, , , ,

(via Anne Hathaway Leaves Longtime Stylist Rachel Zoe After a...

, , , ,

What to buy RIGHT NOW: A Guide to Mid- January Shoppers...

What to buy RIGHT NOW: A Guide to Mid- January Shoppers Paradise

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

According to the National Retail Federation, Americans spent around $601.8 billion dollars on holiday gifts for 2013. If you were not one of those people, you are in luck!

Stores tend to drop prices on items like clothing, shoes, toys and electronics in hopes of getting rid of some of that holiday overstock that didn’t sell. Even though $601.8 billion sounds like a huge amount, stores anticipated shoppers would spend even more this year and planned accordingly. When that didn’t happen, they went into post holiday panic mode. Full shelves mid January = lost profits which means retail death. To avoid the downward spiral, stores must get rid of the merchandise STAT, even if it means implementing massive profit losing discounts. Guess who benefits from the push to purge? The shopper!

Best places to get the lowest priced items:

Jeans: When it comes to jeans, JC Penney has the best prices on their in-house denim at a sale price of $19.99 as well as Arizona AZ jeans sale priced at $9- $14. Keep in mind J.C. Penney has ongoing promotions which may take off up to 30-40% off the price.

Dresses:  JC Penney hits it out of the park with its Worthington contrast sweater dresses sale priced at $14.99.  Fun fact: stores tend to put their winter merchandise on deep discount mid- January to make room for spring merchandise. The savings gets passed on to you the shopper.

Coats: Speaking of winter, stores like Macys are marking down their coats by almost 70% off.  You can expect to see $300 coats marked down in some cases to $139.

Shoes: Just like winter apparel, stores have to make room for summer shoes. JC Penney are marking down winter shoes by 40-80% for certain items.  The Call it Spring Georgina Zip Wedge Boots have a sale price of $36.99. You can’t for get the guys either: New Balance Men’s Sneakers have a sale price of $35.99.

Toys: Stores like Toys R’ Us are seeing the best discounts all year and since they too overstocked to anticipate a massive holiday rush, many of their toys are discounted up to 80%.  The Playskool Rocktivity Sit Crawl and Stand Band has a sale price of $34.98 down form $79. Another fun fact: Toys R’ Us is a great place to purchase discounted electronics. The Vivitar 16.1 MP Vivicam with a sale price of $29.98!

These are just a few of many discounts we are about to see as we come to the end of January. If you are in the market for a large TV, grill or appliance now is the time to pull the trigger- it only goes up from here, people.

- Hitha Prabhakar  (Hitha Prabhakar is the Chief Research Officer of AitchPe Retail Advisory www.hithaprabhakar.com)

, , , , ,

Who Wore it Better #Grammys 2014 version: Reem Acra cocktail...

, , , , ,

Who Wore it Better #Grammys 2014 version: Reem Acra cocktail dress on Sara Bareilles (who I adore) after she sang a duet w/ Carole King or me, @hithaprabhakar? Discuss.