MONEY&MORE
YORK DAILY RECORD • FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2010
Joe Bartolo, right, talks with customer Bryan Taylor of Hanover on Tuesday at JJ Cards N Toys at the York Galleria in Springettsbury
Township. The store planned to open at 4:30 a.m. today.
It’s not called the
BIGGEST SHOPPING DAY
OF THE YEAR
Retailers brace for holiday season
By KEVIN HORAN
Daily Record/Sunday News
Joe Bartolo, owner of JJ Cards N Toys,
a sports memorabilia store in the York
Galleria in Springettsbury Township,
planned to get a jump on his competition
this Black Friday, opening his doors at
4:30 a.m.
The mall doesn’t officially open until 6
a.m., he said, but shoppers tend to make
their way in beforehand, thanks to some
of its anchor stores opening earlier.
“Everybody’s trying to get that advan-
tage,” Bartolo said.
This will probably be a big weekend
for Bartolo and his fellow retailers, ac-
cording to the National Retail Federation.
Up to 138 million people plan to hit the
stores Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the
federation said, up from 134 million who
planned to shop last year.
Stores around the area are bracing
themselves.
One of Bartolo’s competitors in the
Galleria, Bleacher Bums, planned to rear-
range itself Wednesday, putting racks con-
taining its special deals up front for
customers to see right away, said Steve
Dwyer, the store’s owner.
People have been hesitant to spend
money the past two years, Dwyer said, a
trend he expects to see reversed this year.
In the West Manchester Mall, Artesian
Pools & Spas’ Black Friday traffic will
probably benefit from the addition of a
new neighbor, Kohl’s, which opened in
Black Friday tips
The National Retail Federation provides the following tips for
shoppers on Black Friday:
c When gift shopping, remember you are buying for someone
else’s wants and needs, not your own. The question is not whether
you like a certain item; rather, it’s whether your recipient will like it.
c Buy gift cards to save yourself the guesswork, “especially for
babysitters, newspaper carriers, doormen (and) teachers.”
c Wear comfortable shoes. “You’ll be walking on a lot of
marble, concrete and tile.”
Bartolo, left, helps Taylor match a frame to a Christmas
present at JJ Cards N Toys. The store recently has been
building up its inventory and hiring and training new
employees in preparation for Black Friday and the rest of
the holiday shopping season.
Toy extravaganza
Buy, sell, trade at expo
The 29th annual Greater York Toy Extrava-
ganza will run 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday at Me-
morial Hall at the York Expo Center.
The show will include more than
800 tables of antique toys, trains, dolls, action
figures, Hot Wheels and super heroes, among
other items.
Visitors can buy, sell and trade toys. Ad-
mission is $5 and children under 12 get in
free.
for nothing
September, said Jeff Tarashik,
Artesian’s manager.
Kids shopping in Kohl’s with
their parents tend to see Arte-
sian’s big display of Christmas
trees and decorations and go run-
ning into the store, bringing their
parents with them, Tarashik said.
The store started carrying Christ- JJ Cards N Toys
mas items last year, Tarashik said, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Troy Polamalu, at left,
and expanded its offerings this on special between 4:30 and 9 a.m. today.
year.
Big-box retailers in the area are get- have all 130 of its employees working at
ting ready, as well.
Ultimate Electronics in Springettsbury most of them working 12-hour shifts. Best
Township plans to have its managers Buy plans to open at 5 a.m.
arrive at 2 a.m. and its staff arrive at 3 a.m.
for its 4 a.m. opening, said Jason Donham,
the store’s specialty goods manager. Staff
members will start handing out vouchers
to customers waiting outside for items in
limited quantities at 2:30, Donham said.
This is Ultimate Electronics’ first
Black Friday locally since opening its
store here earlier this year. The impor-
tance of the day is not lost on the store’s
staff, Donham said.
“This will be an opportunity to talk to
more people than we ever have before at
one time,” he said. “...Every guest we have
is an opportunity.”
At Best Buy in Springettsbury Town-
ship, keeping order is crucial, manager
Cindy Kemmerly said. The store plans to
Feed-A-Friend
Marathon helps Red Cross
Radio station WHVR-AM at Hanover will
host the 25th annual Hanover Foods Feed-A-
Friend Marathon, a 50-hour live broadcast to
collect food for the hungry.
The marathon will be noon Dec. 8 to 2 p.m.
Dec. 10 and is supported in part by Cooper
Motors Lincoln-Mercury, Members First Fed-
eral Credit Union, McDonald’s and The Eve-
ning Sun in Hanover.
The goal is to collect 128,000 cans. In con-
junction with its “Hope for the Holidays” pro-
gram, the pledges are used by the Greater
Hanover Red Cross to provide meals.
For more information about the Feed-A-
Friend Marathon and how you can help, call
WHVR at 637-3831 or visit the Hanover Red
Cross hanoverredcross.org.
DAILY RECORD / SUNDAY NEWS — PAUL KUEHNEL
DAILY RECORD / SUNDAY NEWS — PAUL KUEHNEL
will offer a helmet signed by
some point in the day, Kemmerly said,
People waiting outside before the store
opens will get tickets for the items they
want, Kemmerly said, and then be able to
pick the items up at designated places
within the store.
“It’s very well thought out,” Kemmerly
said.
Bartolo, the owner of JJ Cards N Toys,
also hopes his preparations leading up to
Black Friday will work out well.
His store has been building up its
inventory and hiring and training new em-
ployees recently, he said. On Friday morn-
ing, he’ll see how well it pays off.
“This is a busy time for us,” he said.
khoran@ydr.com; 771-2029
DAILY RECORD / SUNDAY NEWS — PAUL KUEHNEL
Low-income heating funds
Senator supports program
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey Jr. joined a group of bi-
partisan senators in sending a letter calling
for funding for the Low-Income Home Energy
Assistance Program to be maintained.
The letter to the Senate Appropriations
Committee calls for funding to be maintained
at $5.1 billion rather than being cut to $3.3 bil-
lion.
The program, which opened Nov. 1, pro-
vides money to help low-income residents, the
elderly and people with disabilities pay their
heating bills.
Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Pro-
gram applications are available through the
York County Assistance Office at 800-991-0929.
7B
Smart phones
A new
spin on
holiday
shopping
Technology and social media
go mainstream, to make the
experience more interactive.
By ELAINE WALKER
and BRIDGET CAREY
McClatchy Newspapers
At Toys R Us, you can forget the ol’-fash-
ioned, paper and pencil holiday wish list — go
high-tech with the toy retailer’s app designed
for the iPad.
Spot a good deal on Black Friday, and use
the Black Flyday app on an Android phone to
send it out immediately to all your Facebook
friends.
This year’s holiday season is when technol-
ogy and social media join the mainstream,
aiming to make the shopping experience
more interactive and, hopefully, more produc-
tive. For bargain hunters, it’s a way to become
a more savvy shopper.
Any variety of downloadable apps can
help you find the best bargains. Use FastMall
to pull up maps of your local malls. Stay on
top of the best deals by signing up for text
message alerts from retailers like Kmart, Vic-
toria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works.
Retailers have definitely taken notice and
there’s hardly a major national chain that
shoppers won’t find on Facebook or Twitter.
JCPenney has nearly 1.3 million Facebook
fans, and Toys R Us is pushing the 1 million
mark. Those fans get everything from special
discounts to sneak peeks on merchandise.
At Macy’s, social media and mobile mar-
keting have been growing by double digits,
making it just as important — or maybe more
so — than traditional marketing.
Four out of 10 retailers will use Facebook
to promote deals this holiday season, accord-
ing to the National Retail Federation.
More than one-fourth of Americans who
have a smart phone will use their mobile
device to shop for gifts, compare prices and
research products, according to an NRF
survey by BIGresearch. That number reaches
45 percent among 18- to 24-year-olds and
43.5 percent of 25- to 34-year-olds.
It’s all about creating a more interactive
experience. That’s also the focus behind apps
like CheckPoints and Shopkick.
Shopkick has partnerships nationally with
Target, Best Buy, Macy’s, Sports Authority,
Wet Seal, American Eagle and Simon Prop-
erty Group’s malls. Customers score kickbucks
by simply walking into a mall or store and
checking in on their iPhone or Android
phone. They also get more kickbucks by scan-
ning barcodes on select items.
“It makes it fun for the shopper,” said Lyn-
ette Lauria, Florida regional vice president of
marketing with Simon Property Group.
Rack up a total of 875 kickbucks and shop-
pers can earn a $25 restaurant gift certificate.
Reach higher totals and you can earn free
movie tickets or a Coach gift card.
Free shopping apps
Black Flyday — Post a good Black Friday
deal or see a map of where others have buzzed
about sales (Android)
CheckPoints — Earn points toward gift
cards and airline miles by scanning barcodes of
products and checking into stores (iPhone)
Coupon Sherpa — Scan through list of
major retailers to see what mobile coupons they
offer (iPhone)
FastMall — Search a directory map of
stores in a mall, and shake phone to find nearest
restroom (iPhone)
Giftmeister — Helps give tech gift sugges-
tions for different personalities and find who is
selling it for cheapest (iPhone, Android)
Point Inside — Pull up a map of a mall or
airport and search for customer service and man-
agement offices (iPhone, Android)
PriceGrabber — Scan barcodes and com-
pare online prices, or share your wish list with
friends (iPhone, Android)
Shopkick — Earn rewards like gift certifi-
cates for checking into stores and scanning bar-
codes
TheFind — Scan barcodes to see who is
selling it for cheaper in another store or online
(iPhone, Android)
Yowza!! — Find stores that have mobile cou-
pons (iPhone)
Where — Find stores that have mobile cou-
pons and check into locations (iPhone, Android,
BlackBerry, HP Palm)
Overdraft programs
FDIC gives banks final rules
Among the new guidelines, the FDIC ex-
pects the state-chartered banks to:
c Review marketing and disclosure for the
programs “to minimize potential customer
confusion and promote responsible use.”
c Train staff to explain the program.
c Monitor the programs for excessive use
and offer alternatives to customers who over-
draw their account more than six times in any
12-month period.
c Set “appropriate daily limits” on the
number of overdraft fees.
c Consider eliminating overdraft fees for
transactions that overdraw a small amount.
c Consider using text messages, e-mail or
other options to alert customers when their
account balance gets low.