Just an observation.

[MSbklawyer]

That does not make sense..they pay taxes on stuff when they buy
it, so why would they pay another tax just for something setting
in inventory they already paid taxes on?

No, merchants don't pay sales taxes on items that they purchase for resale. Only the final sale to the consumer is taxed.

Its called a bad economy...
layoffs, lost profits

[Jackdog]

Well I don't know about the rest of the country but here gas prices are going up again. They have gone up almost 25 cents the last month or so. And all your grocery stores, wal marts, targets and those get their goods delivered by semi's. They aren't going to eat the cost on that they'll just pass it along.

[coolmom04]

Yeah, same story here in NC for food & gasoline. I hadn't really paid much attention to the grocery prices going up until I picked up a box of cereal that I always buy at Target b/c it was $1.25 cheaper at Target than anywhere else... only to realize they increased the price by $1/box. I guess at least it's still cheaper than the other stores!

[HRx]

The rising prices of consumer goods these days is mainly the result of declining sales and a fundamental practice for companies to "make up for lost/reduced business"