posted
The Fundamental Christians, are asking for people to not shop in Walmart on Black Friday, due to Walmart's progressive stance on Gay Rights :-)
Others do not want people to shop anywhere that they do not say, "Merry Christmas"
Lastly people still think that Target is a French owned business, that is so "scrooge" like they will not permit the Salvation Army bell ringers in front of their stores.
I am a former retail worker, I worked every Black Friday. This year is my 1st one off.
It is of my humble opinion, people who line up in front of stores at 6 a.m, are not going to pass up a bargain, and if Walmart has something on sale, they want they will roll right over you to get it. I have personally experienced this, its a stampede. Religous or political beliefs, are pushed aside for that $30 stereo.
The last year I worked at Target, the item that everybody wanted was a CD player, I was working in Health and Beauty Aids, which is right in front of electronics, I honestly beleive if I would have not stepped back, they would have run me over. The kicker was they put the items, by the fitting rooms, on the other side of the store, I have never seen so many people turn in unison, to get to those CD players.
I honestly do not understand the attraction for getting up in the middle of the night to go shopping. This Friday I will be home safe and sound while my partner and our kids, work retail, the 1st time for our son and daughter.
Posts: 87 | From: Burlington, Iowa | Registered: Oct 2005
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posted
When I worked Borders Corporate, I recall being especially ill with Black Friday through the first week of January, as the period highlights some of the worst hypocrisies of retail. The public easily imagines that retail is swimming in extra profit during the winter holidays. In fact, we're still barely breaking even. Each fiscal month to each individual day has a financial intake plan (based on the exact dollar and cents amount that were made on the same day one year prior, for the most part). Thus, during the holidays our plan values were set especially high; the bar is raised as to how much you need to make in order to just barely escape the red.
My experience with the rush was nothing compared to the people working the store floors (the people I call the "actual employees" who sickeningly make far less for doing so much more). Of course, my phone was ringing off the hook with clients seeking information about their holiday packages and discounts, all leading towards a fat holiday bonus for my limited efforts--bonuses being available to corporate and general management only. But I was always sitting at a desk. Never dealing with crowds directly in front of me. I even had a cup of coffee at my summons.
The memories make me sick, and I'm especially happy my cracked mind forced me from the vocation.
-------------------- The salty fragrance of L’EauD’I’mNotDedalus - made entirely of and entirely for sea turtles. Posts: 1983 | From: Chicagoland, IL | Registered: Feb 2005
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posted
I worked many a Black Friday. Usually in book or clothing stores. Honestly, the Friday after Thanksgiving is nothing compared to the Saturday before Christmas. On Black Friday, people have lists and are looking for something specific. The Saturday before Christmas, they don't care anymore. Size doesn't matter, the color, the style...nothing. As long as it can be wrapped and stuffed under the tree it's good enough on that Saturday.
Now, as to why folks will get up in the pre-dawn hours for a better price; sometimes for people on a budget, getting that CD player for half price means the difference between 3 gifts for a kid, and one gift. It is just a simple issue of trying to get the most for what you can spend.
Posts: 1359 | From: Akron, Ohio | Registered: Aug 2005
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I worked at Sears many years ago, and I have worked many a black Friday. A lot depended on the weather. I agree with Tzarina, it was always much busier in the few days just before Christmas. As for the sale prices, they aren't always that good. With a little planning ahead, you can usually do a lot better than the Black Friday prices. It's nothing but merchandising. Make the consumers believe that they "must" shop on that day, and they will.
I am also proud (hee hee) to say that I had the pleasure of tossing two grannies out of the store for engaging in fisticuffs over a Cabbage Patch Doll. (That tells you how long ago it was!)
Posts: 193 | From: Seymour, Indiana | Registered: Oct 2005
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This will be my first Black Friday working in retail. Luckily I feel pretty insulated in the store I work in and while I think we'll be busy I don't think it will be anything like the crowds at the big box stores.
I've gotten up a little early to go shopping on Black Friday, but usually it's because there's something specific that I want and I think I have a good chance of getting it. I don't bother with most of the HUGE SALE!!11!1!! items that end up on the front page of circulars, but if there's a sale across a category, like 30% off DVDs or something like that, I'm much more likely to stop by and look.
-------------------- This has been yet another... USELESS POST. Posts: 6105 | From: Mississippi | Registered: Sep 2001
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I've been that shopper, although I don't see me doing it this year. Not much I really want. But I did it because it was the adventure of it all. Getting up early and braving the crowds to get what you want was pretty exciting.
Except, last year, it wasn't, because I got up, drove to Saratoga, ended up on a long line at Best Buy that took about 3 hours to get through, and then went home and collapsed, all for a digital camera.
My dad got up and went to Staples at around 10am and still got a 19" flatscreen monitor for 200 bucks. Damn, I'm a chump.
posted
I have worked Black Friday in a hardware store.
You'd think we wouldn't have that much business, right? WRONG.
I have gift-wrapped a garage door opener. No, no, not the little remote. No, the whole mechanism that actually opens the garage door. I think it weighed more than I did, but I gift-wrapped that NFBSKer somehow.
I have had to wade through crowds buying power tools.
I have had customers screaming in my face because the exact model of drill they wanted was sold out, and they were CONVINCED I was hiding them somewhere. Umm, not unless they're secreted in a bodily cavity, and I was unaware of that, what you see is what you get.
That was the first year I worked Black Friday. The second year, I made it clear to the first ten customers who came up to me yelling about how we had run out of what they specifically wanted, that I was not going to tolerate being yelled at, and if they wanted something, they could try being polite, or watch me walk away.
Don't ask me how I got away with that, I'm still not sure.
I won't shop on Black Friday unless I absolutely HAVE to. If I need something from a pharmacy, I would rather pay a bit more and go to a drug store than Wal Mart or Target. If I need toilet paper? There's a grocery store down the road.
It's just not worth the "savings" to get trampled by the crowds of asshats who think it's their God-given RIGHT to save a buck, and will stomp you if you get in their way.
-------------------- Beware corporate zombies! They will purchase your brain on E-Bay! Posts: 2310 | From: California | Registered: Jul 2003
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:shrug: If you are part of the crowd then you really don't get to take the high road and condemn the other guys.
-------------------- If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs, it's just possible you haven't grasped the situation. - Jean Kerr Posts: 18428 | From: Ontario, Canada | Registered: Nov 2001
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I'm dreading it, as we've already had crazy crowds for several days now. Last night and tonight we closed with 10 people (average is 7 or 8) and stayed an hour past close and the store was still trashed.
Not to mention that people come in expecting us to have extra sales on the day after Thanksgiving. We don't. We have regular price and clearance (which is based on how long the item has been in the store) just like always.
-------------------- Me: "He's 19? Uh oh, I bought him a beer." A: "You contributed to the deliquency of a minor in drag!" "Sweet spell check: keeping drunks off the radar since 1995."- IND GodRe-AnimateGreenPorkBush Posts: 3986 | From: Illinois, jealous? | Registered: Nov 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Ms. Koi: I have worked Black Friday in a hardware store.
You'd think we wouldn't have that much business, right? WRONG.
Oh...Oh no...I work at a hardware store now, and this is only my second Black Friday actually working in retail.
*sigh* But I will take being prepared over blissfully unaware anyday. Thanks for the unintentional heads up!
Last year was an arts and crafts store. Good. Lord. We had 8 registers open (usually only three or four) and all employees scheduled that day, and we STILL had lines going to the far end of the store non-stop...it never got shorter, not until the afternoon. Thankfully, I didn't open, I was a mid-day swing shift, but I heard so many horror stories.
I'm really nervous about this year. I'm still VERY new to the company/location, and don't know many people to ask for help with anything I might have trouble with. Yikes! I only work from 9 to 3 though, so I should be good. Right?
Manzanita "...right?" Sol
ETA
quote:I'm a hustler homey, you a customer crony, Got some dirt on my shoulder, could you brush it off for me?
...I don't know why but that just...it fits, you know? It just fits.
Edited again because I don't know what my fingers were typing, but it's not what I was thinking.
-------------------- Take a step outside the planet, Then turn around and round Take a look at where you are It's pretty scary. --"Turnaround" - Nirvana Posts: 60 | From: Richmond (Glen Allen), VA | Registered: Oct 2006
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posted
I worked in retail from 1999-2004. I worked every Black Friday. There was no excuses, no calling out, no family vacations, nothing. Every place I worked (really there was only 2) during the holiday season made it a crime punishable by firing if every employee wasn't on schedule at some point during the day.
The funny thing is, both places I worked (Harmon and Marshalls) weren't really that busy on those Black Fridays. They would be really busy however on Christmas Eve.
Now that I don't have to be out working in a store on Black Friday, I'm almost always gonna opt to stay in.
-------------------- Licorice of the Lord! This is classy stuff...Should I be wearing a tie? Or, at least, pants? ~I'mNotDedalus Posts: 975 | From: New Jersey | Registered: Jun 2005
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posted
I have tried to forget the miserable experience in retail. During college, I had to work during holidays to help make ends meet and one year I decided to work in retail.
Here was the situation: I worked the holidays, including Black Friday... in a toy store... in the mall... during the Beanie Baby craze of the late 90s.
I cannot begin to describe the hell those days were. I still have flashbacks whenever I see a heart-shaped Ty label. People were buying those little buggers ten at a time and then act shocked when we sold out by 10:00am. We were only given two cases per day from the warehouse. No, we are not hiding any and we cannot ask the warehouse for more, no matter how much you beg or how pissed off you get. And did they ask for the whale or the pig? No, they would ask for them by their stupid beanie-baby names which were things like Waves, Grunt, and Soar. And don't get me started about the annoying twits who would insist that the name on the beanie baby was wrong. It was something like this:
Customer: "Can I have five Waves?" Me: "We don't have any of those." Customer: "Yes you do. I can see them right there." Me: "That's not Waves, that Splash." Customer: "No, their name is Waves." Me: "The name on the tag says Splash." Customer: "They must be tagged wrong." Me: "Um, the tags are sewn on at the factory." Customer: "Do you have any that have the correct tags?"
I'm not kidding, I actually had a conversation like this with an woman, probably in her mid to late fifties. She was wielding her checkbook in one hand and a beanie baby checklist in the other. And no, she didn't buy them.
The other part I hated the most were people, including mall employees (from other stores), dropping their kids off at our store and then going to work for eight hours. We are a toy store, not a frigging day care. Also, it's a little thing called abandonment and we had to call security bunches of times to get kids that were left alone in our store for hours. And yes, the parents got all pissed off at us for turning them in.
Any way, Black Friday was awful but things calmed down after the inital stampede at opening. I thought the last Satuday before Christmas was much, much worse. Wall to wall people the entire day.
-------------------- "Tis too much proved that with devotion's visage and pious action we do sugar o'er the devil himself." - Hamlet Posts: 344 | From: Pittsburgh, PA | Registered: Jun 2006
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I worked many a Black Friday, first at Sears, and then at Waldenbooks. My heart goes out to those of you who do it now - I think if I had worked one more year in retail I would have lost my mind. (Be sure to wear comfortable shoes!) And yes, I too found the last weekend before Christmas actually worse than Black Friday, but Black Friday was bad enough.
After I made the transition from retail to the academic world I didn't go near a mall for years and I still do the vast majority of holiday shopping online. I certainly don't go out on Black Friday. I just can stand the crowds!
-------------------- So many books, so little time. Posts: 1192 | From: McDonough, Georgia | Registered: Nov 2005
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Any of you that work Black Friday or the day after Christmas are ever so much braver than me and my heart & prayers go out to you.
I tried both days once - just once - and once was all it took. I was pushed, trampled, and yelled at and I was another customer. I could just imagine what was done to the store employees.
-------------------- "Maybe getting in the last word doesn't really mean you win." - The Clarks Posts: 486 | From: Pittsburgh, PA | Registered: Sep 2005
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Um errrrr. I am suppose to go shopping on black friday. We are suppose to go up to Delaware so it will be more like an afternoon shopping thing.
I will not, nor have I ever yelled at sales people regardless if I wanted to or not. I've done the whole retail thing I know how it is. Its not there fault most of the time and that is the way I see it. However the SO may not see it that way so I keep him in line when we go shopping cause I know he has wanted to scream at a sales lady once.
E*E
-------------------- "Taking all the pain I give you Loving blindly in return And I need you more than ever" WWW.Myspace.com/E_E2000 Posts: 1243 | From: Northern VA | Registered: Sep 2003
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ComicBookGeek
I'll Be Home for After Christmas Sales
posted
I'll be working at Gamestop Friday. Having to skip Thanksgiving dinner because of it. I'm goign to keep a talley of how many people ask for PS3 and Wii
quote:Originally posted by Erin: ...What's black friday?
Besides Retail Workers' Nightmare?
From Wikipedia:
quote:Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving in the United States, is historically one of the busiest retail shopping days of the year. Many consider it the "official" beginning to the holiday season. Most retailers will open very early and usually provide massive discounts on their products.
Although Black Friday is typically the busiest shopping day of the year in terms of customer traffic, it is not typically the day with the highest sales volume. That is usually either Christmas Eve, the last Saturday before Christmas, or Boxing Day.[1]
Appearantly, a number of awful things are referred to as "Black Friday," and I don't think that's a coincidence.
-------------------- Take a step outside the planet, Then turn around and round Take a look at where you are It's pretty scary. --"Turnaround" - Nirvana Posts: 60 | From: Richmond (Glen Allen), VA | Registered: Oct 2006
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I do *not* go shopping on Black Friday. There's not a good enough deal to make me wade through that sea of humanity! Maybe if I could get a portable DVD player for $20 or an iPod shuffle for $30 I'd go but in general, it just gives me the creeps! I do, however, love to go out the day after Christmas & rake in the bargains.
-------------------- I cannot live without books-Thomas Jefferson *~* A child educated only at school is an uneducated child - George Santayana I'm going to pummel you with such zeal, Buddha will explode! *~* Never miss a good chance to shut up - Will Rogers Posts: 6585 | From: Dallas/Fort Worth, TX | Registered: Feb 2002
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I know I'm going to have to work this Black Friday as it's part of being in the retail business. I'm dreading it as I know how crowded the store and parking lot will be, as a customer and as someone who has worked in retail. The only thing I can do is just prepare for the chaos.
Posts: 223 | From: Long Beach, CA | Registered: Sep 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Erin: ...What's black friday?
The nickname for the day after Thanksgiving when stores have big sales.
So named probably because many customers end up black and blue by the end of it.
What about us poor associates who have to deal with the customers?
Thankfully, I am on "clean-up crew" this year, AKA as the closing shift. I would SO much perfer cleaning up the store after the chaos than being in the midst of it. I've been in retail since the mid 90's, have worked 9 black fridays.
That reminds me, must check storenet to see if Friday is sneaker day.....
Posts: 255 | From: New York | Registered: Aug 2006
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I've worked two Black Fridays. At a K-B Toys. The first one was in 1995 when they released the Playstation and the Nintendo 64. We had three of each unit. It suckity sucked.
The second was in 1996. I was an Asst. Manager. It was the year of Tickle Me Elmo. It sucked worse. We never got Elmo in and he was in our ad.
I do go shopping on Black Friday though. I enjoy it because I can tell off other shoppers who are being jerks to store employees.
posted
All I know is that while one parent goes Christmas shopping, the other brings all the kids to the museum. So, so crowded, and busy whether you're at admissions or the gift shop. This is the first time in three years I have not had to work on Black Friday, and I can't say I'm disappointed.
I'll probably take my sister to the movies on Friday; she's dying to see Flushed Away. No more shopping for me, anyway...my presents are either bought or on their way through the mail. And any of my out-of-town friends who come to visit can go risk their necks at Hanes Mall on their own.
-------------------- "But about the reindeer...what kind of a nose shines? How did he get it? Maybe it's not a reindeer after all. It could be something else." Posts: 2216 | From: Winston-Salem, NC | Registered: Nov 2003
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ComicBookGeek
I'll Be Home for After Christmas Sales
posted
This is the first Black Friday I've worked in 6 years. Of course, last year, I put in an application on Black Friday and started work the following Monday.
posted
I went shopping on Black Friday one time. Usually, payday falls after that day, but the calendar gods had payday on a Sunday, so we were paid on that very day. The "sale" didn't start till six, so I figured I'd go early, sit in my car for a few minutes, then go in. I wasn't out for any big ticket items, I figured I could whisk in and take advantage of the sale prices on the "normal" things I needed. Wow. I was stunned. People were lined up out the door, and some had been there for two hours!
The only "big ticket" item I got was a DVD/VCR combo. That was the year of the "$50 DVD player" and nobody saw this entire display of the combo one sitting off to the side. I just picked one up without even stopping and put it in my cart. People were nuts.
All those who work on that day- good luck, you have my sympathy.
-------------------- "Is it ME? Am I a MAGNET for these idiots?"~Pearl Forrester MST3K Die-Hard Engineers, Big Red One my Dad's website "Must be a 'snopes' thing..." ~my entire family when I try to explain something. Posts: 4524 | From: South of Madison, Wisconsin | Registered: May 2005
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I wonder if it's anything like Christmas Eve in a grocery store. At the store I work at it's so busy they make all the cashiers work and you work in shifts of five hours or four hours instead of the usual six to save our energy and by the end of the shift you feel like you worked seven or eight hours. We usually close early, around 5:00pm so people can be with their families. Last year I almost missed church because people flat out refused to leave when we closed. My manager had to stand with me because the last lady bought so many half priced items we eventually had to key flick every item that went through because you're only allowed to take $10 off without the key.
It was horrible. At some point we ran out of turkeys and that results in several, “Why don’t you have enough turkeys for all your customers?!!?!?!?!” We also had a couple, “The only turkey left is $45!!! I’m not paying $45 for a turkey, get me another one!!!111!!” We also ran out of cranberries, and I think people were angrier about that than anything else. I have to work Christmas Eve again this year, but now that I’m not the newest employee I won’t have to stay at the end of the shift to deal with the people who refuse to leave so that is a huge bonus. I love going to the children’s Christmas Eve mass, even though I’m supposed to be way past the age for that stuff and there is only an hour between the mass and when the store closes.
Posts: 149 | From: Nova Scotia, Canada | Registered: Jan 2006
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quote:Originally posted by Erin: ...What's black friday?
The nickname for the day after Thanksgiving when stores have big sales.
When you say "big sales", do you mean it's just that lots of people go out shopping or there are big discounts to be had (which means lots of people go out shopping)?
-------------------- Silence should never under any circumstances be construed as agreement. A lot of the time, it's simply a reflection that someone just said something so stupid that no response could possibly do it justice. - Ramblin' Dave Posts: 8528 | From: Nottingham, England | Registered: Feb 2000
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quote:Originally posted by Erin: ...What's black friday?
The nickname for the day after Thanksgiving when stores have big sales.
So named probably because many customers end up black and blue by the end of it.
I have heard that the retailers call it Black Friday because for many of them, it marks the day they finally reach the Black financially. Apparently, department stores are in the Red until right after the Thanksgiving weekend.
posted
Oh sure, Black Friday in the AM is hell but I've actually found that shopping after five or six PM to be a very pleaseant experience. The crowd are pretty much gone and most store still have some pretty good sales.
Posts: 390 | From: Missouri | Registered: May 2003
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posted
Worked several back when I was in retail -- one as an assistant manager. It's a nice way to lose your faith in people when you see how vicious and self-serving they get.
quote:Originally posted by Erin: ...What's black friday?
The nickname for the day after Thanksgiving when stores have big sales.
When you say "big sales", do you mean it's just that lots of people go out shopping or there are big discounts to be had (which means lots of people go out shopping)?
Big discounts to be had. Most large stores also open early and often have "doorbuster" specials--discounts that are available only till 11 AM or so.
Posts: 264 | From: Washington, DC | Registered: Nov 2002
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quote:Originally posted by kch8021: I honestly do not understand the attraction for getting up in the middle of the night to go shopping.
I don't either. Days off are for sleeping in unless you're going out of town.
-------------------- Leashes?! We don't need no stinking leashes!! Posts: 4771 | From: The Berkeley of the East Coast: Montgomery County MD | Registered: Mar 2003
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When I lived in Michigan, I worked in Kmart one year, I was hired after Thanksgiving, on Xmas Eve, I had the flu, fever, headache the whole nine yards, and I was threatened by management, that if I didn't come in, I would not get holiday pay for Xmas. I needed the money, badly. So I dragged myself in, and they put me on a register, not smart, because I was standing there the store was spinning, and I threw up, all over the floor. Surprise, they decided to let me go home.
Part of holiday pay was working the day after Xmas also, that was the year, when I decided the people would do anything to save a buck, Kmart sold the display Xmas trees, fully decorated, 2 women went after the same tree, it ended up in a brawl, the police were called, and each of them was arrested for assault. Nothing says Xmas, like 2 women walking through Kmart handcuffed.
Posts: 87 | From: Burlington, Iowa | Registered: Oct 2005
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