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Health & Fitness

Borders Liquidation Sale Nets Bargains. But Sale is Loss for Northway Mall.

This blog post takes a look at the Borders Liquidation Sale as seen through the eyes of a regular customer.

During a hectic week packed with summer fun, we made a quick stop at the Borders in Northway Shoppes (I have such a hard time calling it anything other than Northway Mall).  We were hoping to pick up a few books for my son's Birthday and my husband was hoping to snag a few DVDs.

I wasn't holding out much hope since it was a liquidation and it seems as if prices rise during a liquidation sale.  Turns out that I was pretty much spot on.  The prices were absolutley ridiculous.  I picked up the Disney Beauty and the Beast DVD (with bonus DVD) and the price marked on it was $29.99.  The "sale" was another 30% off of that....but that still brings it to $20.99.  A quick search of Amazon shows that DVD for $17.99.

I found this to be the case on all the books, DVDs, and CDs in the store.  The price on the toys and stuffed animals was even worse.  There was even a table full of blankets in the middle of the store. It was obvious that the liquidator was throwing everything in the pot to clear things out.

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I stood there for a minute looking around and was shocked to see a ton of people not only in the store but in line buying things.  I guess the old marketing trick really does work....stick a sign on something with the words "clearance", "Sale", or "going out of business" and customers just automatically assume that it is the best price.  I learned that trick a long time ago in one of my basic college marketing classes.

I remember when Circuit City had their "Going Out of Business Sale".  I walked out of there laughing.  We were looking for a new TV at the time so I already knew the general price of the TVs we were looking at.  When I looked at the "clearance" prices in Circuit City, they were about 50% MORE than the regular prices at other stores and at the time, Circuit City was only offering an additional 15% off of the item.  

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Dont get me wrong....I'm not saying that you can't find a good deal in a clearance/liquidation sale.  Just be sure and do your homework by checking the prices ahead of time.  Don't just assume that it is an excellent price based on the "clearance" or "sale" sign posted on the item.

I am sad to see Borders closing it's doors.  Not because of the loss of a bookstore (If I want to sit and flip through a book, I go to the library) but because of the addition of another big gaping hole in Northway Mall (Northway Shoppes).  It really does seem as if the management company there has given up and is ready to let the mall die.  They used to have kids programs and other functions at the mall. There used to be some, although very little, life at the mall. Now it seems as if it is gone.  They did add a new tenant....there is now a storefront offering massages in what once was the National Record Mart.

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