For You, My Friend...

3/25/2008

TUESDAY

9 AM

Loved this story from the New York Times: Even At Megastores, Hagglers Find No Price Is Set In Stone.

Who knew that dickering is an option? For those with moxie enough to ask, the retail world is again a bazaar.

A bargaining culture once confined largely to car showrooms and jewelry stores is taking root in major stores like Best Buy, Circuit City and Home Depot, as well as mom-and-pop operations.

Read the whole story for more idea-inspiring information. Check out, for example, the New World Order at Home Depot:

We want to work with the customer, and if that happens to mean negotiating a price, then we re willing to look at that, said Kathryn Gallagher, a spokeswoman for Home Depot.

In the last year, she said, the store has adopted an entrepreneurial spirit campaign to give salespeople and managers more latitude on prices in order to retain customers.

Read about the two friends who put their heads together and negotiated down their entertainment costs at a regional New York electronics chain. Check it out: They walked away with two 46-inch hi-def Sony TVs for a whopping $1,000 less than the sticker price.

Hmmm. Wonder if this works at The Andersons .?