Herald and Review from Decatur, Illinois • Page 22

www.herald-review.com C2 MONEY THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2013 DECATUR, ILLINOIS ADM EARLY 5 things to know for Black Friday and beyond There are better times to buy Don't give thieves the chance said. "These investments and commitments, developed following extensive input from Australian stakeholders, will help ensure the GrainCorp network remains an attractive option for growers and third-party grain traders." Australian Continued from CI access for growers and third parties, a commitment to open access regime for port services, a grower and community adviso- 'These investments and commitments will help ensure the GrainCorp network remains an attractive Ian Pinner, ADM Grain president Treasurer Joe Hockey is coming under increased pressure to reject the deal. Some farm groups and politicians have opposed the takeover, saying that ry board and support for expanded grain stocks information arrangements. ADM noted the headquarters of Grain-Corp would remain in Sydney. It said the GrainCorp CEO, who will Black Friday presents thieves with plenty of opportunities: Homes full of expensive electronics, and goods and personal items left in cars in mall parking lots.

Signal 88 Security is advising shoppers to keep their purchases locked and out of sight in parking lots. The security company also said people should avoid leaving boxes out for trash on your curb that advertise new big-ticket items. And Signal 88 advises people to write down the serial numbers of expensive items. Hold out and score deals Some retailers are already warning their investors that they might have to cut prices to move merchandise this holiday season. Stores are warning they might have to discount more steeply to match competitors.

If retailers end up with a lot of unsold merchandise as the end of the holiday season rolls around, they could be forced to start steeply discounting their goods. By ELY PORTILLO McClalchy-Tribune News Service It's here again, bigger, earlier and as frantic as ever: Black Friday, which now starts on Thanksgiving, unofficially kicks off the holiday shopping season this week with a smorgasbord of shopping. This holiday season will be crucial for many retailers. Predictions for how much consumers will spend remain weak or modest, and some analysts are saying this could be the worst holiday shopping season since the recession. But the good news is you might not have to camp out in line for a week before the stores open to get a bargain.

Here are five things you need to know before Black Friday: Get ready to shop earlier Last year, shoppers were waiting in line outside stores on Thanksgiving before then-turkey leftovers had cooled. This year, people will be in line before the turkey's out of the oven in some homes, as more and more stores are open earlier than ever. With slow consumer spending arid a shorter holiday shopping season because of Thanksgiving's later date this year, stores are scrambling to lock in holiday shoppers early. Those who wait risk shoppers spending the bulk of their budgets at a competitor. And it looks like many consumers are planning to take advantage of the early hours: The National Retail Federation predicts that about 33 million people will shop on Thanksgiving this year.

Although some of the rock-bottom special prices advertised on Black Friday seem like the best you'll ever see, there are actually better times to shop for many items, experts say. DealNews.com, which tracks shopping prices and sales, has a surprising list of things that are best bought days other than Black Fri- day. Winter apparel is often marked down more in January. Cameras will often be aggressively marked down after new 2014 models come out in February. The best time to buy top-brand high-definition televisions? Late December.

Toys? About two weeks before Christmas. Shop with a credit card and know store policies There are a few simple steps you can take to save yourself shopping angst. If you can keep from going overboard, experts advise using a credit card instead of a debit card or cash. You can dispute a charge if an item never ships or doesn't work, and you have a better chance of getting your money back. Another thing to read carefully are stores return policies.

They may be different during the holidays. On Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday, retailers also have different policies about availability of deeply discounted items. Best Buy and Target note that available quantities for its Black Friday sale items are limited to what's in-store when the doors open. Australian assets should not be sold to foreign firms and that a sale could risk the country's food security. Hockey has set a deadline of Dec.

17 to make a decision. ADM executives have said they hope to have the deal finished early next year. Approval is needed from regulators in Australia and China after acceptance has been secured from seven other necessary groups. (217) 421-7972 have oversight of all of GrainCorp's operational decisions, will be based in Sydney and will be supported by GrainCorp's senior management team. ADM said the commitments would be put into effect upon the closing of ADM's proposed acquisition of GrainCorp.

"In the competitive global grains market, it makes sense to operate the most efficient supply chain and maximize utilization of every location and asset," Pinner Can you cover the cost of long term care? Long term care expenses could affect your future financial security. COUNTRY Life Insurance Company can help you build a tangible plan to help protect your life savings and maintain your way of life. Put our financial strength and experience to work for you. Call us for more details today. Scott Wilson Decatur 217-875-7294 Carolyn Brueggemann Mt.

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While Black Friday sales decreased by 1.8 percent, due to a shift to Thanksgiving night, those Thanksgiving sales still are a very small sliver of the holiday pie. The biggest impact of the expanded Thanksgiving openings this year, Martin said, could be that they cost Black Friday enough sales to cause it to lose its spot as the No. 1 shopping day to the runner-up, Super Saturday, the last Saturday before Christmas, which this year falls on Dec 21. If that happens, it might cause retailers to question whether the labor costs and heavy discounts on Thanksgiving are worth the price, when a lot of shopping occurs at the last minute Super Saturday taking the No. 1 spot "will suggest to retailers there's plenty of money left at the end of the season," and the current trend of opening earlier and earlier on Thanksgiving "may become very unattractive and might eventually fade away," Martin said.

The short holiday shopping season this year there are only 26 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the fewest possible has retailers believing they need to grab holiday dollars early, analysts said. Matthew Harding, president of Levin Management, which manages shopping center properties in North Jersey and elsewhere, said Thanksgiving openings are still in the minority among Levin's tenants, but he is seeing more promotions intended to drive sales at the beginning of the season. A survey of Levin tenants, which include independent mom-and-pop stores as well as national retailers, found that 43 percent of those stores believe the week of Black Friday will be their most important week for consumer spending. Retail analyst Davidowitz calls the ever-earlier store openings "a comedy of desperation" by retailers. "Does it improve the bottom line? I don't think so," he said.

"But if you're a retailer and your competitor does it, you have to do it. If one does it, the other can't afford to lose market sha-e." Retailers expect teenagers and consumers in their 20s and 30s, a coveted demographic group, to embrace Thanksgiving night shopping, and midnight mall openings. Thanksgiving night and midnight hours over the past two years have attracted large numbers of those shoppers. One potential development from the Thanksgiving store openings, and promotions tied to specific times on Thanksgiving, is shoppers who don't want to go to the stores on the holiday will look for those deals online, and then become online Black Friday shoppers in the future. It's better for retailers when customers enter their stores, analysts said, because the in-store shoppers are more likely to browse and make unplanned purchases.

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