While brunching and knitting last Saturday, I heard that a particular LYS was holding a 20% sale. I popped over in search of very dark colorways for my current Kureyon dalliance.
The LYS in question is not really my kind of place. Give me cerebral, practical, crunchy, or decadent and I'm pretty happy. Give me manufactured chic and I am out of my element.
After looping around the store a few times, I realized that the Kureyon stock was restricted to half a dozen skeins, keeping company with a few other oddballs. While deciding on notions, I noticed a customer negotiating at length during checkout. The clerks discussed the transaction after her departure, though with limited eavesdropping powers I could not plumb their attitude.
While a clutch of beading enthusiasts was clearing the register hurdle, I noticed a small sign clarifying the terms of the sale.
SUZE: So the discount is 15%, and the Massachusetts tax holiday this weekend brings it up to 20%?
Clerk: Yes. There's been a lot of confusion about it, which is why I made the sign.
SUZE: I can certainly understand why. You know what the problem is? Yarn isn't taxed.
Clerk: It's not?
SUZE: No, it's not, or at least you shouldn't be taxing it. Yarn is not taxed anywhere else in Massachusetts. Anyone buying yarn would expect a true 20% discount based on the advertised terms of the sale. However, you are only offering a 15% discount on tax-free items.
The Kureyon leftovers contained mostly skeins of 172, a colorway of black,
dark charcoal, pine green, and reddish brown fairly suitable for my purposes. I bought three skeins, and additionally two crochet hooks and some row markers.
- Tax holiday savings (on hooks and markers): $ 0.41
- Cost: $28.70, with discount of $5.05.
- Discount expected: $6.75
I've concluded that there's little reason to return to this store, and not over the cost of a tall coffee at Starbucks. These days, I poke my nose into yarn stores looking for inspiration or camaraderie. Feeling suckered pretty much squashes any chance of finding either.
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