| Ladies and gentlemen, poets and poetry fans. Local Gems Poetry Press is proud to announce, after months of work, our latest anthology-- Retail Woes, Poetry From Both Sides of The Counter! Brawl In The Mall Nightmare Job Last Minute Shoppers Tis The Season Sometimes Right Would You like SEX With That are just a few of the illustrious titles of the poems that make up this collection of over 50 poets who simply had to put their experiences either working or shopping in retail down on paper. | 
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Just about everyone at some point in their life has had SOME experience in retail whether working in it or merely shopping that we swore we would write about. Here it is in this wonderful mostly comedic sometimes serious anthology that people have called "very unexpected yet somehow obvious."
Sample Poem:
The Charge Card Delight Brigade
“Sale today! Sale today!”
headlines had thundered.
Off to the Miracle Mall
Rode the six hundred.
Charging the price they paid
For every purchase made.
Into the Miracle Mall
Rode the six hundred.
For every purchase made
Pay any price displayed!
Not that the shoppers knew
How they had blundered.
Theirs not to clarify,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to shop and die:
Into the Miracle Mall
Rode the six hundred.
Bargains to right of them,
Bargains to left of them,
Bargains in front of them
There to be plundered.
Stormed by the eager horde,
Nothing they can’t afford.
Shopping carts overflow,
Nothing on sale ignored
By the six hundred.
Pushing straight past the guards,
Flashing their credit cards,
Clutching their debit cards,
Charging and spending while
All the world wondered.
Shopping, they never stopped
Shopping until they dropped,
Not till the shelves were bare.
Spent by the way they shopped
Storewide they plundered.
Then they rode home, but not,
Not the six hundred.
Bargains to right of them,
Bargains to left of them,
Bargains behind them,
All they had plundered.
Now, as if in a spell,
One by one down they fell,
They who had shopped so well―
Lost in the Valley of Debt,
Broke, in the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred.
When can their glory fade?
O the wild charges made!
All the world wondered.
Honor the charges made,
Cherish the prices paid,
Noble six hundred.
~George H. Northrup
“Sale today! Sale today!”
headlines had thundered.
Off to the Miracle Mall
Rode the six hundred.
Charging the price they paid
For every purchase made.
Into the Miracle Mall
Rode the six hundred.
For every purchase made
Pay any price displayed!
Not that the shoppers knew
How they had blundered.
Theirs not to clarify,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to shop and die:
Into the Miracle Mall
Rode the six hundred.
Bargains to right of them,
Bargains to left of them,
Bargains in front of them
There to be plundered.
Stormed by the eager horde,
Nothing they can’t afford.
Shopping carts overflow,
Nothing on sale ignored
By the six hundred.
Pushing straight past the guards,
Flashing their credit cards,
Clutching their debit cards,
Charging and spending while
All the world wondered.
Shopping, they never stopped
Shopping until they dropped,
Not till the shelves were bare.
Spent by the way they shopped
Storewide they plundered.
Then they rode home, but not,
Not the six hundred.
Bargains to right of them,
Bargains to left of them,
Bargains behind them,
All they had plundered.
Now, as if in a spell,
One by one down they fell,
They who had shopped so well―
Lost in the Valley of Debt,
Broke, in the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred.
When can their glory fade?
O the wild charges made!
All the world wondered.
Honor the charges made,
Cherish the prices paid,
Noble six hundred.
~George H. Northrup
Stay tuned for more information on Retail Woes, Poetry From Both Sides of The Counter and the upcoming launch events for the anthology. The first one is scheduled for March 18th at 7:30 at Dowling College in Oakdale, Long Island, NY.
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