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Memorial Day can be fine time for bargain hunters
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Published: May 21, 2009
As Memorial Day finds its' way to us once again and summer officially begins, shoppers can take advantage of their day off.
Memorial Day isn't the most noteworthy shopping day of the year but that isn't because there aren't great deals to be found. You may not realize it, but it is actually a pretty big day for retail and service-based businesses.
There are several reasons, not the least of which is that Memorial Day is the day when many retailers, restaurants and tourist areas start implement their summer strategies. The summer shopping season is in full swing by the time Memorial day hits and the stores have been priming the pump for weeks. Think of it as a smaller, warm weather Black Friday.
But mostly, Memorial Day is a day off for many people and it is one of the few traveling weekends in the first half of the year. Many of you have probably been saving your money to be spent this weekend on a short getaway this weekend.
Unlike its holiday counterpart, Memorial Day deals sometimes require you to do a little more digging to find the deals. There are a lot of one-off Memorial Day deals that are a little more niche than the typical marketing push. Lots of family run restaurants, independent clothes stores or slightly off-the-map tourist areas always hope for big memorial day traffic.
There are a few areas in the deal-hunting landscape that you can pretty much bank on to find some discounts over this holiday weekend.
First off, furniture. Furniture stores typically suffer during slash & grab shopping windows because, well, buying furniture takes some time. The pieces are more expensive, they require a lot of comparison shopping and are, therefore, less prone to the impulse buy.
Because of this, furniture stores and department stores with large furniture sections will often try to take advantage of this first long weekend of the year to help jump start their balance sheets. Because people have time off, they are able to take a little more time.
Secondly, jewelry and clothes are a great buy this Monday. Stores will be looking to move their leftover Valentine's Day inventory as quickly as they can, so taking advantage of these deals now can save you some money. If you time it out right, you can get a jump on next year's Valentine's Day shopping, or start the holiday shopping early with some great deals on typically pricey items.
Finally, raid the clearance sections at your local retailers. Most shops will have begun to add the first of this season's winter items into the clearance section as they try to clear their shelves for their spring and summer inventory. This is a great opportunity for you to upgrade on those seasonal items (knick-knacks, home decorations, clothes, etc.) for much, much cheaper than you could have otherwise. In some cases you may not be able to use them until next season, but you'll spend less money now to save spending any money then.
It isn't the most notorious of days, but Memorial Day is one of those arrows that any professional shopper should keep in their quiver. Less people know to take advantage of it which means better deals and less crowds to fight for you.
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