photo courtesy Purple Slog
I just received a flyer in the mail from our brand new Aaron’s store that they built across the street from the nearly vacant strip mall that used to house a Wal-mart. The Wal-mart relocated to a brand new Supercenter a few years back. All the new buildings being built while others sit vacant is a topic for another post however. What I want to focus on is the fact that Aaron’s is building new stores in the middle of a recession.
I’ve been waiting for one of their flyers for a while now. They provide some great entertainment for me, as well as a bit of “righteous indignation”. I didn’t make it past the first page before I had to sit down at the computer and write this post.
Overpriced
Right there on the front page is an add for a Wii Game Bundle for only $59.99 for 12 months or for their everyday low price of $489.99! Can you believe that! Right now at Wal-mart you can get a better game bundle for only $259! The basic Wii system is only $188 right now.
That means if you waited and saved the $59.99 for just over 3 months you could walk in and buy the basic system outright. By the end of the 4th month you could add an extra controller and by the end of the 5th month an extra game. In 5 months you own a system outright that they want to charge you about $720 for after a years worth of payments.
Buy Now, Pay Over and Over and…
The key here is the word wait. As a society, we can’t wait the 5 minutes it takes to cook Old Fashioned oatmeal. We have to have Instant oatmeal in a minute. Or even better, microwave oatmeal in little individual, pre-measured packets. We want it now!
But Wait, There’s More
The story gets even better though. A couple of weeks ago our local newspaper, the Shelbyville News, ran an article about the Grand Opening of Aaron’s. The store manager is quoted as saying “Everyone deserves to have nice things in their home”. Is that right? Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of nice things for our home? Come on! Obviously people agree with her because they just built a brand new store in the middle of a recession. They may be crooks, but they’re not stupid! They know there are enough people out there that want their nice things NOW who will fill their coffers to the brim.
She also said it was her job to make sure that the customer can afford what they’ve come into buy. Well, that isn’t the fox guarding the henhouse, is it? And shouldn’t YOU know whether you can afford it or not? (hint, if you’re at the rip-off-a-center… you can’t.)
The Solution
I’ve got a better idea for you. Drive down to Aaron’s; pull into the parking lot; take all that cash from your most recent paycheck, and throw it up into the air. Please wait until I get myself positioned downwind of you though. Thanks.