Friday, March 28, 2008

Time well spent?

Yesterday, I went to buy a vacuum cleaner.
Hubby wanted to fix our old one.
I wanted a new one - preferably central vac.
We agreed on a canister type.

I drove off to Sears department store, parked in the parking lot and entered the store at the baby department.
Wrong! I should have entered in the mens shoes or washing machines.
Baby clothes! Oh no! All those cute spring outfits - yellows and blues and pinks.
I'll just have to walk past with my eyes shut.
Well, maybe just a little peek.
Hmmm - is that a "liquidation section" over there in the corner??

I spent about 3/4 of an hour checking out all the sales. I got some good deals too.
"I came here to buy a vacuum cleaner", I told the sales clerk.
"I hear that all the time", she laughed and directed me up stairs to the proper department.

I walked in and saw exactly what I wanted. It was a brand-new model on display - and on sale too.
"Sold!" I said to the salesman.
"I've sold 35 of these this week", he told me. "They really are good vacuums."

Down the escalator, back through the baby department, on my way to the car, when I spotted the baby clothes sales clerk.
"I bought my vacuum cleaner in 5 minutes", I told her.

She probably thought I was nuts. It took me 5 minutes to make a $350.00 purchase and almost an hour to buy about $20.00 worth of baby clothes.
But - I had fun.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh, YES, this is exactly how I shop at Target. I just run in for shampoo and....well, I have to stop by the clearance racks for the girls, of course. Because winter clothes are a bargain NOW rather than when it gets cold. Which of course leads me over to my clothes also, because I can always use more yoga pants and they might be on sale, too.

And while I'm there, why not swing by the sale bin in Toys also, because there's always some kinnd of birthday party going on.

It never ends, and I hate to shop. :) Pretty interesting, though, your sale sign was "3/4 off." I've never seen/heard of that, but then--I haven't been to Canada since I was a kid.

Lori B said...

Hilarious! My husband blames my "deer in the headlights" style of shopping on subliminal messages in the red sale tags. ha!

beckie said...

I know exactly what you mean! Especially with 7 granddaughters of all ages. I am always on the lookout for 'baby clothes' even when I'm not. But I am easily distracted by any kind of sale...these stores that sell everything from groceries to tvs make it difficult to get in and out without coming across something I MUST have.

Beverly said...

I love it! I think we call all identify with this post.

mj said...

I love "end of the season" sales!
I recently bought my sons 5 pair of pants for $5 each. What a bargain!

With 2 more grandchildren on the way, I'm sure that 45 minutes and $20 was time and money well spent!

Mary

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Michelle said...

Shopping for babies is so much fun. Vacuums on the other hand, how much fun is that?

Wendy said...

Amy - don't you ever have liquidation sales? Seasonal stuff goes on sale for 1/2 off and then they reduce it again. By this time, it's usually warm and nice outside and who really wants to buy a snowsuit in spring? Or shorts in winter? But, on the other hand, you can get good pants, t-shirts, sweaters, or whatever on liquidation too. Right now in Walmart, they are selling kids warm winter hats and mittens and scarves for 50 cents. I was tempted to pick some up. But who really feels like shopping for winter clothes??

Mary - you got some good deals too! Isn't it fun? And I think I really spend $30 - not $20 as I said in my post. I bought ten dollars worth of stuff and then saw the "liquidation" table and bought $20. Anyway - it was fun.

Ik: Oh so that's it. The old subliminal messages buried deep in the red tags! It sure works on me!!