CONSUMERS : Even for a January, Deals Are Abundant for Savvy Shoppers
So, you sly, savvy shoppers. You managed, somehow, to save some holiday cash. And now you’re ready to pick off the bargains galore available this month--deals on clothes, electronic equipment, health club memberships, not to mention reduced prices on air fares, cruises and new cars.
The sheer number of sales have “created more of an opportunistic time of buying for consumers,” said John Shanklin, vice president and chief financial officer of Clothestime Inc., a 332-store women’s apparel chain based in Anaheim. “They’ve really had to shop for what they thought was the best bargain.”
Shanklin explained that the normal January clearances started earlier this year because many stores had excess inventory and had to move it sooner to make way for spring goods. “It’s better to get some money out of the winter merchandise so you can buy new, fresh inventory,” he said. “The secret to this business is to be nice to your customers and make them feel like they got a real bargain, and they’ll come back.”
Shanklin also credited early sales to the much publicized money problems of many department store chains. “We had some help from the Eastern retailers, because there are some companies that have a lot of debt to service and they started sales early to raise cash to pay the debt. That has a domino effect on the industry.”
The trend in earlier sales and bigger markdowns of general merchandise has been recorded nationwide, said John Gary of the National Retail Merchants Assn. in New York: “We’re coming off a very promotional Christmas--sales were up 5 1/2% over last year--and a very competitive one. The consumers see a lot of sales, and they become very price-conscious. Even though big markdowns cut into their profit margin, retailers will go ahead and sell them for less just to move them.”
Clothestime, like many other retailers, is offering 50% off on selected merchandise, mostly sweaters, jackets and other heavy apparel. Department store chains are listing special clothing sales at 25%, 50% or 75% off.
Although January is traditionally the month to find bargains on diamonds, furs, bedding and winter coats, electronics recently joined the sale ranks. Televisions and stereos have been reduced $50 to $100 per item in many store sales, as have top-of-the-line videocassette recorders.
And for those who want to get fit by joining a health club, this also is a peak time. Most clubs offer January and February deals on memberships and initiation fees; some, among them the 17 Nautilus Aerobics Plus Fitness Centers in the Los Angeles area, are selling 2-for-1 memberships.
“We do this once a year, and it’s really low-end affordability,” said Jim Coughlin, downtown Los Angeles Nautilus center manager. “You bring one person with you and you get one for free. So, you get two people in for the $64 initiation fee.”
Rates also are ripe on air fares to certain areas, depending on what routes airlines are promoting. United, Continental and American, among many, have returned to fare wars; various airlines have offered bargain-but-restricted rates as low as $39 one-way to Phoenix, $89 to Denver, $119 to Chicago and $139 to New York. Fares vary from airline to airline, so consumers must do some serious comparison shopping.
Consider shopping ahead, too, because bargains can be had on summer travel. In Southern California, TWA, for instance, is offering $150 off on the “land-package” part (hotels, sightseeing and theater tickets) of its Getaway Tours to Europe, Egypt and Israel. That would amount to roughly a 25% savings on TWA’s seven-day, six-night, double-occupancy budget hotel plan (normal price $588). But the $846 flights in the plan also must be booked and paid for by March 15.
Meantime, for passengers interested in a cruise, there are many bargains available, some of them not necessarily seasonal deals, travel experts said.
In Los Angeles, for example, Regency Cruises is offering reductions for winter cruises “up to 23% off our regular fares.”
When booking a cruise, “do a lot of comparison pricing and never accept a price in a brochure,” said Eric Fridheim, editor-in-chief of Travel Agent magazine in New York. “They do many things with those prices, depending on how many unsold bookings they have.”
Detroit’s hefty inventories also are giving new car buyers more bang for their buck. There are, observers said, plenty of rebate offers to be found.
The largest rebate, so far this year, may be the $5,000 offered on the ’89 Sterling models built in Great Britain.
“It’s unusual to get a beautiful car so attractively priced,” said Greg Ehlers of Lou Ehlers Cadillac-Sterling on Wilshire Boulevard near La Brea Avenue. “You can get the top-of-the-line 827 SL Sterling for $21,000. They’re a new entry into the field. They’ve only been here in North America three years.”
One of the more unusual rebate offers? Try Chrysler’s recent one. The auto maker lists a $1,000 rebate on many of its Chrysler and Plymouth models. But it also goes a step beyond and guarantees that if you buy your car now with a $1,000 rebate and the company decides later to up the ante to $1,500 or $2,000, Chrysler will send you a check for the difference.
“It’s the first time in history we’ve ever done this,” said Bud Barish, who has run his Chrysler-Plymouth dealership on La Brea Avenue for 40 years. “The company anticipated people saying, ‘Well, they’re offering $1,000 now. I’ll wait awhile until they get desperate and offer more.’ Now they don’t have to wait.”
