Hawthorne Press Tribune The Weekly Newspaper of Hawthorne Herald Publications - Inglewood, Hawthorne, Lawndale, El Segundo, Torrance & Manhattan Beach Community Newspapers Since 1911 - Circulation 30,000 - Readership 60,000 (310) 322-1830 - December 22, 2016 Inside This Issue Certified & Licensed Professionals.......................2 Classifieds............................2 Community Brief.................2 Finance..................................4 Hawthorne Happenings....3 Legals................................ 5-7 Pets........................................8 Police Reports.....................3 Sports....................................5 Seniors..................................4 Weekend Forecast Friday Cloudy/ Rain 61˚/53 Saturday Sunny/ Windy 55˚/45˚ Sunday Mostly Sunny 55˚/46˚ Home Decorating Contest Winner Lights Up the Community The Guilt-Free Secret About Gift Cards By Rob McCarthy I was thinking about gift cards for everybody on my list this year anyway because December 25 is four days away and I haven’t started my Christmas shopping. But an email about a UCLA research project sealed the deal. There’s no reason to feel embarrassed about grabbing a handful of gift cards off the cash register rack because you’re short on time, according to Professor Cassie Mogilner Holmes. Those cards have an unexpected and beneficial effect on relationships. Holmes, who’s considered an authority on consumer happiness, reports that a palmsized gift card provides an experience that is more deeply felt than the traditional gifts that come wrapped with a shiny bow on top. “What we found was that the recipient feels more connected to you as the gift-giver after receiving an experiential gift rather than a material one,” she said in a guilt-free UCLA press release. The announcement was perfectly timed as South Bay residents hit the stores for the final countdown to Christmas. The chances of finding the right size, color or style at South Bay stores get slimmer over the next 72 hours. Locally-owned businesses and boutiques offer a variety not found at larger national retailers, and the mom and pops are closer to home than the mall stores. Even giant e-retailers Amazon and Walmart who carry a wide selection of clothing, toys and electronics aren’t miracle workers--though they promise to ship and deliver gift purchases up to Christmas Day. While it’s the thought that counts, Holmes says that consumers report more powerful feelings when a gift is an activity or an experience rather than a store-bought item. “And that sort of intensity of emotion translates into feeling more connected and a stronger relationship,” she said, after observing similar results within families and between friends. To study the effectiveness of gifts, Holmes and her team measured how closely a group of dads felt to their children before and after Father’s Day. The researchers looked at what gifts the children gave, and concluded that fathers who received “experiential” gifts also enjoyed a boost in their relationship with their kids. Parents and grandparents can do better knowing that gift cards are what pre-teens, teens and young adults say they want the most nowadays. Cards generally come in $10, $25, $50 and $100 values, but most cards are loaded with between $20 and $50, according to the people at giftcardgranny.com. The number one reason people give gift cards is because those allow their loved ones, friends, co-workers and even the newspaper delivery guy freedom to choose what they want. More than 90 percent of Americans say they’ve given a gift card, and last Christmas season the average number given was two cards. Retail stores and restaurants top the list of most popular gift cards, followed by coffeehouses and the movies, according togiftcardgranny.com. Prepaid cards that bear the Visa, MasterCard and American Express logos make the top five, shows research done by the online reseller of gift cards. My own circle of friends confirmed what the UCLA professor and a gift-reseller website are saying about this gift-giving shift. Annual sales of gift cards will reach $1.6 billion sometime next year, according to giftcardgranny.com. I asked my Facebook friends--all with South Bay connections--how they feel about gift cards and who gets one versus a present to go under the tree. Cindy Ceravalo Stevens admits to feeling like she’s “phoning it in” when she gives gift cards instead of a fancily-wrapped present. They might not see it that way since she’s sending them to the spa, Starbucks or their favorite dining spot. Though she does add, “I do appreciate receiving a gift card.” To entice shoppers this holiday season, businesses are offering a small gift of $10 to anyone who spends $50 on a gift card. “They’re always fun,” writes Paula Lake Purser. After-Christmas sales are a reason why my friend Sue Kemp Schultz says she gives them. She adds, “I really prefer gift cards, because they are easier and cheaper to mail. There are way less returns too. Plus, if given on Christmas Day, the recipient can take advantage of ‘after-Christmas’ sales. And if the recipient wants to re-gift, who am I to judge?”Another friend, Stella Cordova, says she never likes handing over a gift card to anybody, though they are a win-win especially for kids and for the businesses in town. To dress up cards, she’ll wrap them in a small or large gift box, or one that’s odd-shaped. So they immediately know they’re getting a gift card, plus we get the look of gifts under the Christmas tree, which is always nice,” she told me. Gift cards have been growing in popularity for almost a decade, and no longer is there the embarrassment of showing up empty-handed to a Christmas party or a family get-together. The path to happiness, which is what Professor Holmes explores in her consumer research, apparently leads past the gift card kiosk. Time is an issue both for givers and recipients, Holmes found. People have a lot to do and only a limited number of hours to cram in all of their daily activities and obligations to family and friends. Maybe it’s not that surprising that American adults value additional time over more money--which is what her research has discovered. When a person’s attention is drawn subconsciously to time, they are more inclined to engage with other people, Holmes discovered. “And that will make you happier than if you were thinking about money,” she said. Luckily for parents and grandparents, today’s gift cards have value beyond the $25, $50 or $100 spending limits. They offer experience and freedom for kids and young adults. Spending data also shows that people over 65 plunked down more money on gift cards last year than other age groups. On average, they spent nearly $190 on them in 2015. The slow, but steady march to the gift card kiosk makes the retailers happy too because most recipients overspend to get what they really want, according to giftcardgranny.com. The website says it sells traditional plastic cards, online gift cards and e-codes to more than 1,000 retailers and restaurants. • Ed & Ulli Wahmann’s house was the first place winner in this year’s Hawthorne Holiday Home Decorating Contest. Photo by Ed Wahmann
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