Shoppers

It had the makings of one of the more civilized "Black Friday" shopping days in recent memory, with no frantic parents scrambling to be the first in the door for a Furby or Sleep `n' Snore Ernie. But then Wal-Mart put 19-inch color TVs on sale for less than $100.The sale -- on one of the year's most heavily promoted, if not busiest, shopping days -- lasted four hours. But it took just two hours for shoppers at Wal-Mart in White Marsh to clear all 1,200 of $99.99 TVs from the shelves."It was mass chaos," said Carolyn Kelly, who with her sister, Karen, was one of the first of hundreds of shoppers who stormed the selling floor at 6 a.m.But well worth it, she said.

WILL somebody please wait on me?Will someone please offer to help me find something? Will someone please answer my question? Will someone please seat me right away? Will someone please bring another size to the dressing room? Will someone please offer to retrieve what I want from the stock room?Will someone please take my money?What does it take to get waited on around here?I am sure I sound like a grumpy old lady, but whatever happened to service -- let alone service with a smile?Why do I feel like I am annoying every 20-something sales clerk on the floor -- not that you can find one?

BERLIN -- It's been nearly a decade since the starved consumers of East Germany burst through the Berlin Wall, but it took until yesterday to topple another formidable barrier to capitalism: a federal ban on retail shopping in Germany on the day designated for "spiritual reflection."Hundreds of stores opened their doors for the first time on the Lord's Day to a veritable storm of shoppers in this capital city, in Leipzig and in Halle, ringing up record sales and transforming the usual Sabbath somnolence into a festival of frenzied spending.

Once practically guaranteed the loyalty of neighborhood shoppers, independent grocers throughout Maryland are fighting for survival, squeezed by big chains with deep pockets as consumers spend more time and money eating out and turn increasingly to mass discounters.Independent chains say they can no longer be all things to all shoppers, especially as competition has reached a fever pitch with retailers such as Wal-Mart, Kmart and Rite Aid stocking groceries. Dominant chains such as Giant Food Inc. and Safeway Inc. have extended their reach, while others, such as Metro Food Markets and Food Lion, are vowing to take even bigger bites of the market.

SHOPPERS at a local grocery store had to think twice this weekend when cashiers asked whether they wanted paper, plastic or a book report?Patrons were surprised to find the brown paper bags at the Chesapeake Center Mars grocery store had been decorated by pupils at Point Pleasant Elementary School with drawings and reviews of the pupils' favorite books.The reading project was the inspiration of Point Pleasant's media specialist, Cathy Clark, who was looking for a fun way for her pupils to celebrate National Library Week.

Metro Food Market opened its newest supermarkets yesterday in Columbia and Westminster as part of an expansion that will add five to 10 stores to the region next year.The Baltimore-based chain of 18 supermarkets extended its reach into Howard County, opening as Oakland Mills Village Center's first major tenant since the Rouse Co. completed a $4 million renovation of the 30-year-old center. The 40,000-square-foot store features a gourmet coffee bar with indoor and outdoor seating, a made-to-order sushi bar and a hot food and soup bar.The other store opened in the 140 Village Shopping Center in Westminster, after Metro converted it from a Martin's supermarket.

Think globally: American retailers, while working to improve their customer service, need to do a better job with a long-overlooked segment of shoppers -- foreign visitors. Envirosell, a marketing research firm, notes that stores in Europe are much better than their American counterparts at serving overseas customers, offering currency exchange, multilingual sales help, and in the case of restaurants, menus in multiple languages.Mail scores: While a growing number of Americans get correspondence and bills online, the majority of consumers still prefer getting their mail on paper, via the post office.

Three security guards who were accused of racism and illegally strip-searching two Towson Town Center shoppers in 1995 have sued the shoppers and their lawyer for defamation, claiming they lied at a news conference and on a radio show.The suit, filed Jan 22 in Baltimore County Circuit Court, says the shoppers were not strip-searched when they were suspected of shoplifting clothing at a Victoria's Secret store and that they set up the guards so that they could sue them.In March, the shoppers filed a $218 million lawsuit against the guards, the mall and Victoria's Secret, alleging illegal strip-searches.

A man reportedly upset about his girlfriend's desire to end their relationship fatally shot the woman as she worked at a food stand in Lexington Market yesterday evening then fatally shot himself, city police said.An unidentified man who was shopping in the crowded market suffered a minor gunshot wound in the left leg from a stray bullet from the shooter's weapon, police said.After the shooting, shoppers ran to the Eutaw and Lexington streets exits. One shopper described the scene as "a mass of confusion."

Warning that shoppers tend to drop their guard in the holiday frenzy, Maryland retailers and police yesterday launched a joint crime prevention campaign to boost safety at shopping centers and malls during the busy Christmas season.The Maryland Retailers Association plans to work with retailers and law enforcement officials to keep shoppers and stores from becoming easy prey, by offering consumer safety tips and adding more lighting, patrols and uniformed officers to retail centers.Incidents of crime, such as shoplifting, purse snatchings and auto break-ins and thefts, increase after Thanksgiving along with the traffic that retailers count on for a quarter or more of theirannual sales, said Tom Saquella, president of the retailers group.

A top-ranking Maryland delegate testified Wednesday before a grand jury investigating state Sen. Ulysses Currie, a continuation of a federal probe into the senator's work as a consultant for the Shoppers Food and Pharmacy grocery store chain. Del. Dereck E. Davis, chairman of the Economic Matters Committee, appeared before the federal grand jury in Baltimore, according to a source familiar with the matter. Davis, who had been questioned by the FBI in September, shares a district in Prince George's County with Currie.

Woman struck, killed by car A 24-year-old woman was struck by a car and killed Saturday in what investigators believe was an accident caused by pedestrian error, according to city police. Joy M. Bush, who lived in the Dickey Hill neighborhood, was walking along the 5100 block of Windsor Mill Road just before 3 p.m. when she was struck by a vehicle as she stepped into traffic, said Detective Nicole Monroe, a police spokeswoman. Investigators believe Bush, who was listening to an MP3 player, was attempting to walk around shrubs that extended past the curb, Monroe said.

Like the rest of America, the Easter Bunny is scaling back. Spending on chocolate bunnies, Easter outfits, flowers and other holiday fare is projected to fall about 14 percent this year after holding steady in 2008, according to the National Retail Federation. Shoppers expect to spend an average of $116.59 for the Easter holiday, down from $135.03 a year ago, according to a survey conducted by BIGresearch for the retail trade group. The largest expense will be Easter dinner, with the average person expected to spend $37.67 on food, down from $41.09 last year, the survey found.

Faced with rising food and other costs, plummeting retirement assets and fears about job security, shoppers said they tempered their spending at Baltimore-area shopping malls and other retail spots yesterday while marking the traditional kickoff to the holiday buying season. Familiar "Black Friday" scenes of die-hard shoppers camped out before dawn for bargains on electronics, long lines at cash registers and packed parking lots were seen throughout the day. But many shoppers said they plan to spend less, wait for prices to drop even more and purchase gifts for a smaller number of friends and family.

Tonight, after eating turkey and playing board games, Sarah Maxwell plans to kiss her daughters and husband goodbye, drink a Red Bull and go shopping. For the past two years, the Elkridge stay-at-home mother has teamed up with a girlfriend to hit the sales that many stores offer before the sun has risen on Black Friday. But this year, she's taking extra precautions to be sure she will be safe when she goes to Arundel Mills for its midnight opening. "We're definitely going with a group - eight people.

After months of construction and improvements, a major Annapolis grocery store welcomed guests and customers recently to its renovated store on Solomon's Island Road. The Shoppers Food & Pharmacy, across from Annapolis Towne Centre, greeted more than 100 guests, including politicians and community leaders, last weekend and presented more than 60 area schools and houses of worship with gift cards worth more than $18,000. It also presented free turkeys Saturday to the first 500 shoppers.

If your clunker of a car is about to give out, you'll probably be able to get a good deal on a new one because of the miserable economy. The reeling automotive industry is suffering from its worst sales in nearly 20 years. Car dealers are desperate for shoppers. And auto companies from Detroit to Tokyo are offering steep discounts and incentives to combat the slump. But consumers, worried about the turbulent economy, are holding on to their older vehicles longer. And even if they're interested in buying, the recent credit crunch has made it more difficult to secure car loans.

When the housing market was booming and credit was readily available, shoppers dropped thousands of dollars on big-screen televisions, stereo systems and the latest computer technology. But splurging on big-ticket items stopped with the turbulent economy. And now consumer electronics stores are feeling the pain. Circuit City announced yesterday it will close 20 percent of its more than 700 stores - including three in Maryland - and lay off 17 percent of its work force just after Christmas.

At Hampden's trendy Double Dutch clothing boutique, shoppers are buying more from the sale rack and making fewer impulse purchases. At Chesapeake Wine Co. in Canton, they're choosing cheaper bottles of wine. And at the Cupcake clothing boutique in Fells Point, the owners are ordering less inventory and subleasing some space to offset what they expect to be flat sales this year. "People are very scared," Emily Levitas, owner of Gotta Have Bags in Hampden, said about shoppers. As the national economic uncertainty leads customers to curb spending, retailers are facing the worst economic climate in years - and a gloomy forecast for the holiday season.

State Sen. Ulysses Currie, the subject of a federal investigation into alleged influence-peddling, acted as a liaison between top-ranking Cabinet members of the past two administrations and Shoppers Food Warehouse, newly released documents show. In one instance, Currie, who earned more than $200,000 over five years in a previously undisclosed consulting job with the grocery chain, wrote on his legislative stationery to former Shoppers Chief Executive Officer William J. White in September 2003 that he had spoken with James C. "Chip" DiPaula Jr., budget secretary in the Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. administration at the time, about Mondawmin Mall, where Shoppers planned to invest millions of dollars.