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According to the Federal Reserve Board, total U.S. consumer debt (credit cards plus car loans) recently passed the $2 trillion mark, averaging out to $7,296 per person. 2004-12-02 Many Bank Web Sites Havent Yet Taken Care of Marketing Basics, New BankersOnline.com Survey RevealsOf 50 randomly selected bank web sites in a recent survey sponsored by BankersOnline.com (www.bankersonline.com), fewer than half listed ATM locations, provided the number for 24-hour telephone banking, invited customer feedback or included online aids for customers trying to find information hidden somewhere deep within the site. 2004-12-02 Unique and Diverse Corporate Gifts Attract Business Gift Buyers This Holiday Seasone-CorporateGifts.com, Inc. a Leading Provider of Corporate Gifts on the internet since 1999; reports that new product lines and diversity of gifts attracts a new breed of business gift buyers.
Great unknown
If there was an answer to it, there wouldn't be much discussion," said Vince Doria, vice president and director of news at ESPN and former sports editor at the Globe. "It's an obvious discussion, one to which there is no real resolution." Doria doesn't deny that ESPN gets good mileage out of such debates, but so, too, do newspaper columnists, and it's Grade A fodder for sports-talk radio. It's hard to believe that any of the people engaging in such a discussion would think there will be any semblance of a consensus, yet that won't put a halt to the raging talk sessions and screaming that will accompany it all. "It's what people do," said Dan Rooney, whose family has owned the Pittsburgh Steelers since 1933. "I agree, it's silly, because I say this all the time, but when you judge a team, you have to ask yourself, 'Did it do what it had to do?' That's all you can ask." Thus will Rooney make sure that a team as formidable as George Halas's 1940-41 Chicago Bears is included in any discussion.
Retailers mix offerings to lure shoppers
Out with the old, in with the new. As holiday gift cards prod more shoppers into stores this week, retailers are clearing shelves with their traditional deep discounts. But in an emerging trend aimed at plumping profits, they're also making room for fresh, new merchandise at full price.
Part of what's driving the shift is the continuing growth of holiday gift cards that spur late December and January sales.
"We're starting to see stores use deep discounts as a loss leader," said Dennis Tootelian, a marketing expert at California State University, Sacramento. "Then they're bringing in more trendy, new merchandise at full price. People with gift cards are more willing to pay that because they feel like the card is free money."
Retailers are casting about for new marketing strategies in the wake of a holiday season that will likely end as their worst for sales growth in five years.
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