They say that the biggest shopping day of the year is always the day after Thanksgiving. I guess it is the official first day of the holiday season. Everything appears to be on sale and customers line up for hours for the big sales. Sometimes people are so emotional it can even get foolish and have a fight break out over an item on sale.
Retail stores are very creative these days and serving coffee while people are in line and opening at some really, really early times. I have gone out in the past, but this year I was at my sister’s and didn’t have a chance to go out.
I have so many questions:
- Do you look forward to Black Friday?
- Did you go out this year?
- Were the sales better than in the years past?
- What did you buy?
- Who had the best sales?
- What store had the best promotions?
I look forward to reading your comments.
Fee Sepahi says:
Hi Merrill,
Though I’m typically a Scrooge about this particular holiday, as I truly believe it brings out the worst in some people, and I leave it all until December 24th and then shop with great disgust…. Thanks to my sister and nieces, I found myself at the outlets in the Pocono area, buying two pairs of much needed Bass shoes, at a bargain. Then I
found myself gift shopping in the Coach store, for the ladies in my life!
Thanks again to my sister, I got 90% of my shopping done in that trip and am SO much less stressed about this holiday!
Thanks,
Fee
Nancy Cearley says:
Hi Merrill,
I have to admit, I was not a reluctant participant this year for Black Friday. My nieces begged and pleaded to go out and experience “Midnight Madness”, luckily it started much before midnight. I live near Woodbury Commons and found out they actually opened at 9 pm on Thanksgiving Day. So we headed out and shopped until almost 4 am. The best deal was spending time with them being the “cool aunt” who kept them out all night. And I also bought an amazing Spyder coat for my husband at a true bargain price, about 75% off the retail value.
The only sad part, we seem to be losing Thanksgiving to shopaholics.
Cheers,
Nancy
Alice says:
I don’t physically shop on Black Friday, Christmas Eve or Dec 26. I worked retail all through college and therefore worked these days every year. For the most part, it was unpleasant and not filled with much holiday cheer. So, I refuse to enter a store and fight the crowds on these three days. I do most of my shopping online, now.
Melanie says:
I look forward to Black Friday, and this year was no exception. I see it as a game, or sorts, and try to win. I also really enjoy the all-girl day with my daughter and friend. We left the house at 3:30 am and were back home napping at about 11am.
This year the shopping was a bit different. The sales weren’t quite as good, from my perspective. Most of the real deals were on things for me, not on things I could give as gifts. Maybe it’s because my kids are older and my list is harder. We went to Kohl’s, Target, Macy’s, Old Navy (twice), Famous Footwear, Pac-Sun, and Best Buy (not in that order). There may have been a few more, but my brain got foggy about halfway through.
I think the best sales were at Kohl’s and Old Navy. The worst part of the experience was the coupons they put in the circulars. My daughter and I went through the trouble of cutting them out only to find most of them weren’t good except for certain products, during certain non-peak hours, or on things that were full price (which wasn’t much that day since most things were at least 10% off).
The retailers did seem to have a better handle on the traffic this year. But I haven’t seen the reports, so maybe there were just fewer people. But I did my part to help the numbers.
Kelly Heatly says:
Heck NO! But if I was in the market for a big ticket item such as electronics or furniture, I might have willingly experienced the total beating of Black Friday. I think the deals were definitely stronger this year.
Now, Cyber Monday sounds much more appealing, but I’ve never checked it out. Does anyone know if the online deals on this day are any good?