Page 14 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, DECEmbEr 9, 2022 BBB Tip: Safe online holiday shopping for parents H oliday shopping is in full swing. Many shoppers are skipping the stores and heading online to purchase gifts for their children, continuing the trend for several years. How can you get your holiday shopping done safely and efficiently? The following tips, some of which are from the National Programs’ Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU) team of the better Business Bureau (BBB), will help. How to safely choose gifts for kids online • Guard your privacy (and your child’s privacy, too!). Plenty of online retailers offer “hot toys 2022” lists, but it’s wise to proceed with caution when shopping for the season’s hottest toys. Stores choose toys they think will sell out quickly, but they don’t always take a toy’s safety or data collection practices into consideration. Make sure toys are safe and have good privacy policies before you buy. • Purchase apps and connected toys from Federal Trade Commission–approved Safe Harbor member companies (https://www.ftc.gov/ enforcement/coppa-safe-harbor-program). Make sure that none of your child’s personal information will be collected without your explicit consent. Choose apps and toys from companies that display seals on their website and toys from the CARU or another Safe Harbor. • Examine toy descriptions carefully. It’s easy to miss specific details about toys when you can’t examine them in person, so take your time reading toy descriptions online. Pay close attention to age recommendations, potential choking hazards, exactly what comes with the toy and what accessories you might need to purchase separately. • Read plenty of reviews before you buy. Another good way to get to know a toy without actually seeing it first is to read other consumers’ reviews. Pay close attention to both positive and negative reviews. Reviewing videos can help you better understand what a toy is like and how it works. But keep in mind that many reviewers, bloggers, influencers, etc., share opinions that should be taken with a grain of salt as these individuals might be getting paid to post their reviews. • Keep in mind age recommendations. Take age recommendations seriously since toys meant for teenagers could be dangerous for younger children. When shopping online, age recommendations might not be THE BOWERY PRESENTS ANNOUNCES SPRING 2023 OPENING OF THE STAGE AT SUFFOLK DOWNS 8500 Capacity Seasonal Outdoor Concert Venue to Open on Site of Historic East boston racetrack B oston, MA (DECEMBER 2022) – Following the opening of their newest venue, Roadrunner, The Bowery Presents – in partnership with The HYM Investment Group LLC (“HYM”) – announces plans to open a seasonal outdoor general admission concert venue at Suffolk Downs, the legendary East Boston racetrack. The Stage at Suffolk Downs, located in the infield of The Track at 525 William F McClellan Highway, will host up to 8,500 concert goers beginning spring 2023. “The Bowery Presents has always focused on creating and operating venues where both fans and artists alike can have a great experience. We are confident Suffolk Downs will join Roadrunner, The Sinclair and Royale as a beloved concert venue in Greater Boston, delivering on our commitment to keep the music first,” said Josh Bhatti, Vice President and head of the Boston office of The Bowery Presents, an AEG Presents Company. “The Bowery Presents is honored to have the opportunity to work alongside the HYM team to bring The Stage at Suffolk Downs to fruition.” The Stage at Suffolk Downs is not the track’s first foray into live music: The Beatles were the first band to perform there, playing to 25,000 screaming fans in 1966. Since then, legendary artists such as The Jackson 5, Radiohead and Bjork have also performed. With The Stage at Suffolk Downs, The Bowery Presents plans to honor the site’s musical legacy, while reinvigorating the space to bring an open-air summer concert experience to all. “Suffolk Downs has been thoughtfully designed as a place that brings people together and connects communities,” said Thomas N. O’Brien, Managing Partner and Chief Executive Officer of HYM. “We are thrilled to partner with The Bowery Presents who will help us continue to realize this vision as we bring the proud history of live music back through The Stage at Suffolk Downs.” The opening of The Stage at Suffolk Downs will expand The Bowery Presents’ owned and operated venues to three within the Boston area, joining the 3,500 capacity Roadrunner (which opened in Brighton in March 2022) and 525 capacity The Sinclair in Cambridge, (which just celebrated its 10th anniversary) alongside the Royale (exclusively booked by The Bowery Presents with 1,200 capacity), and the company’s hundreds of annual concert bookings in theaters and arenas in the region. The Bowery Presents is the leading concert promotion and venue management company in the Northeast with venues in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Maine. The Stage at Suffolk Downs’ opening lineup will be announced at a later date. Fans are encouraged to follow along on Instagram and Facebook, and online at stageatsuffolkdowns. com. For a full calendar of The Bowery Presents’ events in Boston, visit BoweryBoston.com. readily apparent, so do plenty of research before you make a purchase. • Watch out for in-app advertisements. Many toys come with connected apps. These, along with gaming apps for kids, likely feature in-app advertisements. Some in-app ads might be inappropriate for children. CARU offers excellent suggestions for educating your children about in-app advertising and what to watch out for as a parent. • Double-check small business web security. Supporting small businesses this holiday season is an excellent way to give back, but remember that many small businesses pivoted from making in-person sales to online sales back in 2020. Some small businesses might not have the resources or technical know-how to set up secure online purchasing. Call and ask about in-store purchase hours if a small business website seems less than secure. Check BBB’s online shopping guide. • Don’t fall for phishing scams. This year scammers are looking to trip consumers up with many phishing scams. These include compromised account messages, fake retail coupons, emails claiming there’s been a problem with package delivery, and more. Read up on phishing scams to avoid falling prey. For more information To learn more about safe online shopping, read BBB’s online shopping resources (https://www.bbb.org/all/ online-shopping). In addition, be sure to read BBB’s tips for avoiding delivery scams. When possible, shop from businesses that adhere to BBB Standards for Trust. Postal Service Closed Monday, Dec. 26, and Monday, Jan. 2 W ASHINGTON — This year, Christmas and New Year’s Day fall on Sunday, when Post Office locations nationwide are already closed. As a result, all Post Offices will be closed for the observation of both federal holidays on Monday, Dec. 26, 2022 and Monday, Jan. 2, 2023. There are no residential or business deliveries on Dec. 26 and Jan. 2 except for Priority Mail Express, which is delivered 365 days a year in select locations for an additional fee. All Post Office locations will be open for business and regular mail delivery will resume after the holidays on Tuesday, Dec. 27 and Tuesday, Jan. 3. Some Post Offices may have extended hours leading up to the holidays, while others may have limited hours on Christmas Eve, Saturday, Dec. 24. There are currently no plans for limited hours on New Year’s Eve, Saturday, Dec. 31. Customers are advised to always check with their local Post Office for hours of operation. Blue collection boxes with final collection times before noon will not be affected by an early closing Dec. 24. If a box normally has a final collection time after noon, its mail may be picked up earlier that day. For mail pickup on Dec. 24, customers are asked to either put their mail into blue collection boxes by noon regardless of the final collection times posted on the box or take their items to one of our more than 34,000 Post Office locations. Customers who are unable to mail items before the scheduled collection box pickup times on Dec. 24 should visit the online Postal Locator tool at tools.usps.com to find Post Office locations that may be open late. As a reminder, blue collection boxes are not serviced on Sundays or holidays. The Postal Service generally receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. For Advertising with RESULTS, call The Advocate Newspapers at 781-233-4446 or info@advocatenews.net
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