Did you go to yours? Ours is tomorrow, and i'm wondering what they will give away. I don't know if it's the same around the country, so that's why i'm asking. My husband (also a teacher) and I plan on going to multiple stores for supplies if they give away anything good (like folders or pencils). So if you went, what did they give away?
Ours gave a binder with a pack of paper and a pencil holder in it. Dh was so mad that I made him drive a whole 20 minutes to the first staples for a binder that he vetoed the second Staples on the way home. Last year they had a HUGE bag of great items. I am thankful for the binder but did miss the huge bag. And yes, I spend a TON of money at Staples so I patronize them in exchange for the items.
Same here, Jem. I have to say that although I was grateful to be getting anything, I was a bit disappointed when I thought about the items from previous years.
Did they give anything else besides the binder? if that's all they give, then that's a disappointment.
I'm going tomorrow . . . but not JUST for that. We're having girls day, which is starting at Staples. It's a 50 mile drive, and they've never had anything worth JUST the drive to Staples.
This would be the first time I would be going. Staples is not that far from my house so I know it'll be worth the ride.
I went to the ones in FL last week and will go in Chicago tomorrow. I went to two different ones in FL- First one gave just the binder- second gave a bag full of those little nicknacks they have that you can fill the containers- like 5 mini bags of misc items in it.
mine gave a one inch binder, a package of filler paper, a pencil pouch, a black dry erase marker, a red pen, a sample pack of post it flags, and a sample pack of post-its. There were some coupons in the pockets as well. I Am grateful for anything. I would go, just to show appreciation for their appreciation. :0)
Mine was last wknd. Yep, it was nothing much, exactly the same as what teacherSMK said. For me, Office Depot is tomorrow & I don't know if I'm going.
Mine is today and dh and I will both pop over. It's less than 5 minutes away so there's no reason not to go. The manager already told me that bags are not that impressive this year and my response to her was, "I think it's great that you have this day and anything you give is a gift and is appreciated."
I've never been to one. There are at least 3 Staples within 10 minutes of here, but I don't see getting to it today. Ah, well... maybe next year. But I do agree with Ms. Mar-- to be offering any sort of freebies in this economic climate is sort of remarkable.
I agree as well. I go, not so much for the freebies--this year a nice dry-erase marker, a couple of glue sticks, labels, coupons, pencils--but for the 10% off at the cash register and another 10% off in a dividend coupon. This is when I make my "big" Staples purchases, like Lauren's laptop; the dividend coupon for that will pay for the new wireless router we desperately need at home.
Staples was so cheap this year. I planned on going to multiple ones but was so disappointed with the binder and pencil case we decided it wasn't worth driving around and using gas.
It's the economy. The economic future is uncertain, people are out of jobs, school budgets are cut back, store promotions are cut back. A free binder is a free binder. Why wax poetically about 10 cent boxes of crayons that we will gladly drive any week to get but complain about a free binder?
I really need to make a Staples trip so I was putting it off until appreciation day, which I really thought was tomorrow, but I just realized it's today and I feel like crud today, so at least I know I am not missing out on anything huge. I might try to go tomorrow and get what I need - I desperately need a desk chair before school starts. ETA: I just checked out their ad for tomorrow and I think I might be better off going tomorrow!
Same here. I got the same thing this morning. But, we're lucky to get anything at all with this bad economy, you know? I feel kind of bad for my husband every year for teacher appreciation day, because he can't really use what he gets since he teaches HS Science. A lot of the free stuff is geared towards Elem teachers. What we got this year he could use though. When I was going into my 1st year 4 years ago, Staples gave away soooo many things. I think I got about 200 free pencils, 50 sharpeners, and about 75 folders all for free. It was like going on a shopping spree, they didn't care. :lol: Too bad it isn't like that anymore, maybe someday though.
We got the binder, too, but the manager put it in a bag with a whole bunch of other stuff...cutesy paper clips, push pins, butterfly clips, post-its, whiteboard marker, and a couple of other little things. It was nice. Then we went over to Office Depot where they were having a wild party. They had a big breakfast spread (though I'd already had a doughnut at Staples) with bagels, doughnuts, chips/salsa, lots of fresh fruit and juice. They were having an awesome raffle where they were giving away laminators, a $50 gift certificate, restaurant gift certificates, paper, file folders, bins, backpacks, Swingline stapler, etc. They made it a lot of fun, too. I thought both places were pretty generous, considering the economy.
Yeah, I had a staples and O Depot pretty close to me at my old apartment and we would make the rounds. I always thought the party and breakfast was nicer at OD but the Staples goodies were usually better. Like others have said, I am always grateful to get anything. Remember, I think OMax a couple years ago did unlimited free laminating for teachers? They did NOT think that one through very well. lol.
LOL Silverspoon, I do remember the free lamination year. I didn't get anything done, but I wasn't all that surprised when that sale didn't come back. They apparently totally underestimated a teacher's love of lamination!
I just came back from Staples and I got a binder with a dry erase marker, a red pen, couple of samples of sticky notes, couple of coupons for local restaurants, free massage, and some paper clips. There was a table with coffee, juice, cake, and cookies. I thought it was really nice.
Our Staples had the binders with paper and pencil pouch, like the others. But at the register all teachers received 20% off school supplies.
I went last week and got the same binder/supplies already mentioned. Of course I figured it wouldn't be as much as the bag of goodies from last year, but I appreciated what they gave out. They had a breakfast spread for us and games. I came very close to winning the scavenger hunt. I did win one of the raffle/door prizes. I waited until the Teacher Appreciation Day to buy myself new computer chairs. Give back appreciation to Staples for always being so great to Teachers.
I live in the boonies. If we need anything other than staple grocery items, we have to drive to the next town, which is 20 miles away. Most everything else is in the next town, which is 50 miles away.
We ended up at all three Staples stores. Each one of them had slightly different stuff. All of them had the binder with a pack of apper, pencil pouch, dry erase marker, ink pen, sticky tabs, and sticky notes. Each place had several different "extra" items. Here's what all we got . . .
Wow...you got some nice stuff! What's that black bag in the back? I went to 3 as well last week. The first 2 handed out the binders. The last one gave me a binder along w/ a bag filled w/ goodies. The bag had 12 notebooks, 20 folders, 6 composition books, and other things as well.
The manager at my Staple's gave me TWO of the binder packs and actually apologized for the freebies sucking so much this year. :lol: We also got a free sandwich at Subway. I thought it was pretty cool. If it's free it's for me!
They're carrying bags for hp PhotoSmart printers. They had a ton of them, and they were offering them for people who wanted one. I actually have one of those printers, which is why I took one. The guy handing them out said they'd make a nice lunch box.
wow...compared to everyone else, our Staples here stinks! We got a binder with 1 package of loose leaf paper, a pencil pouch with a few sticky notes, a marker and highlighter. When they had the drawings I won free breadsticks, a book, and some calenders ALL dated 2010 = ( REALLY?!
Those are really nice and useable items from Staples...and free! Last year I got a pocket lint remover with the awesome gifts. The thought was very lovely, but I had to giggle how often I would use a lint remover; that is until my coworker said they made great white board eraser and cleaners...LOL I love free things that I can use. I missed yesterdays gifts because of life...my kids trumpt heading to Staples
Our Office Max teacher appreciation day was fabulous. What they gave away wasn't spectacular but they had their staff lounge decorated and set up a buffet. There was things from four different local restaurants and it was quite hearty. They also had fun raffles.
