It is the day before Halloween and the stores are jam-packed with last minute shoppers. People are running about trying to find more candy, the all-important pumpkin or “one more thing” for their child’s costume. The till tape is flying as stores try to push out the last of their Halloween merchandise.
However, behind the scenes retailers are also preparing for an onslaught of trick or treaters. Yes, it seems the mall has become the go-to destination for little ones to collect their candy. And why not? A mall is safe, well lit, entertaining and most importantly, WARM. Families can pull into underground parking, enjoy a hot beverage from the food court and casually stroll through the mall while their kids get free treats. A nice, safe way to spend Halloween.
On the flip side, there are the traditional trick or treaters who go door-to-door. They stuff their costumes over a snowsuit, hope their mask will keep their faces warm and grab a pillowcase. Parents follow carefully behind them in the van as they run feverishly around the neighbourhood hoping for the “big score”. They are chilled and exhausted but hardly skip a beat as the adrenaline courses through their veins. These trick or treaters will collect candy well past their bedtime and return home smiling from ear to ear.
Finally, there are the “party” trick or treaters. They skip the mall and the great outdoors in favour of a small gathering of friends and relatives. A small bucket is used to collect treats won through games and haunted houses. These children experience a more intimate affair that makes Halloween a little more personal.
All three options are fantastic ways to spend Halloween. Each offer a different experience and yet, the outcome is the same: CANDY FOR EVERYONE!
Where do your children go trick or treating? Let us know!
Smart Canucks wishes all of your children a safe and happy Halloween 2012.
The suggested dates for surface mail has now past and airmail dates start on November 23rd so if you are mailing Christmas presents internationally, it is time to start planning.
For those McCafe coffee lovers, McDonalds is introducing bags of ground coffee in Canada on November 5th – after they give away lots of cups for free to get people hooked. A 340g bag will cost $6.99 and will be available in select McDonalds locations.
They are also looking into k-cups and other grocery items for the Canadian market.
I have been recently doing a bit of research on the laws behind contests in Canada. After pages of “legalise”, I came across a question and answer section designed for Joe Public. In layman’s terms, it outlined the difference between an adequate and inadequate skill test. According to the Competition Bureau of Canada:
The following have been found to be adequate skill tests:
estimating the time it would take a barrel to travel a specified distance down a river
estimating attendances at a fair and the future temperatures of cities
estimating the number of beans in a jar
estimating the number of votes to be cast in an upcoming election
a four-step mathematical question
Okay, those seem reasonable. Now for the absolutely hilarious inadequate skill tests.
The following are examples of skill tests found (in other words, these may have been required by contestants at one point in time) to be inadequate:
shooting a turkey at 50 yards
a potato peeling contest
memorizing answers given to contestants earlier on
estimating how many passengers would be carried on a railway at a future date
I’m trying to think of the last time a retailer had a contest winner shoot a turkey at 50 yards to redeem their prize! Hmmm…perhaps this document needs to be updated.
The federal government have finally imposed regulations on prepaid credit card companies.
Under the new regulations, prepaid cards must fully disclose any fees and conditions at activation, must not expire and eliminate any unused balance, they also can’t have maintenance fees for at least one year after card activation.
The weather has taken a turn for the worse across most of Canada and many of us are instinctively starting to hibernate. Casual, long summer walks seem like years ago as we look out our windows at howling winds, driving snow and a biting temperatures that freeze your eyelashes shut. Yes folks, winter is upon us and it is here to stay for the next few months.
The poor weather conditions which always bring poor road conditions help convince us to plant ourselves at the kitchen table and promise we will not step outside for anything other than work or emergencies. It’s a lot harder to justify a trip to the mall when your vehicle windows are fogged and your feet are numb against the pedals. Why bother when you can shop online? It’s fast, there is usually a better selection, you can stay in your pajamas and free shipping promotions are abundant.
However, there are those that argue shopping in store is the way to go. There is just something about stepping into a mall and gazing across a horizon of brightly lit signs and fake foliage. The people around are bustling, busy and perhaps even a little excited. The merchandise may be limited, however you at least get to touch it, smell it, look at it in 10 different lights and try it on, if necessary. The store employees may even be able to offer additional information not available on a website and let’s face it, most of us gain a little enjoyment from interacting with actual people, rather than a computer screen. Oh yeah…and you instantly get what you want!
Recent studies have indicated that online shopping is on the rise, especially with the introduction of “shopping tools” such as Pay Pal and secured websites. In fact, some guess that at least 50% off all shopping is happening in somebody’s living room, rather than in a store.
So, where do you prefer to shop? In store or online? Do you hunker down and let FedEx take over driving duties? Or, do you race to the mall with family/friends and shop til you drop? Let us know!
What do you use your baby wipes for other than on your children?
I love using the tubs for sorting coupons, they are the perfect size for most coupons. The wipes are perfect for cleaning up in the car, removing makeup and especially removing hairdye marks when colouring your hair.
With so many Mini-Wheat coupons, I thought this one was worth posting even though it is a ‘low level recall’. Kellogg’s Mini-Wheats have been recalled due to metal “Extraneous Material” in the cereal. The recall includes original frosted and brown sugar flavour across the country with best before dates of “2013 AL 01 TO 2013 JL 29”.
I have subscribed to a number of store newsletters over the past couple of years to find out great deals in record time. After all, it is my job to bring you the latest sales, freebies or coupons! It is not uncommon for me to open my Inbox and find 50 or 60+ emails every morning. Most of them are junk mail, some are so-so deals, some are fantastic discounts and a large chunk of them are contests. Yes, it seems if a store doesn’t necessarily want to give you a good deal, they will run a contest instead. And why not? It makes them appear generous since a lot of these prizes are fantastic (trips, cars etc.) and they end up saving a ton of money! It’s a lot cheaper to shell out $5000 in points to one customer than offer a $1 discount to potentially a million people.
I tend to skip over the contest emails unless the odds are really good. And when the odds are good it is usually a locally run contest where the prize is minimal at best. But, hey…a small prize is better than no prize!
What about you? Do you enter contests? If so, how often? Have you won any great prizes from entering contests? Let us know!
Happy Thanksgiving Day, Canada! It is that time of year to get together with family and friends to enjoy a fantastic meal, good company and maybe even a football game. Although today (Monday) is the actual holiday, many of you may have already celebrated with your loved ones and are traveling back home for tomorrow’s work/school day. Whatever the case, all of us at SC hope you had some time to relax and focus on the positive things in your life. Sometimes this is hard to do especially when life’s pressures take over, however it is important to zero in on the small perks and allow those things to stand out when times get tough.
So, what are you thankful for this year? It doesn’t matter how big or small, we just want to hear about everything that made you humble and brought joy into your life. Let us know!
The latest trend among retailers is to offer store credit in the form of gift cards or bonus points when you spend a certain amount of money at the store. It is not uncommon to see “spend $100, get a $25 savings card!” or some other catchy title splashed across a flyer or sign. Sometimes the offers seem too good to be true, especially when the savings will be 50% or more. And, nine times out of ten the deal is too good to be true…
The initial claim of 30%-60% off gets your attention. With the excitement building, you furiously read the fine print to see how you can get in on this fantastic deal and then…there it is. The tiny little detail that kills your joy in a split second: “savings pass is redeemable on your next purchase of $100 or more”. And what’s more, retailers will usually tell you when you can spend the savings pass. Hmmm…better write that one down on the calendar or the entire promotion will be good for nothing.
I find these promotions misleading and frustrating. Why would a retailer make an outlandish claim (save 50%!) only to squash all excitement by bogging it down with fine print to make the deal a waste of your time? If the goal is to catch your eye, then this is a highly effective marketing gimmick. However, it seems absurd to lure a customer in just to disappoint them in the end.
What do you think of savings passes? Do you find them frustrating? Or, are they a savvy marketing tool? Let us know!
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is now urging consumers to ask stores where they get their beef as they expanded the recall to include steaks, roasts, sausages and other cuts of meat in addition to the original (expanded) ground beef.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has issued an alert for ground beef sold in major retailers across Canada.
Walmart branded ground beef in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
Kirkland branded ground beef and products (Costco brand) sold nationally.
Safeway branded products from ground beef to burger patties where sold across the country.
For a full list with item codes, pictures and expiry dates, visit their website.
Thanks for posting this important recall on the forums KrazE.
Bumping this as they have added stores to the list
Loblaws, Sobeys, Foodland, IGA, Metro, SuperC : See here for more details
For those who shop in the US, it has also been expanded to there:
Brands in the U.S. affected by the recall include Morasch Meats, Calahoo, Kirkland Signature, and Cattleman’s. The USDA’s FSIS site has not posted recall information on their site, but Kroger has released a recall of KRO Ground Beef 73% 3#, 3 lb. The beef was sold at Kroger stores in the greater Cincinnati area, northern Kentucky, Dayton Ohio, southeastern Indiana, Indiana (except for Evansville), Illinois, and eastern Missouri. It was also sold at Jay C, Food4Less and FoodsCo.
Expanded again to include private retailers and other grocery stores
I love Tim Horton’s Smile Cookies, it is a way to give back while getting something yummy for me and a nice change from all the companies asking for just $1 a day for life signups.
Buy a $1 smile cookie before September 23rd and the entire proceeds of the cookie sale will go to a local charity. Check to see which charity is supported in your community here.
