it's finally happened. i'm liveblogging my shopping.
CONFIRMED: best buy annapolis (to your left on the way to the mall from the renaissance festival) is set up and taking matching contributions. single sheet of paper with a upc on it for the price code of "red cross / $1" -- they scan it, ask how much you want to donate, and change the price of the purchase. not everyone's been briefed on the procedure (i went to customer service), and you do NOT need to make a purchase in order to ring up a donation.
staples: taking $1, $5, $10 and $20 donations at the register. no matching.
safeway: single empty water jug at the service desk taking cash. no matching.
off to the mall...
kmh
7:48: "try the internet."
- cosmetics counter, hechts.
thanks. while we're swapping advice, try a few ounces less mascara.
8:04 pm: ooh! black and white and color kevin and shellie sin city action figures at hot topic! and black and white and color wendy sin city figures at suncoast!]
no no no. stay on target. [just a joke. not actually collecting sin city figures. don't need any. thanks.]
8:12 pm: "our corporation is doing that."
- borders books. no customer donations, matching or otherwise. seriously disappointed in them.
8:24 pm: CONFIRMED: sears is playing with power. cash or check or gift card: if you want to pay by credit card, they ring up a gift card for the donation amount and put the purchase on the gift card. no tax. bit convoluted, but it's up and running. bitchin' camaro.
8:44: apple retail stores don't have anything set up, but they get a pass from me for the itunes music store link (like amazon, donations are one-click -- and like itunes, for a lot of people it's the only online shopping they do, so people who shop nowhere else have their credit cards already wired for itunes).
8:52: damn. gonna have to wait till tomorrow to hit up lowes, et. al. based on what I've seen tonight, lowes and k-mart are probably set up the same way as sears and best buy, but i will confirm. jcpenny has nothing set up. the woman at the register referred me to an office with nobody in it.
9:06. final department store tally: one out of four. nordstrom's is doing nothing. the guy in the men's department did point out that the employees had received a note from corporate to take donations from them, and that marshall's had a donations truck set up earlier today.
overall, a disheartening trip. but two stores matching contributions right up the road from the faire is something, at least.
9:23: CONFIRMED: lowe's in bowie is up and running with matching donations, but not every clerk knows that. as a red cross partner, their where-you-sign-your-credit-card mats are actually donation upcs (5, 10, and "any").
9:34: home depot is doing nothing. and to think i used to favor them for hardware purchases. (to their credit, they did donate the entire contents of their new orleans area stores for the rebuild -- which sounds really magnanimous until you remember those stores have almost certainly already been looted and/or flooded, and they were undoubtedly going to claim the inventory as an insurance loss to begin with -- so they're just adding a tax write-off).
9:52: CONFIRMED: k-mart is up and running with matching donations. signs up all over the store about it.
10:02: shoppers food warehouse has a upc code at the register to take donations. no matching, but at least this way you get a receipt [/glares at safeway].
10:08: giant food has a upc code at all registers, and signage to advertise it. no matching.
10:36: CONFIRMED: i actually didn't know about this -- wawa is matching up to $50,000 collected between now and 9/12. $1, $2, and $5 upcs and a stack of $1 "coupons" at checkout.
incidentally, wawa is usually second only to sheetz in low gas prices, and they're the lowest i've seen all day.
$3.31 for regular. (i've been seeing $3.39 absolutely everywhere else).
i haven't been through laurel yet, but marylandgasprices.com still had $2.99 prices throughout the area last night. so that's a 40 cent spike SINCE LAST NIGHT.
staples: taking $1, $5, $10 and $20 donations at the register. no matching.
safeway: single empty water jug at the service desk taking cash. no matching.
off to the mall...
kmh
7:48: "try the internet."
- cosmetics counter, hechts.
thanks. while we're swapping advice, try a few ounces less mascara.
8:04 pm: ooh! black and white and color kevin and shellie sin city action figures at hot topic! and black and white and color wendy sin city figures at suncoast!]
no no no. stay on target. [just a joke. not actually collecting sin city figures. don't need any. thanks.]
8:12 pm: "our corporation is doing that."
- borders books. no customer donations, matching or otherwise. seriously disappointed in them.
8:24 pm: CONFIRMED: sears is playing with power. cash or check or gift card: if you want to pay by credit card, they ring up a gift card for the donation amount and put the purchase on the gift card. no tax. bit convoluted, but it's up and running. bitchin' camaro.
8:44: apple retail stores don't have anything set up, but they get a pass from me for the itunes music store link (like amazon, donations are one-click -- and like itunes, for a lot of people it's the only online shopping they do, so people who shop nowhere else have their credit cards already wired for itunes).
8:52: damn. gonna have to wait till tomorrow to hit up lowes, et. al. based on what I've seen tonight, lowes and k-mart are probably set up the same way as sears and best buy, but i will confirm. jcpenny has nothing set up. the woman at the register referred me to an office with nobody in it.
9:06. final department store tally: one out of four. nordstrom's is doing nothing. the guy in the men's department did point out that the employees had received a note from corporate to take donations from them, and that marshall's had a donations truck set up earlier today.
overall, a disheartening trip. but two stores matching contributions right up the road from the faire is something, at least.
9:23: CONFIRMED: lowe's in bowie is up and running with matching donations, but not every clerk knows that. as a red cross partner, their where-you-sign-your-credit-card mats are actually donation upcs (5, 10, and "any").
9:34: home depot is doing nothing. and to think i used to favor them for hardware purchases. (to their credit, they did donate the entire contents of their new orleans area stores for the rebuild -- which sounds really magnanimous until you remember those stores have almost certainly already been looted and/or flooded, and they were undoubtedly going to claim the inventory as an insurance loss to begin with -- so they're just adding a tax write-off).
9:52: CONFIRMED: k-mart is up and running with matching donations. signs up all over the store about it.
10:02: shoppers food warehouse has a upc code at the register to take donations. no matching, but at least this way you get a receipt [/glares at safeway].
10:08: giant food has a upc code at all registers, and signage to advertise it. no matching.
10:36: CONFIRMED: i actually didn't know about this -- wawa is matching up to $50,000 collected between now and 9/12. $1, $2, and $5 upcs and a stack of $1 "coupons" at checkout.
incidentally, wawa is usually second only to sheetz in low gas prices, and they're the lowest i've seen all day.
$3.31 for regular. (i've been seeing $3.39 absolutely everywhere else).
i haven't been through laurel yet, but marylandgasprices.com still had $2.99 prices throughout the area last night. so that's a 40 cent spike SINCE LAST NIGHT.