about it! The markup for most retail products is 40 to 50%. When you see this type of discount at a small retail shop, what you are receiving as a savings is actually a large portion of their profit for that item. But what about the larger chains who offer just about everything in the store with a large markdoLet me take you back to the days when Flagstaff was a small town. When complaints were flying that you had to go to Phoenix if you wanted to shop. And when you could find a parking space downtown. I’m talking about the time before the Flagstaff Mall, Wal-Mart, Kohl's, and Target. Oh, there were still lots of stores, even some large chain stores like Long’s Drugs, Thrifty Drug, and Safeway. But there were also lots of unique little stores owned by folks who lived and worked in Flagstaff .

But that was twenty-five plus years ago. The town has grown and times have changed. Phoenix shopping has arrived in Flagstaff and has brought with it both the good and the bad. Prices, selection, and service have improved. Traffic has increased. Parking downtown is almost an impossibility. And we’ve lost many of the unique little shops that once catered to the needs of Flagstaff and the surrounding area.

The Daily Sun’s coffers are probably overflowing with all the full-color ads and shopping inserts that added all the extra weight to our newspapers before Thanksgiving. The stores were packed on the 26th as eager consumers lined up to grab the 25 to 50 percent off bargains from the shelves. But were they really bargains?

Think about it! The markup for most retail products is 40 to 50%. When you see this type of discount at a small retail shop, what you are receiving as a savings is actually a large portion of their profit for that item. But what about the larger chains who offer just about everything in the store with a large markdow

ores, even some large chain stores like Long’s Drugs, Thrifty Drug, and Safeway. But there were also lots of unique little stores owned by folks who lived and worked in Flagstaff .

But that was twenty-five plus years ago. The town has grown and times have changed. Phoenix shopping has arrived in Flagstaff and has brought with it both the good and the bad. Prices, selection, and service have improved. Traffic has increased. Parking downtown is almost an impossibility. And we’ve lost many of the unique little shops that once catered to the needs of Flagstaff and the surrounding area.

The Daily Sun’s coffers are probably overflowing with all the full-color ads and shopping inserts that added all the extra weight to our newspapers before Thanksgiving. The stores were packed on the 26th as eager consumers lined up to grab the 25 to 50 percent off bargains from the shelves. But were they really bargains?

Think about it! The markup for most retail products is 40 to 50%. When you see this type of discount at a small retail shop, what you are receiving as a savings is actually a large portion of their profit for that item. But what about the larger chains who offer just about everything in the store with a large markdo

and has brought with it both the good and the bad. Prices, selection, and service have improved. Traffic has increased. Parking downtown is almost an impossibility. And we’ve lost many of the unique little shops that once catered to the needs of Flagstaff and the surrounding area.

The Daily Sun’s coffers are probably overflowing with all the full-color ads and shopping inserts that added all the extra weight to our newspapers before Thanksgiving. The stores were packed on the 26th as eager consumers lined up to grab the 25 to 50 percent off bargains from the shelves. But were they really bargains?

Think about it! The markup for most retail products is 40 to 50%. When you see this type of discount at a small retail shop, what you are receiving as a savings is actually a large portion of their profit for that item. But what about the larger chains who offer just about everything in the store with a large markdo

s are probably overflowing with all the full-color ads and shopping inserts that added all the extra weight to our newspapers before Thanksgiving. The stores were packed on the 26th as eager consumers lined up to grab the 25 to 50 percent off bargains from the shelves. But were they really bargains?

Think about it! The markup for most retail products is 40 to 50%. When you see this type of discount at a small retail shop, what you are receiving as a savings is actually a large portion of their profit for that item. But what about the larger chains who offer just about everything in the store with a large markdo

about it! The markup for most retail products is 40 to 50%. When you see this type of discount at a small retail shop, what you are receiving as a savings is actually a large portion of their profit for that item. But what about the larger chains who offer just about everything in the store with a large markdown Do you really believe that these savvy businesses are going to give you their total profit and survive? Not likely. There are two ways to give that big discount and still make a profit. One is to increase the markup and then offer the discount. The second is a secret that Sam Walton, the ultimate entrepreneur who used to advertise "all our products are made in the USA", discovered years ago. Buy large quantities cheap in China and mark up as much as 300% when selling in the U.S. These are concepts that the corporate world has used for years. They are concepts that the big chains understand very well. And they provide a marketing ploy that the consumer falls for every time.

These concepts are here to stay. It's a fact of the American retail system. And we (yes, even me) love thinking that we are getting a great deal. But the price of that bargain is high. The uniqueness of a hand-created product, requiring many many hours of labor, is harder to find since the hand crafter can no longer receive even a reasonable wage for those hours once the product has been discovered and sent to China for reproduction.

The so-called bargains that the consumers eagerly purchased filled the cash drawers of Wall Street and stockhol