Let the stupid Black Friday madness begin. (1 Viewer)

[Greg*go]

Christ, I just woke up at 4:10 in the morning so I can be at my job at 5:30. I got a whole 2 hrs sleep tonight!

Morning sales are stupid/insane. We have an Apex DVD player for $59, BUT ONLY TIL 11a.m.!!!

HURRY!!!
Or else you'll miss your chance to complain about this product come Christmas day when you unwrap it and it doesn't work.

 

[Dave Poehlman]

Ahh.. retail... I remember those days. At least they go by quick.

I'm the only one in the entire office building right now and it's 8:00 AM! Looks like I'll be hanging out on the HTF a lot today.

 

[ThomasC]

Planned to go to OfficeMax today to get free stuff (after mail-in rebate, of course)...200 CD-Rs and a 32 capacity CD wallet...maybe the 100 black slimline jewel cases as well. Advertisement says that they open at 7...they opened at 6!!! I didn't wake up until six and got there around 6:35, and they're all out of the "free" stuff. Best Buy is right next door (they had a deal for 150 CD-Rs free after mir), and they were all out, or so I thought. People were dropping stuff all over the store (would YOU wait in line for more than an hour?) and I eventually found the CD-Rs. Then I waited in line for an hour and a half, but hey, I'll take free CD-Rs any way I can, even if I have to weave around the aisles and basically the entire store for 90 minutes before I can go to the checkout lane.

 

[Bob McLaughlin]

My father-in-law is actually going to Wal-Mart (which I have been boycotting for 2 years) so he can get a VCR for $48...he doesn't even need a VCR. What's the point?

 

[Leila Dougan]

What's the point?

The point is to get a bunch of crap at really low prices cause then you're saving so much money and everyone thinks you're soo cool cause you got xyz gadget at such a bargain!!

Oh wait. . .

Wouldn't you save even *more* money if you just didn't buy whatever it is you don't need?

 

[KeithH]

Yup, I remember those heady days of retail too. When I was in high school, I worked in a Child World/Children's Palace toy store (long-time defunct chain). Black Friday was bad, but the day we all dreaded most was December 26th, when everybody brought everything back. To keep the return lines moving, we would actually take back merchandise that came from a different retailer. If any part of the price tag remained indicating that the item was purchased at Toys 'R' Us or wherever, we would take it back. It was easier to do that then to fight with a customer and hold up the line. Yuck.

Circuit City stores opened at 7 a.m. today, and I arrived at one at 6:35 a.m. since they are having a great sale on CDs today. At 6:35 a.m., there was a long line along the storefront. By 7:30 a.m., when I was ready to pay for my haul, the lines at the registers were ridiculous.

 

[Clinton McClure]

Glad I slept till 10 today.

 

[Moe Maishlish]

Fill me in... what's Black Friday? I've never heard of such a thing in Canada...
Sounds Satanic.
Moe.

 

[KeithH]

Clinton, yes, but I got some great bargains one CDs and Stones SACDs before they might have sold out. I can always take a nap later.

 

[Leila Dougan]

Moe, Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving. It's called such because it's the biggest shopping day of the year and many retailers who had been in the red (losing money) now finally get into the black (making a profit).

 

[KeithH]

Leila, good explanation. Unfortunately, it seems that all the media has been saying for the last few years is that retail sales for the holiday seasons have fallen short of expectations. More and more people are buying via the Internet or are starting their shopping early to avoid the Black Friday madness. Those are a couple of factors that would explain the lagging in-store sales during the holiday season.
When I worked at a toy store during my high school years, we always referred to this day as "Black Friday" because we didn't look forward to the month-long mob scene we would have to deal with. Back then, we would stay open until midnight every day from that first Friday through December 23rd, except for Sundays, when we would close at 10 p.m. "Black" simply conveyed the doom and gloom that we all felt when coming to work on that first day of the shopping season. We knew that a long haul was ahead. Also, as a 17-year-old peon, I did not concern myself too much with whether the store turned a profit.

 

[Tony-B]

I was out of town one Thanksgiving, and Best Buy was having a great deal on a CD-RW drive. I decided to go in to try and get it. When I was close to Best Buy, I saw an ambulance going to a Target store that was giving out a limited edition Hot Wheels or something like that. I found out later on the news that night, that there was a fight in the line outside of the store. By the way, I did not get that CD-RW, becuase they were out. In fact, I saw someone pick up the last one!!!

 

[Greg*go]

Moe,
Another thing not mentioned is that Black Friday's sales are awesome, like all that free stuff floating about after mail in rebates at Office Max and Best Buy. Kohls had 90% of their store marked at 50% off.
Keith,
I think Leila's reasoning is technically the correct one. Although working in retail, I do see your point. Even though I work on 100% commission, so I can live with the mass crowds.
As for me, this wasn't as good as last year (I only sold 1/3 of what I did last year) but I didn't do too badly, sold 4 projection TVs Of course, my paychecks are currently in the red, so hopefully this will turn them into the black.
This was a very bad Black Friday though, I actually had time to chat with others co-workers, whereas last year was complete mayhem. In '01, I sold $8000 in the first hour.
OK, I think I'm going to take a nap now and try to go out this evening even though I just worked 10 1/2 hrs. Wish me luck.

 

[KeithH]

Greg said:

I think Leila's reasoning is technically the correct one.

Oh, I absolutely agree. We just had an alternate definition when I worked at the toy store.

 

[Malcolm R]

That it's THE biggest shopping day of the year is also a bit of an urban legend:

Although common lore considers it the top shopping day of the year, the day after Thanksgiving usually comes in no better than No. 5 and is the only top-10 shopping day to fall outside December, according to data supplied by the Purdue Retail Institute, the National Retail Federation and the International Council of Shopping Centers. (from CNN's "Black Friday" feature)

Biggest shopping days are usually the two weekends before Christmas. I know when I worked in the fast food biz, the Saturday before Christmas was always our biggest sales day of the year, usually about 50% higher than any other Saturday.

 

[Steve Clark]

I woke up at 5:00 to get to Best Buy before the 6:00 opening. I got there at 5:45 and the parking lot was full and the line at the entrance consisted of close to a 1,000 people. They were giving out tickets to people waiting in line for hardware items such as digital cameras, printers and computers. Many of the digital cameras on sale were sold out before the store even opened. Like last year, digital cameras, computers, DVD players, CDs, DVDs, video games, TVs along with "boom boxes" appeared to be flying out the store.

 

[JasenP]

I decided to get a seasonal part-time job at Best Buy this year (mainly for the discount) and when I went to work yesterday at 4:45 there were 400 people waiting in line. The Manager did a head count and it was 400+ people...amazing.

 

[KeithH]

Jasen, tell me that you and the manager were not laughing at the 400+ people standing in line in the cold as you stood in the toasty store. I figure that's what was happening at the Circuit City store I was waiting outside of at 6:35 a.m. yesterday.

 

[Dan Keefe]

It's all in your mindset...I shopped from 8 am to 430 pm yesterday... I love the mayhem...I like to watch all the people scramble around...I picked up most of my kids Christmas stuff and tons of DVD specials ( I am pissed that I bought Grease the day it came out because everyone had it for between 10 and 12 bucks ) Anyway, just enjoy the season...watch the people, It's actually very amusing.
dan,
oh and Greg...If you know you have to be to work that early...go to bed earlier and get some sleep man! No sleep and hundreds of irate customers is a migraine waiting to happen

 

[KeithH]

Dan, it is amusing. I got to Circuit City yesterday in time for the 7 a.m. opening, and within ten minutes, I saw customers exhibiting that holiday-spirit short temper. What was really funny was seeing some people sprint to various parts of the store when it opened. I will never do that. I don't care what I am hoping to buy.