Good to Know

A few months ago, Linens n' Things shut down, and closed their store here. It was sad, but also kind of exciting to think about getting an awesome deal. I had my eye on a new ironing board, since mine is only flat with a Psalter Hymnal under one of the legs (the gray version). Apparently, I was so intent on getting this ironing board, I asked my mom to stop to look it while I was doped up after being put out for some dental work.

But I went in there a few times at the beginning the clearance, and was confused. First, it was rather misleading. Their sign said "up to 40% off," and of course, most everything was only 10% off at first. And I noticed something...I was looking at something in the gadgets section, a melon baller I think, and the price tag was on there, and had been blacked out. There was a new sticker near the bottom, with a price higher than what was blacked out on the tag. And I began to wonder if they'd marked up the prices...

And I waited, and waited, and of course by the time it was decently marked off, the ironing board was gone.

There's another store here going out of business, Sportsmen's Warehouse, which I have actually never been in. Until tonight--I can't resist a sale. But it was the same deal...10% off, and there were new price tags. All the signs in the store matched the ones that were in Linens n' Things...

And it all made sense after I listened to Scenes from a Recession from This American Life. That's what liquidation companies do, and it works. People buy the marked up stuff, and think they're getting an awesome deal. When LNT was going out of business, I saw tons of people buying the 10% and 20% off stuff. And I'm sure it's not illegal, maybe not even immoral, but I think it's pretty crappy.