Retailers hope for share of rebates

Prepare yourself.

Tax rebates intended to jolt recession-wary consumers into spending won't start arriving in mailboxes until next month, but tax-rebate advertising has begun. And retailers are only warming up.

"We will get inundated when those checks start coming," said Rob Enderle, an analyst at market research firm Enderle Group. "There's going to be a lot of competition for those dollars."

The rebate checks are the centerpiece of a $168-billion stimulus package enacted by Congress. Not everyone will qualify. Singles with adjusted gross incomes of more than $87,000 and married joint filers with incomes of more than $174,000 won't get a check.

Some public opinion polls have found that people are thinking about cashing their checks to pay bills or chip away at debt. Retailers will do all they can to get a piece of the rebate action.

"They're going to ramp up their efforts," said Mike Gatti, executive director of the Retail Advertising and Marketing Assn. "You're going to see special promotions and sales, maybe invitation-only events."

Some companies that have never run ads linked to tax season will do so this year. Home Depot Inc. will play the green card, urging shoppers to spend rebate checks on energy efficient products such as light bulbs.

"This effort will help turn a short-term stimulus into a long term investment by saving consumers money over time through reduced electric bills and energy costs," spokeswoman Kathryn Gallagher said.

Elk Grove Wireless in Elk Grove, Calif., is throwing what it calls a "tax rebate sale," knocking $20 off the price of some phones and giving away Bluetooth wireless headsets.

"It opens the minds of people to think when they get their rebate back, they can get a new phone," manager Dave Johnson said.

Sony Electronics Inc. will launch its first-ever tax season advertising campaign, nudging shoppers to buy Sony Bravia HD TVs with their rebates -- and heavily promoting Sony home theater systems.

"We're giving the TV as an idea," said Megan Bafford, senior marketing program manager for Sony Electronics' home products division. "If they have a stimulus check, we hope they would purchase a theater system."

Sung Won Sohn, an economist with the Martin V. Smith School of Business and Economics at Cal State Channel Islands in Camarillo, said the rebates "will have a very significant effect," giving low- and moderate-income households a chance to do some discretionary spending.