Kohls (is) Trip(ping)

Kohls is having one of their save x dollars if you have a Kohls charge card sale presently.
My experience with these in the past has been less than enthusiastic. However, my rule is: If I can buy it new for the same price I could get it at GoodWill, I'm game.

Generally, I only go to these sales if I already have a 30% off coupon. However, our Kohls is so badly organized, that any day I go, I tend to find something nice for crazy cheap...I just have to put in some serious time hunting for said deals. Today, that meant about an hour and a half.

I ended up spending $27.03 on four dress shirts and a (SUPER CUTE) wool dog-themed bowtie for Hubbs as well as an American flag, all on ultra-clearance. Supposedly, my "Total Saved" was $207.25 which got me thinking about prices at Kohls over the last several years. This tie actually cost more than one of the shirts I bought:

This bow tie has listed on the original tag that it costs $40. Kohls was selling it for $36. I got it today for $3.05!   Wow! Price inflation, anyone?

If you frequent Kohls as I do, you probably have noticed that their prices have risen substantially and their weird sale cycling continues. I rarely ever buy anything there for full price/on normal racks (except that one time when I ripped my pants, but that was an emergency, or if I need an in-season special occasion dress), because 95% of their items are "on sale" at any given time. I stumbled upon an article about a May 2016 settlement of $6.15 MILLION that Kohls had to make in California.

Basically, some guy in California claimed consumer fraud because he observed that the things he bought at a sale price had, for three months earlier, consistently been sold for that "sale" price, and therefore this wasn't a sale, but should be considered a regular price. He filed this in something like 2011 and it's taken this long to settle, but if you are a resident of California, you can see Kohl's special page about it here:
  KohlsSettlement California 

If you are part of that settlement you have until August to file your claim.

I don't think I'll ever stop shopping there (unless by some horrific accident they stop marking things down to nothing), but it would be nice to know that the slave labor in the product that I am buying is accurately represented in the price of the item, rather than assuming an enormous profit and fraudently saying people are getting a "good deal" when it's on sale.

I'll just be sticking to clearance, thanks!