President's Day isn't the sexiest of holidays when it comes to shopping. Not romantic like Valentine's Day, or as patriotic as the 4th of July, or as lush and indulgent as the holidays. No, President's Day weekend is the workhorse of shopping holidays. Big burly items are on sale like mattresses, appliances, furniture and cars. So is last resort clearance merchandise like leftover January white sale linens to go with that new mattress, and holiday decorations. Discount to mid-tier department stores like Penney's, Sears, Kohl's, Target and Macy's typically have storewide sales to clear out the final bits of merchandise left over from the holidays. Most luxury retailers don't participate. Nor do boutiques, unless they spell classy with a K.
The retail component of nearly every holiday has been creeping and spreading well beyond the traditional boundaries. Holiday shopping started in early October last year and Mother's Day promotions began more than a month in advance of the actual day. But President's Day weekend sales -- perhaps because they lack of charisma, or perhaps because they overlap with more popular Valentine's Day shopping -- remain constrained to a long weekend, maybe a week at the most. A few eager online retailers are making feeble attempts but for the most part -- it's the weekend.
But despite the time constrains President's Day bargains should be worthwhile this year. Here's why.
Holiday retail sales were mediocre, and President's Day is the last resort for clearing out winter merchandise to open shelf space for spring styles. So while President's Day weekend is typically reserved for the big burlies, this year a wider variety of merchandise, including small electronics, clothing and home decorations, will be available from a wider variety of retailers.
Last year's holiday retail sales demonstrated with absolute clarity that shoppers want to buy online. But some types of merchandise simply demand a personal inspection. Only desperate insomniacs buy a mattress without giving it a test spin in a store first. The same is true for most appliances, cars, furniture and the other giant-sized items associated with this shopping weekend. This President's Day is an opportunity for retailers who want to get shoppers into their stores again to showcase special products, merchandising, remind shoppers how helpful a great salesperson can be and tempt shoppers with alluring products they might purchase impulsively.
Plus, shoppers in many parts of the country have yet another reason for switching from a screen to a store: they've been cabin-fevered by challenging weather. And so between the wider variety of merchandise, cabin-fever and the necessity of at least visiting a store to check out big relatively risky purchases, shopping on President's Day weekend will be more alluring than usual.
But shoppers, caveat emptor: browsing leads to buying. In fact there is a correlation between the amount of time a person spends in a store and how much they buy. So map out your plan and shop with a clear goal in mind. Remember the founding father dictum that a penny saved is a penny earned.