settle for 20% instead of waiting for 50%. I shall live to hunt another day because the huntress always lives inside. I wait in the grasses of sales and clearance. My shoulders are thrown back, my teeth are bared, and I watch for that opportunity, ready to pounce.
Visit ljpsearch.com to read my newest article.
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