Grocery stores lure shoppers

CINCINNATI -- Do your holiday gift shopping in a grocery store? Some grocery store chains, appealing to consumers' desires to save gas, money and time, are pushing that notion this season.

Cincinnati-based Kroger Co., the nation's largest traditional grocer and the owner of Ralphs, ran full-page ads this week touting gifts under $30 such as plush blankets; gifts under $20 such as computer bags; and gifts under $10 such as stuffed toy bears and other similar items.

Kroger also just doubled, to more than 200, the gift cards available in its stores with a deal announced this week with Blackhawk Network Inc. Shoppers can buy cards for everything from casual dining restaurants to upscale clothes stores to plane tickets.

Safeway Inc., based in Pleasanton, says it offers some 250 gift cards -- Blackhawk Network is a Safeway subsidiary -- and it has increased holiday offerings, with items such as doll houses and dolls, game sets, stylish decanters and hot chocolate maker sets.

"We are expanding holiday gift items, especially on safeway.com," said spokeswoman Teena Massingill.

Eco-friendly bags hot for the holidays

NEW YORK - For holiday shoppers, the "it" bag may be the green bag.

At Gifts.com, online retailer, one of the hottest selling lines includes environmentally friendly tote bags as customers make even the act of shopping a green-oriented event.

"It definitely eliminates the waste of plastic bags that people turn to so often when they do their holiday shopping," said Megan Howard, editor-in-chief of Gifts.com.

In May, Gifts.com started listing all of its environmentally friendly gifts in one place. Since then, searches on the list have spiked more than 1,000 times, said Howard. About 27 percent of consumers said they would use fewer plastic bags this year from supermarkets and other stores this holiday season, according to a survey by Deloitte Consulting.