Stores Magazine - November 2007 - (Page 10) CONSIDER THIS / EXECUTIVE EDITOR’S PAGE StORES® Holiday Survival Guide BY SUSAN REDA STORES Magazine 325 7th St. NW, Suite 1100 Washington, D.C. 20004 202/626-8101 t’s that time of the year again . . . time to hit the stores in search of the perfect gifts for all the significant people in my life. Oh, the joy . . . Did I say joy? Clearly, I’ve yet to begin shopping. Give me a week or two and I guarantee I won’t be humming, “fa-la-la-la-la.” It’s not really the shopping that’s the problem: I could shop 24/7. It’s choosing just the right gift that stresses me out. I try, really I do, but with mixed results. I’ll never forget the year my daughter asked for an endless list of Beanie Babies. I picked up a few, and then bought her a Muffy VanderBear. For the unenlightened, Muffy is the bear equivalent of Barbie and she has a wardrobe that rivals Paris Hilton’s. Muffy was a winner; I was sure of it. I imagined my daughter would love it: I could almost hear her prattling on about how Santa always knows just the right thing to put under the tree. Luckily, I didn’t bet the ranch. I spent the next five years dusting Muffy. There was the foosball table I bought my husband that came in a hundred pieces, took hours to assemble and attracted every kid in the neighborhood. So much for the good intentions; I should have bought him a sweater. Today, the foosball table gets more use as a laundry table. Then there was the time I bought my sister’s boyfriend a classic button-down oxford from L.L. Bean . . . only to learn, minutes after he opened the box, that he worshipped at the altar of Hugo Boss and made bimonthly pilgrimages to Barneys New York. So to heck with New Year’s resolutions: I’m going to get a head start and make holiday shopping resolutions instead. 1. Buy exactly what they ask for. Don’t try to upgrade. Don’t pick the newly-introduced color. Don’t substitute with what you consider to be a reasonable facsimile. Just buy the darn thing and be done with it. 2. Repeat after me: Gift cards are good. Buy them in bulk and spread them far and wide. And, for goodness sake, don’t worry that it looks like nothing in the box. It’s what they wanted; they can buy what they like. It’s all good. 3. Perfume, accessories and earrings were specifically invented with the impossible-to-fit in mind. Resist the urge to try to buy apparel for relatives who can’t seem to decide if they’re small, medium or large. 4. Angels will not rain chaos down upon you for buying the Xbox version of Grand Theft Auto or multiple black T-shirts with skulls and crossbones; they were moms once, too (re-read resolution No. 1). 5. Reward yourself. Shopping for others can be a thankless job. Take frequent breaks and buy a little something to keep yourself motivated. I RICK GALLAGHER Publisher Vice President 202/626-8103 FAX: 866/640-8136 E-mail: publisher@nrf.com SUSAN PATTERSON Assistant Publisher 202/626-8102 FAX: 202/661-3042 E-mail: pattersons@nrf.com EDITORIAL SUSAN REDA Executive Editor 516/437-1245 FAX: 866/640-8138 E-mail: editor@nrf.com HARRY LISTER Managing Editor 202/626-8199 FAX: 866/640-8137 E-mail: listerh@nrf.com MARY ALICE ELMER Senior Copy Editor 202/661-3047 FAX: 866/640-8134 E-mail: elmerm@nrf.com LUCY D. REDDAWAY Creative Director ADVERTISING & MARKETING MIKE GRIBBIN Advertising Director 410/893-8003 Mike Gribbin Therese Draddy Tim O’Connell Molly Deise Terry Baker Dan McClure Executive Publishing Inc. 900A Main St., Suite 103 Bel Air, MD 21014 410/893-8003 FAX: 410/893-8004 E-mail: advertising@stores.org CIRCULATION ELENA CAIOLA Senior Director, Circulation and Information Management 202/626-8146 FAX: 866/640-8139 E-mail: circulation@nrf.com DORIS MASON Circulation Assistant 202/626-8172 FAX: 866/640-8140 For high-quality article reprints (minimum of 100), including e-prints, please contact Reprint Management Services at 717-666-3052. editor@nrf.com At STORES, we appreciate hearing our readers’ thoughts and comments. Please address your correspondence to editor@nrf.com, or contact me at (516) 437-1245. 10 STORES / NOVEMBER 2007 WWW.STORES.ORG http://WWW.STORES.ORG
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