Page 4
New Years Eve
On New Year's Eve, Judy stood up at the local pub and said that it was
time to get ready. At the stroke of midnight, she wanted every husband to
be standing next to the one person who made his life worth living.
Well, it was kind of embarrassing. The bartender was almost crushed to
death.
Visit us by Clicking on our Ad
3/12
See us at the following
upcoming shows
Jan.12-15. -New England Apparel Club.Marlboro, Mass.
Jan 17-21 Los Angeles Fashion Week, Los Angeles
Jan 17-20 Denver Women And Children's Apparel
Jan. 19-31, The Orlando Int'l Lingerie
Show
Jan 19-21 Minneapolis Women's Apparel Market
Jan. 23-27 Dallas Apparel Market
Jan
24-28, Chicago Women's Wear
Jan 30-Feb 2, Atlanta, Ga. Women's Wear Show
Wendy-O's
Fun
Wear & Costumes
Tel. (404)
249-7694
or
click here to Visit Us
or E-Mail
us
@ oydnew@aol.com
11/12
FLASH AND
THE PAM Anderson accompanied Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee to the MTV
Video Music Awards in 1999 during an attempt at reconciliation, but their
days of wedded bliss (1995-98) were far behind.
Grand
Cayman Apts. for Rent
Fabulous
shapewear to create a feminine,
sexy silhouette
like
MAGIC 11 /12
UNDOUBTEDLY, 2002 was the year for losers,
loonies and looters.
Martha hung herself on her own denials, Bloomberg hung up the "No Smoking" sign, Enron, WorldCom, Arthur Andersen, Global Crossing and Tyco hung up everybody else, Michael Jackass hung a baby off a balcony, Winona cut the hang tags and bagged the booty, big booty-ful J.Lo hung one husband out to dry while hanging onto another-to-be, a couple of snipers kept D.C. hung up in fear, Lizzie hung out in jail - but not even long enough for her roots to grow out - and Sean Penn, well, he just hung with the enemy.
Then there were the bombs: Dubya threatened to drop one, church sex-abuse victims in Boston detonated a dirty one, Matias Reyes lit one that blew the 13-year-old jogger case wide open, the Dems dropped one on themselves, terrorists strapped them on like we put on underwear, Trash Lott fired off a big one and blew up his career, Madonna (news - web sites) starred in a mega-ton one, the stock market became one and we'd all like to drop one on Osama, but he's been harder to find than Michael Jackson's nose.
To keep from ending the year on a frivolous note, a woman from outer space claimed she had cloned a baby.
5/6
A mother took
her daughter to the doctor and asked him to
give her an examination to determine the cause of her
daughters swollen abdomen. It only took the doctor about
two seconds to say "Gimme a break lady! Your daughter is
pregnant."
The mother turned red with fury and she argued with the
doctor that her daughter was a good girl and would never
compromise her reputation by having sex with a boy.
The doctor faced the window and silently watched the
horizon. The mother became enraged and screamed, "Quit
looking out the window! Aren't you paying attention to
me?"
"Yes, of course I am paying attention ma'am. It's just
that the last time this happened, a star appeared in the
east, and three wise men came. I was hoping they would
show up again and help me figure out who got your daughter
pregnant."
Cecilia del Monte
needs reps and buyers!
Importer of designer brand lingerie, sleepwear and hosiery from Argentina is looking for reps and buyers in the United States. Our unique designs are all embroidered and of superior quality.
Very feminine and classy. We do not carry plus sizes. Please, contact Maria Pardo at (225) 202-8889 or
info@puertosur.com ; or visit our web page at
www.puertosur.com
3/3
Online Retailers Ring Up
a Merry Christmas
Offline retail establishments may be crying foul over the weak economy
this holiday season but Internet retailers and outlets struck gold this
year with record sales, a strong indication, say Internet retail analysts,
that consumers are generally more satisfied with the online shopping
experience and will come back for more.
Los Angeles-based e-commerce research firm BizRate.com announced this week
that overall online consumer spending reached a staggering $7.92 billion
for the months of November and December. This at a time when there were
six fewer shopping days per the calendar year than last year.
Online retailers still only account for 2.5 percent of the worldwide
retail pie, but even traditional retail stores with a Web presence
reported seeing a significant rise in holiday sales compared to past
years.
Overall holiday sales exceeded last year's figures by 23 percent, which
according to BizRate, serves as an indicator that the Internet retail
industry is gaining ground as more and more consumers turn to online
retailers for reduced or free shipping charges and ease-of-use when it
comes to last minute and comparison shopping.
The busiest shopping days this year, according to BizRate, were Monday,
Dec. 2 and Wednesday, Dec.11, which rang in $366.2 million and $364.6
million in spending.
Amazon.com reported its second busiest day on Monday, Dec. 9, when 1.7
million items were ordered, the company said. On Dec. 24, 62,000 gift
certificates were ordered worldwide.
Now in its eighth holiday season, Amazon reported that 56 million items
were ordered and shipped between Nov. 1 and Dec. 23, 2002, although the
actual dollar figures could not be released in-between quarterly earning
reports, a spokesperson said.
Microsoft's MSN network of e-tailers also saw a significant surge in sales
this season, with a record $10.7 billion in the fourth quarter and a 50
percent increase in traffic compared with the same period last year.
According to BizRate.com, the most popular online categories this year
were computer hardware, which rang in $2,572 million in sales;
electronics, which rang in at $1,168.5 million; entertainment, at $964.4
million; apparel, at $763.8 million; and toys and games at $635.6 million.
BizRate.com also reported that the number of female online shoppers rose
to 60 percent, from 56 percent last year. In 1998, women accounted for
only 39 percent of all online holiday transactions.
"Online Shopping thrived as consumers went online, stretched their
wallet, and saved time," said Chuck Davis, president and chief
executive officer of BizRate.com. "This holiday, the online shopper
was very deal-conscious, and the number of special offers made available
online really helped fuel the growth."
Interestingly, the lure of free shipping, which Davis said was responsible
for bringing record numbers of consumer to e-tail sites, was not all it
was cracked up to be.
In fact, said Davis, many consumers actually paid for the freight.
Out of the 39 percent of purchases this holiday season that were
influenced by free shipping deals, only 9.3 percent of orders actually had
a 'no shipping' charge, said BizRate statistics. In fact, shipping charges
actually increased this year by 14.8 percent, compared with last year,
despite the free shipping hype.
Amazon.com has had a free shipping program in effect for some time now,
said a spokesperson, with a minimum spending level and only on certain
"qualified" items.
Orders placed before December 12 were eligible for Amazon's Super Saver
Shipping Offer, which Amazon used to spur last minute shoppers into a
record number of holiday sales.
"People were clearly taking advantage of the free shipping
offer," said Amazon's Bill Curry. "The day before the Super
Shipping offer expired was our second busiest day."
Amazon's most popular items this year were videos and DVDs, books,
wireless phones, and DVD players, the company said.
MSN also reported that more shoppers than ever used its network services
to drum up gift ideas, including its gift concierge service that
represents hundreds of affiliate merchants like Circuit City Stores,
Neiman Marcus, Dell, and J.C. Penny.
"This season, online shopping has become an even more valuable
service for holiday shoppers than ever before," said Jim Barr,
general manager of commerce services for MSN.
However, according to a study released by ForeSee Results this week,
customer satisfaction ratings came in just slightly below last year,
suggesting that online retailers still have a long way to go from a
consumer experience standpoint.
In an overall industry rating of e-tailer performance, user satisfaction,
browsing capability, privacy, and ease-of-returns policies, ForeSee
Results determined that online retailers only scored 69 out of a possible
100 points when it came to customer satisfaction and loyalty.
And while 59 percent of online shoppers said they were highly satisfied
with their experience, and 71 percent said they are very likely to do
their holiday shopping online next year, 10 percent of those polled in the
survey reported being extremely unsatisfied with their online experience
this year.
A number that, according to Foresee CEO Larry Freed, is nothing to sneeze
at.
However, Freed said, if e-retailers improve a few key elements such as
product browsing and ordering capability, the 2003 holiday season is
theirs for the taking.
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