Narrator: As the Grinch took the tree, as he started to shove, he heard a small sound like the coo of a dove. He turned around fast and he saw a small Who. Little Cindy Lou Who, who was no more than two. She stared at the Grinch and said...
Cindy Lou Who: Santie Claus, why? Why are you taking our Christmas tree? Why?
Narrator: But do you know, that old Grinch was so smart and so slick, that he thought up a lie and he thought it up quick.
Grinch: Why my sweet little tot...
Narrator: The fake Santie Claus lied...
Grinch: ...there's a light on this tree that won't light on one side. So I'm taking it home to my workshop, my dear. I'll fix it up there, then I'll bring it back here.
Narrator: And his fib fooled the child. Then he patted her head, he got her a drink and he sent her to bed. And when Cindy Lou Who was in bed with her cup, he crupt to the chimney and stuffed the tree up. Then he went up the chimney himself, the old liar, and the last thing he took was the log for their fire. On their walls he left nothing but hooks and some wire. And the one speck of food that he left in the house was a crumb that was even too small for a mouse.
When I read what you're about to read, I immediately thought about the scene above.
Apparently, Wal-Mart hasn't made enough money in the last decade and they want more. During the Christmas shopping season, no less, in the worst recession that this country has seen in, well, forever......
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, raised prices on hundreds of toys this month, squeezing more out of sales during the biggest shopping period of the year.
Wal-Mart managers in the U.S. received instructions to mark up an average of 1,800 types of toys per store, according to a company e-mail dated Nov. 30 obtained by Bloomberg News. The e- mail didn’t disclose specific increases. The prices were changed “to better enable your store and the company to have a successful financial month,” according to the e-mail.
The directive from Wal-Mart, which has about 3,800 U.S. stores, told managers to do the markups as soon as possible. The move may help Chief Executive Officer Mike Duke fulfill his October prediction that sales in U.S. stores open at least a year will be positive this quarter, after six straight drops.
“In previous years Wal-Mart has come out and hammered everyone with unbelievably low toy prices,” said Eric Johnson, director of the Center for Digital Strategies at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth in Hanover, New Hampshire. “They stepped away from that this year, and after Thanksgiving their prices have crept back up."
Not content with the tax give away that our brave congress has conceded, nor are they content with a 20% reduction in the estate tax that was part of the "deal" struck in the magic world of bipartisanship - A reduction that we'll never get back, of course - now, Wal-Mart has seen fit to raise prices on their toys during Christmas. It's bad enough that this Christmas is going to be a hard one on many families, but to raise prices so they can get even richer??? And on top of that, to raise prices on cheap crap made in China?? This is insane.
Yep, The Grinch came early this year. He's been hired by Wal-Mart and something tells me all the singing and holding hands won't change Wal-Mart's mind.