Chicago Weekend Fun!

The coming presidential election reminds us that President’s Day isn’t just another post office and school holiday to break up the winter monotony and go shopping at some great sales. It is a day after Valentine’s day to recognize Abraham Lincoln and George Washington for the leadership and historical change that they brought to this country as president.

Abraham Lincoln was our 16th president of the USA and held office from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. He wrote the Emancipation Proclamation denouncing Slavery in 1863 and led the country to pass Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution to the Constitution in 1865. He was a Republican, a tall guy at 6ft 4 in tall and grew up in Illinois.

George Washington was our very first president of the USA and led the country from 1789-1797. Washington was very involved in military throughout his life and specifically leading the troops who were fighting of the Revolutionary War. (the one where we won our independence from Britain) He grew up in Virgina, lived in Mt Vernon and had a funny hairstyle that must have been popular at the time.

I can’t help thinking that if Barack Obama was elected he would join the ranks as a huge historical figure and bring a lot of much needed revolutionary change to this country. Hillary Clinton would likewise be a historical figure as the first woman president but I doubt she would bring the change to our economy, divided nation or international relations that is needed right now.

In the mean time since the presidential primary election has passed already (Feb 5th) and the general election isn’t until November 4, 2008 we can revel in the past presidents of change and go shopping. I have already heard rumblings of big big sales at a lot of local shopping malls and stores.

Kohl’s is supposed to start their President’s day sale on Wednesday 2/13 and run it through next week. They say that there will be a lot of shoes on sale. Get there early since Kohl’s is known for running out of shoe sizes constantly and you don’t want to be stuck with shoes you don’t want because the ones you did want are sold out.

United Airlines is having an airline ticket fare sale that has airfare starting at $79 each way. Not exactly what you thought of buying on the holiday? Well if you think about it, winter is not a peak travel time, so any incentive to get more bookings in is a good thing. Maybe you can get a deal on a place you otherwise couldn’t afford to fly to?

I would expect all the furniture stores (Harlem Furniture, Walter E Smith, etc…) to have big sales because winter is also and off peak time for furniture buying. (want to get your new expensive furniture delivered in this snow?) So go hit the furniture stores in your local mall to see how deep the discounts are. They may even be willing to bargain in this shaky economy just to get some more sales.

Cars don’t technically go on “sale” but I would guess that between the shaky economy and all the snow we have been getting that no one is buying cars. If you really want a new car and are willing to play the haggling game you can probably get them to drop a couple thousand dollars off the price of a car right now and over President’s day.

And don’t forget that everything winter related with clothing and accessories is already on clearance at every store to make room for all the spring and summer merchandise on it’s way in from China. So if you need a new coat, hat, boots, jeans, sweaters or turtlenecks now would be the best time to go shuffle through the clearance rack and get clothing for 50-60 and 75% off of full price. It’s a great time to find deals if you are a size that is common on sale racks.

Have a great President’s day and Happy Shopping!