Holiday Shopping and the Economy
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2011-11-23/holiday-shopping-and-economy
Black Friday comes early this year as some retailers open their doors Thanksgiving night in hopes of cashing in. Holiday spending and what it could mean for the economy.
Guests
James Roberts
professor of marketing and W.A. Mays Professor of Entrepreneurship at Baylor University's Hankamer School of Business, and author of "Shiny Objects: Why We Spend Money We Don't Have in Search of Happiness We Can't Buy"
Ylan Mui
Washington Post's consumer reporter
Mark Zandi
chief economist of Moody's Analytics and author of "Financial Shock" and the forthcoming book, "Paying the Price."
Ellen Davis
Vice President of the National Retail Federation
Comments
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Ellen Davis of the National Retail Federation was spot on about the only reason for retail to exist is to get their customers to buy. She honestly answered each question and that was refreshing. But customers should start to pay attention to retail stores that put their customers ahead of their employees to such a great extent. She made it sound like retail is concerned with what their customers want but we all know that isn't true - they would sell poison to their customers if it meant making a profit. It's not that there is necessarily anything wrong with the stores opening on Thanksgiving because it's nice for the few small businesses in town and for the lame brains who always forget something (like me). But the major stores should show a bit of graciousness and do what their long-suffering employees prefer, regarding the opening of stores on Black Friday. That would make their claim of caring for their customers sound a little less hollow.
Well dear lady, you of course are entitled to like it. But what about the people who don't and have to leave their families at Thanksgiving to go to work in order to satisfy people's shopping whimsy? Yes we are Capitalists but we are going to be very poor ones if we don't start valuing each other and the natural things in life.
I am sick of hearing those constant Christmas songs every year in the stores, everywhere. It's exasperating! They may be nice but I would hate to hear my favorite music on and on like that. It's true that every time somebody speaks to you that you don't know, they - 99% of the time - want you to buy something from them. This idea that our economy should be based on pandering to our greed is false and will soon be extinct. We may be greedy but that is such a small part of our make-up. And the economy would thrive if we had a healthy, happy and well-trained workforce.