Q-C shops get ready for rebate check rush

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By Doug Schorpp | Saturday, May 03, 2008 | 22 comment(s)

Several Quad-City retailers, such as this Jewel-Osco store in East Moline, are offering incentives for shoppers with tax refunds and rebate checks. (Larry Fisher/QUAD-CITY TIMES)

Spend. Spend. Spend. That’s the philosophy behind the tax rebate checks being distributed to millions of Americans in an attempt to boost a sagging economy.

And some retailers are doing what they can to benefit both themselves and the consumer. A few retail giants are offering incentives to help individuals decide what to do with their checks.

“The hope is this will do what the point is of the stimulus, to stimulate the economy,” said Justin Thomsen, product process manager for Best Buy in Davenport. “Hopefully, it will drive up the market a little bit. Things are getting more expensive and this way they do not have to spend out-of-pocket money.”

Direct-deposit checks already are being distributed, and the government’s paper checks will start going out Thursday, a week earlier than previously announced. The rebates, which are expected to reach 130 million households, range up to $600 for an individual and $1,200 for a couple, depending on income. Families with children will get $300 per child.

With consumer spending slowing down substantially in recent months, the retail industry needs shoppers to splurge, and many chains have launched specific programs to grab a share of the billions of dollars flowing to consumers.

Sears, Roebuck and Co. is among those offering incentives to shoppers who convert rebate checks into gift cards.

“If you want to use your whole rebate check at Sears, we will give you an additional 10 percent on top of that,” said Jeniffer Hammond, an assistant manager at Sears in SouthPark Mall, Moline.

On a $600 check, that will mean an additional $60 in spending power.

Hammond said if the money was direct-deposited into a checking account, they would “have to bring in a slip from the IRS or the bank,” confirming the amount they received.

Mike Humphrey, store manager at Menards in Davenport, said all Menards stores are offering a 5 percent add-on to their gift cards if people cash their rebate checks and use them entirely at Menards. That is a program Menards has offered for regular tax return checks for several years.

“It’s a 5 percent bonus,” he said. “That’s the whole intention, to be a stimulus.”

Nancy Patterson, store manager at JC Penney Co., in SouthPark, said the only thing the national retailer is doing regarding tax rebate checks is cashing them for free. “We are hoping for a push in sales from refund checks,” she said. “We are anticipating an increase in business. We are hoping that for us and everybody else.”

Thomsen said Best Buy is not offering any specific incentives related to stimulus funds. But the influx of extra cash will coincide with major sales promotions in the coming weeks. “We will have summer sales for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, graduations,” he said.

Grocery store chain SuperValu Inc. — which owns various grocery store brands including Jewel-Osco in the Quad-City area — said customers can redeem checks for store gift cards in $300 increments, and stores will add an extra $30, or 10 percent, to the card. The offer is available May 2 through July 31 locally at Jewel-Osco stores in Moline, East Moline and Geneseo, Ill.

Jody Frank, front end service manager at Jewel-Osco in Kennedy Square in East Moline, said the store is prepared.

“We have signs here ... and they can cash here for free, and the gift cards never expire,” she said.

Deb Riedel, director of the Rock Island Hy-Vee store, said companywide, Hy-Vee will cash tax rebate checks for free. Usually, she said stores require various fees.

Wal-Mart announced that it will cash economic stimulus checks for free — with no purchase required.

(The Associated Press contributed to this article.)

Doug Schorpp can be contacted at (563) 383-2292 or dschorpp@qctimes.com.

How will you spend money?

Let us know how you plan to spend your rebate by putting your comments after this story online at qctimes.com.

Used to pay debt

Shoppers intend to immediately spend about 25 percent to

30 percent of the $107 billion earmarked for the stimulus checks, according to a recent survey of 2,500 consumers released by Goldman Sachs. But about 55 percent to 60 percent of the money will be used to pay down debt.

Of those shoppers who plan to spend the checks, about 36 percent said they’ll use the money toward staple items at places like grocery stores and discount stores. About 32 percent said they would target the money for “necessary” purchases like electronics, home improvement and clothing. The remainder plan to spend it on trips, dining out and other discretionary items, according to the report.

Source: Associated Press