A Battle Plan For
The Christmas Shopper

By Jonathan Cyprowski, 12.06.06

It’s that time of year once again. The smells of eggnog and candy canes compliment the sounds of silver bells and yuletide carols filling the air. Unless that is, you happen to venture out to a nearby mall or shopping center.

Replacing the sounds of the holidays shoppers will find the clamoring of stressed out patrons ready to fight for the last item on the rack. While some cringe even at the thought, Shirley Meny of Rochester, Pa. does not. For Meny, this chaos is the melodious sound of angels singing the Hallelujah chorus.

“I love this time of year,” Meny said. “The hustle and bustle to get to the stores right when they open in order to find that perfect gift at half the price is like a big strategy game.” Her shopping strategy is planned days if not weeks in advance, and so finely tuned that it seems militant in nature.

“The army should take a few pointers from her,” said Shirley’s husband Randy Meny. “It’s like she’s planning a war for the day after Thanksgiving.”

As soon as the paper comes out Meny looks through every ad, records the dates the sales will take place, and takes note of the products that are pushed the hardest.

“On Thanksgiving night we all sit around the table and decide what color shirts we will wear, and who needs to get what and where,” Shirley said. “They (the stores) are good at throwing in a last minute ad on Thanksgiving morning that throws the whole list off, but I have gotten pretty good at adjusting the list without much of a problem.”

Meny, who has developed quite the shopping reputation, receives calls throughout the night on Thanksgiving from panicked friends and family needing to know where they can find a particular item on sale.

“I thought about starting to charge for this information,” Meny said jokingly. “For as many calls as I get on Thanksgiving night I could do all of my shopping the next morning for free.”

Though she has yet to charge for her valuable services, the money Meny saves is enough for any good shopper to take notice. This year alone she has saved over $1000.

“I love to give gifts that people will love. The look on their faces and the joy in their eyes makes it all worth it,” Meny said. “That is what keeps me going when I have to get up at 4 a.m. to make it to the big sales.”

For Shirley Meny, being an avid shopper is not an easy job.

“It gets tougher every year as the crowds get bigger and meaner, but I look at it as another challenge in this big strategy game,” Meny said. “It keeps me smiling and humming along."