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 | By Judy Steffes  Special to OnMilwaukee.com E-mail author | Author bio More articles by Judy Steffes |
| Published March 13, 2008 at 11:51 a.m. |
|
In an era where recycling is en vogue, grocery stores are encouraging cloth bags and plastic bags are taking over landfills, it's interesting to note Office Max's marketing campaign.
Through the end of this week, Office Max is running a 20 percent off coupon on a brown paper bag that was an insert in the local newspapers.
Bring in the brown paper bag, fill it with Office Max merchandise and receive a 20 percent discount.
The interesting thing is that the bag is then surrendered at the time of checkout and customers' purchases are placed in a separate plastic bag to take home. "It's a one time use bag, you can't take it home," said West Bend Office Max manager Stefanie Kressaty who didn't think the process wasteful.
"Customers can only use the 20 percent bag coupon once," she said. When questioned, why not just put a black slash through the bag to indicate the coupon had been used, Kressaty gave a wide-eyed look and said the "bags are surrendered at the checkout."
Menard's is another franchise that uses the brown paper bag coupon, however customer's purchases are left in the bag and that same bag used to carry the merchandise home.
Asked why not just use a simple paper coupon similar to a grocery store ad, Kressaty said people put their items "in the bag" and that's how the clerks determine how much merchandise is covered by the 20 percent discount.
Many grocery stores are adopting green campaigns, trying to steer clear of loading landfills with plastic bags. Kressaty said they recycle the brown paper coupon bags, by stacking them in a bag and throwing them in the recycling.
Office Max runs its brown paper bag sales twice a year, and Kressaty indicated she was not aware of any pending changes to the process.
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10 comments about this article. Post a comment / write a review. |
Recent Talkbacks ...
Posted by EastSlider on March 24, 2008 at 4:53 p.m. (report)
Maybe somebody could convince the OfficeMax folks that they'd save the hassle (and costs) of recycling the paper bags if the let customers take them home. Their "this is what we do; do not question us" is a really bad business practice. By the way, OfficeMax's plastic bags are pretty lousy. More often than not they break before I get home. I wonder what would happen if I brought a canvas bag? That would really confuse them.
| Rate this: |
Posted by ChateauDweller on March 13, 2008 at 6:45 p.m. (report)
I wish this blog was available in print because I'd use it to wipe my rear. The "green" movement is getting crazy.
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Posted by imouse on March 13, 2008 at 2:18 p.m. (report)
Office Max could also save themselves some money by letting people leave the store with the items in the bag. Paper bags are not very cheap to produce and by giving them plastic bags, they are losing out on more money. I agree, Office Max could easily put a mark on the bag or put a hole punch in it so that someone could not re-use it. But, even then it is not that hard for someone to go to their neighbors and get their bag. Not everyone shops at Office Max. Being "green" is very popular right now and stores such as Office Max can really bank on it if they play their cards right. But, after seeing that their "brown bag campaign" is not green friendly, they have a long way to go. Staples and Office Depot should really take advantage of this situation.
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Posted by custom123 on March 13, 2008 at 1:17 p.m. (report)
My head is going to explode! If this truly bothers you may I suggest self medication or better yet never leave your house.
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Posted by Bee Tee on March 13, 2008 at 1:03 p.m. (report)
Do what I do. Instead of taking the bag to Office Max, open it up, fill it with your discarded paper and toss it all into the recycling bin.
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Show me the other 5 Talkbacks
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