Sunday afternoons are a time for spouses to do things together. (At least when the NFL isn't on TV.) So today Mrs Casey and I were out shopping for a new grill for our deck. The grill we have, we purchased from Sears way back in 1996, the year we were married. So it has a bit of wear and tear, the burners don't work quite right, and igniting it last year involved holding a flame near a propane tank. (HINT: That's not SAFE!)
It was time for a new one. We did buy one today, but in between stops at Lowe's and Home Depot to check selection and pricing, I made a stop at a store that has been going out of business since last September. "Everything must go! All Sales are final!" Those ridiculous posters were everywhere. Three weeks ago we stopped in, and we inquired about a big plush chair that Mrs C liked. The chair had a price tag of $549, and a big red tag of $369. Then the salesman said there was further discounting, and told us he could sell us the chair for $269.
Mrs C and I are very discerning shoppers. She lets me do all the negotiating, because I don't put up with Bull. I told the guy he was dreaming, and we left. But we made a note of the offer and decided to come back in a few weeks to see if there were steeper discounts.
So we ended up there today. As we entered, we were attacked by a locust swarm of salespeople, who I brusquely ignored, while Mrs C told them we knew what we were looking for.
We go right to where the chair is, and guess what? THE PRICE WENT UP! Now it is $649, and the discount price is $399!
And this time a saleslady came over and told us it was marked down to $294!
When my wife remarked that it was cheaper on the last visit, the smart ass saleslady cracked, "Well you should have bought it then."
These people aren't even trying to hide how dishonest they are. I am sure people go in there and see stickers seeing something priced at $3000 marked down to $1500, then told they can get it for $1200, and think they are getting a deal. But if they shopped around, they would find the stuff marked as $3000 likely is worth $400 in a legitimate store. They had a few quality pieces, but much of it was mass produced junk that wouldn't hold up for more than a couple of years of use.
I know junk, we purchased a sofa about ten years ago at an outlet and we knew exactly what we were getting for the low price, It held up okay, considering we had three dogs that thought it a good place to sleep when we weren't looking, but it finally became too ugly to look at. I took an axe to it in the driveway, chopping it into small pieces so it fit into the Township supplied 90 gallon garbage bin.
I enjoyed doing that.
I think I would enjoy doing it again to much of the junk being sold at the Overpriced Furniture Store on Macarthur Road behind FedEx Kinkos as well. But we will never know, because money is tight, and we don't buy crap. We look for quality and getting our money's worth.
By the way, we purchased a new Kenmore grill at Sears. I am going to try and assemble it during the week. That should be a barrel of laughs. And the topic of my next post.
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