Salem Observer : Shopping

Salem shoppers rise early to get the best deals

Salem Editor — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 01:42:00 GMT

Getting up well before the break of dawn to stand in line outside of a Kohl’s store is more about a family tradition than bargain deals or great savings for Ann Hill and her two daughters.

Resting outside of a clothing store at the Mall at Rockingham Park as her daughters continued to peruse the Black Friday sales just after 8 a.m on Nov. 28, Hill said she had not only been up and ready to shop at 3 a.m. but had waited in line for more than an hour at the register at Kohl’s, though buying items was not her main goal.

“It’s a tradition with my daughters,” she said. “I’m not a big shopper. It’s more an annual tradition with the kids and the sales.”

Michael Silva had already done the majority of his holiday shopping before Black Friday, but braved the long lines and thick crowds out of a marital obligation.

“Anything for the wife,” he said, waiting outside an Aeropostale clothing store with a full bag of purchases.

Searching for holiday gifts for his two children, ages 15 and 10, Antonio Cruz said the good deals and big sales had lured him out to the mall during the early morning hours.

“I’m going to spend more money today. I’m trying to help the economy,” he said, laughing. “This is the busiest I’ve ever seen it. I don’t know who is pulling whose leg on the economy.”

Lines began forming outside of major retailers like J.C. Penney and Sears around 3 a.m., according to Emily Hoang, director of mall marketing, and foot traffic had been high since the doors opened at 5 a.m. The mall’s Disney Store started doing business just as the day officially began, opening when the clock struck midnight with a line of shoppers ready and waiting.

“Our foot traffic has been pretty strong and steady,” Hoang said. “We gave out gift bags to the first customers and we ran out of goody bags in about 10 minutes.”

Paul and Tracy Jacques, out shopping for their children, said that between this year and last year, it seemed less people were out taking advantage of the Black Friday sales.

“We found a parking spot with no trouble,” Tracy said. “That tells you something.” The economic forecast had “absolutely” been on the Jacques’ mind before taking part in the Black Friday sales, but Paul said he and his wife had budgeted before doing holiday shopping even during better years.

“We’re on a budget every year, even when the economy is good,” he said. “You can’t overspend.”

For Hill, the mall did not seem as crowded as it had in past years during the annual traditional shopping trip with her daughters and said the economic downturn had played into her spending decisions as well.

“I won’t buy it unless it’s a really good sale,” she said.

Alleged Red Bull shoplifter to be charged in Salem

Salem Editor — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 23:33:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

Authorities have caught up with a man who stole almost $600 worth of merchandise from the Shaw’s in Salem, and who is believed to be responsible for similar crimes in other towns.

Michael Meucci, 26, was picked up on unrelated drug charges in Lawrence, Mass., after authorities put out a message to Massachusetts State Police to be on the lookout for his car.

The loss prevention team for Shaw’s Supermarket at 92 Cluff Crossing Road in Salem caught a white male in his mid-20s leaving the store with $566.33 worth of Red Bull, baby formula and shrimp on Saturday, Aug. 23. No one was able to stop the man in time before he made his getaway with the groceries.

A similar occurrence with a suspect matching the description happened at the Shaw’s in Windham two days earlier. In that case, the man tried twice to leave the store with more than $500 worth of the same items stolen from the Salem location. Employees at the Windham location were able to stop the man both times before he left with the cart full of goods. They later called police.

The loss prevention teams from the two stores were able to coordinate, and by the time the man hit the Salem location that store’s employees knew about the Windham incidents.

Salem Police Detective Mike Rogers, who was investigating the crimes, found out similar incidents had happened in Derry, according to Salem police Capt. Shawn Patten.

During the Derry incidents, the suspect’s vehicle was identified. Derry police stopped the vehicle, which contained Meucci and Donald Pappalardo Jr., several days after the incidents. At the time, Meucci had not been named a suspect. In addition, he gave the Derry officers his brother’s name and did not produce definitive identification. The Derry officers had no reason to arrest Meucci or Pappalardo, who was driving, at the time.

“They had no idea on a suspect at that point,” said Patten. Patten said blood work was done after the fact to help determine Meucci’s real identity.

On Sept. 4, the Massachusetts State Police Governor’s Auto Theft Strike Force had stopped the Hyundai Sonata both Pappalardo and Meucci were riding in, and arrested them on drug charges. Police found the clothes Meucci was wearing during the Salem theft, khaki shorts and a brightly colored T-shirt, in the vehicle. Salem police have issued a felony shoplifting warrant for Meucci, who is being held at Middleton House of Correction in Massachusetts on the drug charges. Police are seeking extradition to New Hampshire so Meucci can face his charges here.

Cheaper heat: How efficient is your fuel?

Salem Editor — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 18:02:00 GMT

BY GINGER KOZLOWSKI

If there’s one person who’s doing well in this changing economy, it’s John Labbe.

Labbe is the owner of Hearth Designs in Hooksett, and he sells pellet stoves, wood stoves, fireplaces and other heating-related items.

With people looking for alternatives to heating with oil, he said pellet stoves are outselling wood and gas stoves 10 to one, and his store has been swamped.

“Most people have already decided they want a pellet stove,” said Labbe, about the customers he has. “They’ve done their research.”

And no wonder. Heating with wood pellets has become considerably cheaper than heating with oil. That is, as long as pellets are priced about where they are currently – around $280 to $300 a ton.

Labbe said the energy output of pellets at $280 per ton is equal to the energy output of oil when it’s at $2.40 per gallon. Those days appear to be far behind us, with fuel oil well above $4 a gallon.

It’s an investment, though, to convert or supplement your home’s heating system. Pellet stoves run about $3,000 to $4,000 installed, said Labbe, so it can be daunting to come up with that kind of money when one is already struggling to pay last year’s oil bill. And the stove really won’t eliminate your oil bill, as it’s more of a supplementary system that allows you to turn your oil system down or even off, depending on the configuration of your house and how warm you want each room to be, said Labbe.

How to decide if it’s worth it? It’s not easy.

“Electricity follows gas and oil prices,” said Tom Belair, a spokesman for Public Service of New Hampshire (PSNH), which provides electricity to this area. “It doesn’t matter what (fuel) you use, efficiency is what’s important.”

Belair points out that all forms of energy tend to rise together, so it may not be long before pellets, electricity and gas go up in price as well, negating the savings you expect from a conversion or supplementary heating system.

Indeed, pellets and cord wood are already in high demand and low supply, according to Lester Robinson, manager of Osborne’s Agway in Hooksett.

“We’re out of wood until September,” said Robinson.

His store sold out of pellets when they advertised a pre-season sale in May and June for $250 per ton. His vendor now can’t guarantee product until September, and he expects it will cost about $300 a ton.

“We cut our own firewood,” he said. “Had 100 cords, we sold it all.”

And it’s not just fuel. He said his Agway has sold more vegetable seeds and chickens this year than ever before, with people trying to save money by growing their own food and getting eggs fresh from the chicken.

So what do you do about that high heat bill?

“Make sure you’re not wasting (energy),” said Belair. “Making a long-term decision (based on today’s oil prices) may be short sighted.”

Diversity is probably a good idea, he said. Adding a pellet stove to an oil system at least gives you the choice of using whichever fuel is least expensive at the time. Having an electric space heater in the one room you sit in in the evening and turning down the heat in the rest of the house can save on the oil bill.

But make sure that portable space heater is safe, Belair emphasized. It shouldn’t be used as your main heating source.

“Buy a safe one!” he said.

Solar power could help

BY JENN MCDOWELL

While solar energy can save homeowners big on their heating bills, it’s pricey to install and based on current heating oil prices can take over five years to pay for itself, according to Malik Haig of Sustain Ablity New Hampshire, a Laconia-based solar products distribution company.

Haig said manufacturers have said a solar air heating system could save about $500 per year on fuel bills. “But of course, that was based on last year’s prices,” Haig said.

A solar air heat box can alone warm up to 1,000 square feet, Haig said, by pumping the heated air into the home. It takes about 10 minutes from the time the sun comes out to heat the box, which pulls cool air from inside the home and pumps it back in at temperatures between 90 and 100 degrees. It uses about 30 watts of electricity to run the fan that blows the air inside, Haig said.

A bigger savings can be found in using a solar hot water heating system with rooftop solar panels, or “flatplate collectors.”

“This doesn’t replace an existing heat source, just vastly reduces it,” Haig said, adding the equipment needed to run such a system starts at about $3,635, plus a few thousand dollars more for installation depending on the size of the house and the amount of copper piping it has running in it.

Haig said homeowners could reduce their oil or gas consumption by about one-third over a winter, but said the savings won’t be realized for about seven to 10 years after the system has paid itself off through fuel savings. If fuel prices continue their upward trend, that payoff could be a lot sooner, Haig said.

“There’s a lot more interest now, and lots more people coming in and saying, ‘I can’t take any more of these rising fuel costs,’” he said.

Geothermal's a good choice

BY MATT SCHOOLEY

Geothermal heat pumps can be an expensive up-front cost, but in most cases are worth that high price in the long run.

Leeds Burchard of Ultra Geothermal and Ultra Heating and Cooling in Barrington said there is no way to estimate a cost without knowing the specifics of the house, as two homes with the exact same dimensions could end up costing different prices based on the ground source.

“There are no drawbacks,” said Burchard. “When it comes down to new construction, it’s the only way to go. It’s time the country got off the dependency of fossil fuels.”

For existing houses, geothermal may not be the best fit, as Burchard said not all homes are good candidates for a retrofit.

Burchard said since the company started installing the systems, they have seen an increased demand due to rising costs of fossil fuels.

“We’ve definitely seen a significant increase,” he said. “Twelve years ago we started installing, and we were lucky to do two a year. Now we have 40 to 50 on order and have over 300 installed.”

Firewood's a traditional choice

BY SARAH LEBRUN

Though pellet stoves are the hot item this year, many people still choose to buy the traditional wood stove.

According to Bob Gardner, manager at Fireplace Village in Concord, wood stoves range in price from $800 to $2,500, and some are capable of heating a 3,500-square-foot area.

According to www.alternative- heating-info.com, a cord of wood as of June 10 was selling for an average of $240 per cord, or a stack of wood that is 4 feet high and 8 feet wide.

According to Pat Dean at Joe Gauci Landscaping in Bedford, they are selling split and seasoned wood this year for $325 per cord, delivered locally to Manchester, Bedford and Goffstown.

“We expect this to really go fast because the prices keep rising,” said Dean.

“Don’t wait too long to buy wood or pellet stoves this year,” said Gardner. “You might not get one. Manufacturers are backed up like crazy.”

Firewood's a traditional choice

BY GINGER KOZLOWSKI

Pellet stoves are the hot alternative to the traditional wood stove, and they’re selling like hotcakes, according to John Labbe of Hearth Designs in Hooksett.

While it’s like using a wood stove, the pellets, which come in 40-pound bags, are easy to load into the hopper of the stove, and the stove itself can regulate itself with a thermostat, keeping your home at a steady temperature without poking at wood to keep it burning.

For about $3,000 to $4,000, said Labbe, you can have a stove installed in your home. The beauty of it is that you don’t need the traditional venting. A pellet stove can be located almost anywhere. A heat sensor can be run as far as 100 feet away from the stove, allowing the room’s temperature to be set where you like it.

One consideration is where to store all those pellets, though. They’re typically bought by the ton, said Labbe, so you’ll have a delivery of quite a few 40-pound bags on a pallet. Most people store them in their garage, he said.

Playstation spree

Salem Editor — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 17:57:00 GMT

Dozens line up for a chance to buy next-gen console system

BY MATT HERSH
Gina Sousa was tired. She had been sitting in a lawn chair for more than 30 hours and it had been lightly raining.

“Look at this,” she said as she showed off her soaking wet sweat pants. “I just don’t want to see their sad faces on Christmas.”

Sousa was one of more than 40 people waiting outside Best Buy on Route 28, hoping to get their hands on the massively hyped Playstation 3 game system which came out on Nov. 17.

During the two days prior to the system’s release, the sidewalks outside of Best Buy turned in to a campground.

Some people pitched tents, while others were content to cover themselves in blankets and sleep in chairs.

Several enthusiasts came in groups, setting up card tables and playing games to pass the time.
Many spent time socializing with each other, recalling past experiences of sleeping outside for an Xbox 360 last year.

Sousa, an Epping resident, took two days off of work to wait for the Playstation 3.

She sat along with her son, Joe Sousa 9, and his friend, Anthony Calderone, 14.

The three occupied the 37th, 38th, and 39th places in line which was lucky for them because the store only stocked 40 of the highly coveted system.

This left people like 14-year-old Chuckie Prescott of Methuen, Mass., who occupied the 42nd spot in line, praying for a miracle.

“I’m hoping someone’s credit card doesn’t go through,” he said. “Someone’s gotta mess up.”

Nationally, only 400,000 of the systems were released in what many have called an attempt at over-hyping the product.

All stores received a limited quantity of the system. Target had 12, and Wal-Mart had 10. So, for Sousa, Best Buy seemed like the best option.

“This is the first time I’ve ever done anything like this,” she said as her son smiled. “But he really wants it.”

Her son, who described himself as a diehard gamer, said the rain didn’t bother him, and the temperatures had been mild.

Sousa’s husband, Paul, said he didn’t understand the need to wait outside for the system.

“I can’t believe they’re going through this,” he said. “It’s just a bunch of cuckoos out here.”

But his son didn’t mind the criticism. Spending two uncomfortable days could reap major benefits, he said.

The Playstation 3 retails for $499 to $599 depending on its hardware options. But the system has fetched thousands of dollars on eBay already. One Playstation 3 auction recently closed for $10,000.

For electronics buffs, the Playstation 3 is a dramatic improvement in gaming that offers improved graphics and a Blu-Ray DVD player. The demand for this new technology has people digging into their wallets.

That is what drew many people out into the rain.

Danielle Adams, 20, described herself as a “true gamer” but she’s still going to try to sell her system on eBay.

Still, others said they wouldn’t sell their system for any amount of money.

“I think it’s worth the wait and the price,” said 33-year-old Nef Carmona, who occupied the number 2 place in line and had only gotten two hours of sleep in two days. “I really want it.”

Carmona and his 15-year-old nephew, Joshua Jimenez of Lawrence, Mass., said they were looking forward to the sports games, especially Madden 2007.

Best Buy employees said the demand for the new Playstation is unmatched, but they expected another long line of people on Sunday, Nov. 19, when Nintendo released its Wii system.

They were correct, as stores throughout the country received a similar turnout for the Nintendo system.

“I think it’s crazy, but I guess they’re really into it,” said one Best Buy employee who wished to remain anonymous. “I hope it’s worth it.”