Photo by Sarah Ackerman via flickr.
Amazon.com has a promotion going on today. Through a “Price Check” app you can download, Amazon will pay you 5% of the price of an item up to $5 if you go into a store and scan the barcode of the product you want to buy. In effect, Amazon is paying you to do its market research and find out what its bricks-and-mortar competitors are charging.
For those of you who think Wal-Mart is a dangerous force destroying small businesses and oppose its entry into New York — well, you ain’t seen nothing yet. This kind of practice will destroy small businesses faster than Wal-Mart ever did. And what’s more, you get to look small-business owners in the eye while you browse their goods, scan their barcodes and then walk out without buying a thing! Is that worth $5?
Okay, enough cynicism. It’s supposed to be a beautiful weekend (though very cold on Sunday) and there’s tons to do in the neighborhood, including lots of stores where you can look the owner in the eye and say “thanks” as you leave. In fact, a group of local artisans is holding a crafts sale inside the apartment building at 100 West 94th Street, as Leslie at DNAinfo reports. That’s on top of the GreenFlea market at 77th Street and Columbus Avenue and the holiday market in Columbus Circle.
In addition, there are lots of free and inexpensive music, comedy and theater events, and tours in the neighborhood on our calendar.
Check traffic info at traffic.com for delays. As for the subway, the MTA has a map detailing all of the weekend changes, but it looks like there are virtually no service disruptions scheduled this weekend on local lines.
