Kevin Wilkinson

Well, it looks like the holiday season is creeping up fast around the corner. Thanksgiving is just a week away, and that officially kicks off the shopping spree for the season. With inflation hovering over our wallets like the eye of a hurricane, shopping and present buying can be a stressful and economically difficult time for most of us. 

Thankfully the universe gave us overpriced retail stores! Of course, Amazon, Etsy, and eBay are all incredibly suitable options to indulge in your holiday spending, but this article is more for the in-person troopers, the ones who still find the courage within themselves to go out on Black Friday and scavenge the underbelly of the corporate retail world. 

As an in-person shopper when it comes to gift buying, we like to drag ourselves to the wonderful worlds of stores like Macys, Dicks Sporting Goods, and Target (I work at Target so that helps). Target is incredibly consumer friendly when it comes to discounts, credit, and return policies. Other than Apple, which requires a uniform return policy of 30 days, electronic items from Target come with a 60-day return policy, a whole month longer than their previous policy. All other items that are not electronics usually have a 90 day to a yearlong return policy. 

Target also does a multitude of discounts when you use their Target Circle service, you just have to download the app and sign-up and every purchase you make you can get 5% off. If you apply for a credit card with Target then your variety of deals become a lot broader, including 25-30% off a selection of toys and gift cards of up to $15-20 after you make specific purchases. 

Most retail stores do deals like these, and they are only amplified when the holiday season rolls around. Speaking from personal experience when it comes to Macy’s credit card service. I accidentally enrolled myself in their credit service (long story), but I ended up getting 20 dollars off my purchase. They also provided a balance of 25 dollars to use after the credit was paid and still had some “holiday credit” to use towards another gift. They also have a specified time period in the 2 weeks leading up to Christmas day where they provide deals of up to 20% off of items that are specified in the deal. 

Dicks sporting goods has a rewards program where with every purchase you make if you sign up with a phone number. On their website they also have a section for coupons that you can choose from, ranging from signing up for text services and getting 20 dollars off of a $100 purchase.

The Willow Grove Mall is also a great way to amplify your holiday spirit and get all of your shopping done under one roof.  The hustle and bustle of the mall when the season comes around is also a very cheerful Christmas aesthetic. This means the holiday cheer is here as you look into the faces of people that are about spend half of their paycheck. Although they’re doing it with a smile and cheerful attitude (most of them, can’t account for all), as Christmas music plays above and surrounds the halls with cheer. 

This season doesn’t have to be stressful and pocket draining, you can make it aesthetic, memorable, and a pleasure of a time if you take the time to find the right stores, deals, and environments. Don’t look now but the season is heading our way like a freight train, happy holidays everyone!

Now with all of that being said, remember everyone don’t forget to grab those gift receipts!