Graco Recalls 1.5 Million Strollers

1.5 million strollers that were made by Graco Children’s Products are being recalled after reports of children’s fingers being cut when the canopy is opening or closing.

You can obtain a complete list of the model numbers of recalled strollers and travel systems by visiting the CPSC’s Web site at http://www.cpsc.gov/.

Also, if you have one of the recalled items, be sure to contact Graco at 800-345-4109 to receive a free protective cover repair kit. The company’s Web site is http://www.gracobaby.com/.

I’ll have to call my wife. I know that Graco is the only brand that we ever buy!

From MSNBC:

The recalled strollers are Graco’s Passage, Alano and Spree strollers and travel systems.

They were made in China and sold at Babies “R” Us, Toys “R” Us, Kmart, Fred Meyer, Sears, Target, Walmart, Meijers, AAFES, Navy Exchange, Burlington Coat Factory and other retailers for between $80 and $90 for the strollers and between $150 and $200 for the travel systems.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the recall Wednesday morning after Graco received seven reports of children being injured when their fingers got caught in canopy hinge as it was being opened or closed. Two children’s fingers were cut and there were five reports of children losing their fingertips.

More Than 2 Million Cribs Recalled

More than 2.1 million drop-side cribs by Stork Craft Manufacturing are being recalled because failures have trapped 15 children and suffocated four.

From ABC News:

ABC News has learned the Stork Craft company will recall 2.1 million cribs because of problems with dropdown sides. As many as three deaths have been linked to the product.

There are approximately 1,213,000 units distributed in the United States, including about 147,000 Stork Craft drop-side cribs with the Fisher-Price logo, and 968,000 units distributed in Canada. Not all dropdown-side models are recalled, only those with plastic hardware and a one-hand system to drop the side rail.

Stork Craft has released a toll-free number for consumers to call, or to order a free repair kit: (877) 274-0277.

From CNN Money:

The cribs were sold at major retailers including Sears and Wal-Mart and online at Amazon.com and Target.com between January 1993 and October 2009.

The CPSC said the cribs’ drop-side, which is attached with plastic hardware, can detach unexpectedly and create a space between the crib wall and the adjacent mattress. Infants and toddlers can become trapped in the space and suffocate or fall to the floor, the agency said.

There have been 110 documented incidents of drop-side detachment, including 67 in the United States and 43 in Canada. Among those, four resulted in suffocation and 20 resulted in falls that caused injuries ranging from concussion to bumps and bruises.

Major retailers in the United States and Canada sold the recalled cribs including BJ’s Wholesale Club, J.C. Penney, Kmart, Meijer, Sears (SHLD, Fortune 500), USA Baby, and Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500) stores and online at Amazon.com (AMZN, Fortune 500), Babiesrus.com, Costco.com, Target.com (TGT, Fortune 500), and Walmart.com from January 1993 through October 2009 for between $100 and $400.

Retailers Hope To Attract Shoppers With Huge Discounts

Over the last weekend before Christmas, retailers were offering huge discounts. Macy’s sold designer purses for half price, and jewelry was knocked down 40%, while more than a dozen of its stores are staying open around the clock until Christmas Eve. At some Kmart and Sears locations, shoppers lined up in search of deals before the stores opened.

From the New York Times:

The deals were there and, by most accounts, so were the shoppers. But at the close of the final holiday shopping weekend, consumers confessed they were still nervous about buying.

”This is going to be a poor Christmas,” said Dee Dobbins, a 31-year-old from Goldsboro, N.C., who finished her holiday shopping with money she’d received from her recent graduation from North Carolina State University. ”At least I had it, because I don’t know what I would have done.”

From flagship department stores to main street shops, consumers found packed parking lots, massive markdowns and extended hours — in some places, around-the-clock shopping — as merchants hope to salvage one of the worst shopping seasons in decades, brought on by the recession and growing economic uncertainty.

For those willing to spend, the deals abounded.

In Miami, Ana Solis bought T-shirts from the Disney Store featuring Kermit the Frog and Tigger. One shirt — original price $24.99 — was marked down to $7.99 before another 40 percent discount.

At the flagship Macy’s store on 34th Street in New York, shoppers swarmed racks offering 65 percent off women’s clothing. Elsewhere, the store was offering 50 percent off handbags by designers such as Dooney & Bourke and Coach and 40 percent off gold earrings.

Chris Moscardelli snagged a cashmere blanket for more than half off.

”It’s been a great day,” the 38-year-old said.

But not for Ahmad Parpia, the store manager of Marquise Jewelers inside Dallas’ Valley View Mall, who’s seen his most profitable period of the year fizzle out. Few shoppers are coming inside the jeweler’s four stores to buy diamond-encrusted chains, gold watches and jewelry, despite signs advertising: ”Financing available up to $10,000. Will beat any competitive price.”

”It’s almost like 80 percent down over the last two years,” he said. ”I’ve never seen before a Christmas like that, and I’ve been in this business almost 15 years.”

The International Council of Shopping Centers expects established stores to post their worst performance for the holidays since at least 1969, when it began tracking such data. It predicts same-store sales — or sales at stores open at least a year — will fall as much as 1 percent for the November and December period, and fears the decline could even be steeper.

Still, shoppers were out at Kmart and Sears stores this weekend as customers stocked up on last-minute gifts and electronics like Nintendo’s Wii, Blu-ray players, digital cameras and tools. In some cases, shoppers lined up before stores opened for weekend doorbuster deals.

”For the most part, we beat our previous week, which was a great kind of benchmark, because last week was strong for us,” said Tom Aiello, a spokesman for the stores owned by Sears Holdings Corp.

Stores Turn to Mobile Texts for Customer Contact

Retailers increasingly are using text-message alerts to keep their customers informed about sales and special events, while online retailers are using microblogging site Twitter to alert shoppers to deals.

From the Wall Street Journal:

Stores like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. are using more text-message alerts to spread the news about sales. Online retailers like Buy.com Inc. are sending out daily messages on Twitter, a blogging site that uses short messages, to advertise the latest holiday specials. The Gap Inc., Target Corp., Sears Holdings Corp. and Amazon.com Inc. are pushing new mobile programs this year, too.

Retailers hope these efforts make it easier for customers to shop online, with their cellphones or even at brick-and-mortar stores. And while the prices touted digitally are basically the same as those offered in the store, retailers say customers can get news of sales earlier than with other methods, such as commercials or circulars.

This digital outreach comes as retailers worry about weak sales during what typically is their busiest time of year. Between Nov. 1 and Dec. 5, shoppers spent $14.92 billion online, essentially the same as last year, according to a report released Sunday by research firm comScore Inc. Still, on Cyber Monday, the first Monday after Thanksgiving, holiday shoppers spent $846 million, a 15% increase from last year, comScore’s report said.

Connecting with busy shoppers through their mobile phones “is even more important right now” for retailers, given the tough economic climate, says Brad Beasley, president of CrossLink Media, a mobile-marketing firm.

Most cellphones support the promotional text messages. But many advanced shopping and commerce features are built for specific smart phones, such as the Apple iPhone. Most programs, like text-message alerts, require consumers to sign up either through their phones or via the Web.

Wal-Mart is sending out more-frequent text-message alerts to its shoppers who signed up for the service, says Melissa O’Brien a spokeswoman for the company. Last year, Wal-Mart sent out three alerts to shoppers’ cellphones the entire holiday season. This year, the company is sending out weekly alerts that customers can tailor by category. Last week, Wal-Mart sent customers text messages detailing holiday specials on toys and home electronics. Shoppers can click on links within the text messages that will take them to Wal-Mart’s mobile Web site to find additional details and reviews of that item.

Retailers Ready for Black Friday

Retailers and mall owners are gearing up for Black Friday, which is more critical than ever as shoppers cut back their spending. Black Friday falls on November 28, the day after the Thanksgiving holiday, and many retailers have already begun advertising HUGE discounts to attract shoppers as early as midnight.

From Reuters:

Black Friday, the traditional start to the U.S. holiday shopping season, means more to retailers this year as they struggle to win over consumers with a recession looming.

Retailers that fail to rack up sales during the three-day weekend face the prospect of clearing out merchandise at profit-crunching prices closer to Christmas.

“While Black Friday sales and promotions have been tremendously successful for the last few years, the day itself takes on a bit more importance when consumers are struggling,” said Ellen Davis, spokeswoman for the National Retail Federation. “In a down economy, people are willing to get up at 3 a.m. and sit in a line outside a store.”

Retailers ring up roughly 10 percent of total holiday sales during the three-day weekend, best known for the deals offered on Black Friday — named for the days when store chains used to turn a profit for the year.

The weekend’s results do not always indicate how overall holiday sales will fare, but with the United States likely in a consumer-led recession, it has added importance.

Consumers will look for bargain-basement prices to help meet austere budgets, while retailers from Wal-Mart Stores Inc to Saks Inc learn if they have the right products at the right prices.

“This year, the Black Friday weekend has profound impact on how consumers and, more importantly, how retailers are going to view the holiday season in totality,” said Janet Hoffman, managing partner of Accenture Ltd’s global retail practice.

From the Associated Press:

After pushing steep discounts throughout November that are usually reserved for the day after Thanksgiving, retailers from Kohl’s to Toys “R” Us are offering even bigger cuts and promotions for Black Friday in a frantic bid to pull in shoppers.

But the bargain hunters showing up for the early morning specials on toys and TVs are not expected to buy with the same gusto as a year ago, as they fret about tightening credit, massive layoffs and shrinking retirement funds.

Not to mention that consumers are already jaded by all those “60 percent off” signs plastered on storefronts. Analysts say shoppers may stick to smaller gifts like cosmetics rather than $1,000 flat-panel TVs in a holiday season expected to be the weakest in decades.

Another concern? There aren’t any must-have items so far, even in toys – though some items have been popular, such as Spin Master Ltd.’s Bakugan.

“I will be careful,” said Joanna Rizzo, 20, an executive secretary from Medford, N.Y. who plans to stick to her budget of $200 for the day after Thanksgiving. Rizzo has just finished paying off her credit cards, and will use cash to pay for her presents. Overall, she plans to spend about $600, less than the $1,000 she spent on presents last year.

In recent years, merchants including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Toys “R” Us Inc., have been pushing earlier the sales and expanded hours that were typically reserved for Black Friday – named because it historically was when stores turned a profit – to jump-start the season.

But in this year’s deteriorating economy, stores from luxury retailers to consumer electronics chains, pressed the panic button – slashing prices up to 60 percent on even new merchandise. After reporting the worst October sales in at least 39 years, stores are seeing more weak sales in November, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers-Goldman Sachs Index, which measures sales at stores opened at least a year.

Kmart, a division of Sears Holdings Corp., started offering products at what it calls “Black Friday prices” earlier in the month – the first time it had done so. Drugstore chain CVS Caremark Corp. will launch a weeklong “Black Friday” promotion on Sunday, offering early morning deals on items ranging from GPS devices to digital photos frames.

“Black Friday is going to have some very impressive deals, but overall the deals won’t be any better than what you saw before,” despite all the hype, said Dan de Grandpre, founder and editor-in-chief of dealnews.com. “Retailers have already given their best shots already.”