Because that extra 49 and a half pence can make all the difference…
January is traditionally a time for sales and it’s not just in the well-known high street shops where opportunist consumers will flock to try and grab a bargain or two.
A 99p store in Wrexham in Wales probably expected an increase in customers after widespread advertising of a half-price sale in which they offered everything in the store for 50p yesterday and while we’re sure there were people quibbling over the fact that, technically, half the price of 99p is 49.5p, the response was a little crazier than expected.
In the end, according to The Guardian, bedlam erupted as shelves full of discounted cleaning products, toilet tolls, packets of crisps and the like were cleared in no time and the sale was called to a halt only hours after it began.
That didn’t go down too well with a large crowd of shoppers who missed out on the sale and who had queued for a long time to try and bag themselves a bargain and four police officers had to be dispatched to calm down the unfortunate ones who missed out and weren’t shy about venting their feelings either.
“The sign did not say anything about a time limit, and we were queuing to pay when we were told things had gone back to 99p. It is not on,” one customer told wrexham.com.
Another, who spent two hours queueing before the sale was called off, said: “People were absolutely furious and that’s why the police were called. Tempers were flaring and people were shouting.”
Another particularly furious customer, meanwhile, added: “There were queues of about 40 to 50 people all day. Then the manager came around saying everything is back up to 99p. I am so angry, you can’t do that, not when people are in the queue to pay. The police had to come because the people were not having it and not leaving.”
Although the angry crowds were an unfortunate by-product of the sale, the fact that the shelves were cleared indicates that it did achieve some success, which suggests that the shop had 99p problems but getting rich ain’t one.
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