Stores to shoppers: Spend your tax rebate here, get a bonus
Can’t wait for that economic-stimulus check from the IRS?
Neither can Sears, Kmart and Fry’s Food Stores.
Starting next month, they will give shoppers a bonus to spend the bucks in their stores.
Sears Holdings Corp., which owns Sears and Kmart, and the Kroger Co., Fry’s parent, this week announced national campaigns that will allow shoppers to exchange their stimulus checks for store gift cards worth the amount plus an additional 10 percent.
“The average family of four spends between $105 and $235 per week on food purchased at a store and prepared at home,” Jon Flora, president of Fry’s, said in a statement Wednesday.
“We are excited about the opportunity to touch the lives of millions of families across the state by helping them extend their household budgets.”
Kim Picciola, a financial analyst for Morningstar, said, “We might see other retailers try to do something similar.”
The stimulus payments will begin arriving in early May. Although financial advisers may recommend using the rebate to pay down debt, President Bush and other officials hope Americans will boost the economy by going shopping.
