Are you shopping on black friday? What stores are you going to? Or are you staying home and doing Black Friday online? Do you have any specific purchases you're planning on making this year?
The only big thing I'm thinking of getting this year is a new LCD monitor for my computer. A nice 22 or 24 incher. Other than that there's nothing I've been particularly interested in. It's all LCD TVs, PCs, laptops, GPS systems, and I've seen a lot of digital photo frames. I might actually pick up that last one. Then maybe a few smaller things. Though, the monitor isn't exactly a "gotta have it" item, so I don't know if it's worth braving the 5am crowds.
This year may be an online black friday for me.
This is a great site for black friday ads. Both in-store and online.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
BND.
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
Bank of North Dakota?
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Buy Nothing Day. That's what we do on Black Friday. Buy nothing.
Posted by Leonide (Member # 4157) on :
I'll be working, like I do every Black Friday. I guess it keeps me from spending too much!
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
kq, did you know Buy Nothing Day originated in Vancouver, BC? It was held here for 5 years before being moved to the day after US Thanksgiving in 1997.
Posted by romanylass (Member # 6306) on :
I would buy nothing, but it's our grocery shopping day. However, we'll only buy food and save what we can for Saturday.
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
I enjoy black friday. Then again, I'm not buying christmas presents for anyone. It's my "buy something cool for myself when it's really cheap" day.
Posted by rollainm (Member # 8318) on :
I have to work. Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
I'm crossing into the U.S. to pick up my girlfriend and bring her back to Canada, since she's visiting me this weekend. I wasn't even thinking about American Thanksgiving when we made the arrangements, but I bet the border will be a nightmare.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
quote:Originally posted by ketchupqueen: Buy Nothing Day. That's what we do on Black Friday. Buy nothing.
I don't do it as part of an organized protest, and I make an exception for foodstuffs, but that's pretty much my attitude as well.
Posted by Shanna (Member # 7900) on :
I'll be working. Thankfully, even though Barnes and Noble is retail, they're not doing any special sales so tomorrow shouldn't be too bad.
I might drop by Best Buy tomorrow and shop around but I'm not looking for anything in particular. I did get my 1GB jump-drive last year on Black Friday for really cheap so maybe I'll find something else nice.
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
quote:Originally posted by twinky: I'm crossing into the U.S. to pick up my girlfriend and bring her back to Canada, since she's visiting me this weekend. I wasn't even thinking about American Thanksgiving when we made the arrangements, but I bet the border will be a nightmare.
twinky, my recent experience was that it was a nightmare going from Canada to the US at the start of a weekend, but it looked pretty dead on the other side.
With all the US sales coming in *and* the strong Canadian dollar, you are likely to be fighting the Canadian hordes looking for a good deal. I'd book a lot of extra time for the first crossing (into the US), maybe even check online to find which times are most open.
Posted by steven (Member # 8099) on :
I'll be working. At a mortgage call center. Oooh, that'll be reaaally helpful to all those mortgage customers who call on Black Friday. Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
Damn you! Damn you all! Posted by porcelain girl (Member # 1080) on :
I will sleep in. Then I will catch up on all my asistant editor work while in my pajamas, most likely unbathed.
Then I might take a walk to the beach. And then maybe watch some reruns of Alias.
Posted by Jaiden (Member # 2099) on :
Twinky- when I crossed a couple of weeks ago (on a Friday) in Windsor it was really busy. I think I waited an hour for customs and they were really mean. Coming back was not a big deal but I did it at an odd hour. Like always listen to CT Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
Working. Of course. Posted by PSI Teleport (Member # 5545) on :
I don't normally go shopping on Black Friday, but I think I have to take advantage of the Jo-Ann's doorbusters this year. And not for presents for other people, either. Posted by Uprooted (Member # 8353) on :
I have a shopping fiend friend visiting from out of town. What I'm doing tonight is mapquesting directions for her to the various stores she wants to frequent so that I can sleep in tomorrow.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
Well, we open at 4 am tomorrow, so I am off to bed as I have to be there by 3 am at the latest.
Good luck fighting the crowds!
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
last year i was in line at 2:30am for the 5am opening. and i got the second to last ticket for the tv i wanted. i'm glad i don't want anything too big this year.
Apparently Hatrack is not a Black Friday friendly place!
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
I was all excited to buy something cool for myself tomorrow and then realized I owed somebody $270. So much for my plans.
Last year I did the Black Friday song and dance for a Wii, the store staff lied to me and that was a very unpleasant experience.
Posted by steven (Member # 8099) on :
Kwea, I thought you worked in a jewelry store. Jewelry stores open at 4 am on Black Friday? Why? I thought most of the people shopping for Christmas jewelry were men, who most certainly don't find the idea of 4 am Christmas shopping fun or enjoyable. Or have I misjudged the demographic?
Posted by Lostincyberspace (Member # 11228) on :
Sleep in people its not worth it.
Posted by steven (Member # 8099) on :
Seriously. Wow. I wouldn't get up before 11 tomorrow if I didn't have to drag myself to work.
Posted by Saephon (Member # 9623) on :
Fortunately for me there's nothing huge I want this year. Last year I camped outside Gamestop and picked up one of only five Wiis It was a glorious night.
I think I'm just gonna get a lot of sleep tomorrow and eat turkey leftovers, and THINK about what gifts I want to get for myself and others...I'll take care of that shopping next weekend 'cause I'm going to a concert Saturday.
Posted by SoaPiNuReYe (Member # 9144) on :
Sleep in. Shop online.
Posted by steven (Member # 8099) on :
"Sleep in. Shop online."
You said it.
Posted by scholar (Member # 9232) on :
We are going to RenFest, where there will most likely be shopping. Posted by Lupus (Member # 6516) on :
I will be at work. Posted by MEC (Member # 2968) on :
I was planning on getting a few things on black Friday and I was wondering if anyone knew if black Friday deals were honored over online purchases, or not, or if only some stores did this. I figured it'd be much easier to just get everything online.
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
I'm getting up in three and a half hours. I'll only be hitting a few places. I want to check Best Buy for a digital picture frame, Costco for an external hard drive, and the mall to do some clothes shopping.
Then I'll come home and take a nap. If I even save $50 I'll consider it worth it.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
quote:Originally posted by rivka:
quote:Originally posted by ketchupqueen: Buy Nothing Day. That's what we do on Black Friday. Buy nothing.
I don't do it as part of an organized protest, and I make an exception for foodstuffs, but that's pretty much my attitude as well.
I don't really do the "organized protest" thing either, but we do take it as a day to review greener options for the coming year, and talk with our kids about environmental and consumer issues, and stuff like that. We do avoid buying foodstuffs and gas as well on this day, and we sometimes work on home-made Christmas presents or something.
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
MEC, the black friday specials are only available in store. many of the stores also have online only sale items. check out my link above and it has links to the online only sale items.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
I m the FJ Manager for JCPenney. we open in 1 1/2 hours.
Most jewelry purchases are for women, but women do a lot of the shopping. The first 4 pages of todays ad are Fine Jewelry.
Wish me luck, we will need it to remain sane today.
Posted by Joldo (Member # 6991) on :
I go to all the secondhand stores on Buy Nothing Day. I feel it's a better way to celebrate--recycling the detritus of consumerism rather than rejecting it wholeheartedly.
Posted by Valentine014 (Member # 5981) on :
I am going to stop at the mall to buy this coat. The sales guy told me yesterday that it would be on sale tomorrow. I hope by a lot.
Posted by prolixshore (Member # 4496) on :
After being put in charge of setting up my store's black friday displays, I am glad to be done with it. On the bright side, since I worked all day yesterday on creating displays, it would go over budget to have me work today, so I don't actually have to deal with the hassle of working on this terrible day.
I did my fellow retail employees a favor by patronizing their stores this morning.
I was surprised, but not by much, to see this happen:
At Best Buy, they hand out tickets for the doorbuster items. All the tickets are gone by the time you get to my place in line (I didn't come until about 30 minutes prior to opening, but I was able to buy everything I wanted). A group of about 10 guys near the front of the line took a ticket for everything they could, then proceeded to walk down the line scalping them.
$50 dollars for a ticket to buy a laptop? The standard price. Need a Garmin but didn't wait since 9 last night? 30 bucks to the scalper. This is just plain sad.
--ApostleRadio
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
I stood in line for thirty minutes outside to get a good price on Nintendo DS - I needed one each for my twins, then got to the counter and they would only give me one - said one per customer. But I wanted two different colors and games (it was a packaged deal) so that didn't seem right to me since they were in truth two different items - different barcodes and all that. At any rate, my oldest was with me and she had gone to get a buggy, when she got back I told the lady to give it to her, which she did but then I paid for both.
silly rules. But, I took the last pink DS and the second to last gold one, and behind me were a couple that had driven from Gadsden (over an hour away) to get a DS and I felt bad. But not bad enough to give up mine.
Then, we went to three other stores after the doorbuster rush was over and still got good prices including some doorbuster items that there wasn't much of a rush on. Got a 2GB camera card for my daughter's digital camera for $19, that was regularly 54. I was happy with that purchase.
Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
The local bridge still shows no delay, so I'll be venturing across the border soonish to head for the airport. I'm expecting heavy traffic in Detroit, so I've budgeted a fair amount of extra time even if the border is okay.
Still no plans to do any shopping.
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
Well I just got back from shopping. I went out at 5am to Best Buy, saw the line, saw that there was no parking, and said screw it. When it's 20 degrees outside, the weather starts to make up your mind for you. So we turned around and went to Radio Shack, where my friend got right in and got a great deal on a GPS. Then, of all places, we went to Ace Hardware and got a great deal on an LCD Picture Frame for my best friend's parents.
After that we hit the mall and I bought some clothes for myself at ExpressMen when I saw how good the deals were. Probably the only clothes I'll buy all year, so I felt justified. Well I might buy some in a month too because I also got a $25 off coupon that starts on Monday.
All in all, I spent six hours out today and saved upwards of $100, so I felt it was well worth my efforts. Plus running into my mother at Ace Hardware at seven in the morning was pretty funny, as was watching her hop the brick wall to get into the parking lot, heh.
Posted by MEC (Member # 2968) on :
I was going to get some extra x-box 360 controllers at kmart, but I don't particularly want to go out and wait in lines to save ten dollars per controller. I was also going to scour to see what DVDs, CDs, and games were on sale, but I don't think I will for the same reason.
Posted by Carrie (Member # 394) on :
I drove by Best Buy this morning (around 1:30, on my way home from Thanksgiving), saw the line, and decided not to join in. I wanted to, but I figured that I wouldn't have a decent ticket spot for anything I wanted/could actually use. I've got to hit up the grocery store today, so I might drive by again and see if there's parking. If yes, I might go in. If no, then my Black Friday shopping festivities may include eggnog, soda and/or ground beef. Posted by MEC (Member # 2968) on :
Well, I just went on buy.com and got the same sale without having to wait in line, and I picked up a live membership on sale as well.
Posted by Javert Hugo (Member # 3980) on :
No plans to do shopping, and I was going to get some paint to paint the hideous coffee table today, but now I'm afraid of the traffic and the stores.
Posted by theCrowsWife (Member # 8302) on :
I'd never been shopping on Black Friday before, but there were some sales on items at Jo Ann's that I've wanted for a while. That store is in a bad location (way behind the mall all alone, with something like a mile of 15 mph zone road to get to it), so I didn't expect it to be too busy. I got there at about 7:30am, had no difficulties with traffic, and the store wasn't very crowded. I stocked up on my craft supplies and got myself a scrapbook tote for $35 instead of $89. It was fun .
--Mel
Posted by Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged (Member # 7476) on :
oh my...this was the first...and likely last time I worked retail on black Friday. I worked from 4:00 am to 4:30 pm...on one hour of sleep. Good times. Thank goodness we get commission where I work.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
Where do you work?
I had a great day....2:45 am to 3:15 pm, and we kicked the crap out of our goals, both as a department and as a store.
A profitable day to be sure. Posted by steven (Member # 8099) on :
Kwea, why is it called "Fine Jewelry"? I mean, is there another department called "jewelry, not fine"?
Why did you quit Sears? I used to do the Sears cards customer service.
Posted by Jhai (Member # 5633) on :
Abhi and I shopped at Amazon.com today. Unless there's a consumer good that we absolutely want, and the price is so good it's worth sitting in line for 4 hours in the cold, I'm not going to bother trying the crowds.
Posted by dantesparadigm (Member # 8756) on :
I was dragged shopping today, but decided to make the best of it, we got to Wal-mart at 4am, and decided there was nothing we needed so badly that we were going to wait in line, so we waited until they opened, Once we got inside I played carriage Nascar and pretended to be ridiculously over-enthusiastic about the bargains.I ended up having fun even if I did bring a degree of embarrassment to everyone around me.
Posted by steven (Member # 8099) on :
"Once we got inside I played carriage Nascar and pretended to be ridiculously over-enthusiastic about the bargains."
Ahh, the excesses of youth.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
steeven, There are Fine Jewelry and Fashion (Costume) Jewelry areas. I don't sell the low cost fashion stuff.
The difference isn't just price, but commission....my people are commission based salespeople.
I never worked at Sears, I have been with Penneys for almost 6 years now, and my dad was a Store Manager for them from 37 years.
Posted by steven (Member # 8099) on :
Penney's has costume jewelry? Hmm.
Seriously, though, I remember this whole long story about this saleslady who was like the top seller in the whole company, and totally bitchy, and you didn't sell as much as her, but weren't so pushy, and it was this whole long thing. That was Penney's? You were selling men's clothing then?
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
Yep....good memory. That was about 2 years ago.
Yep, and I guess my patience payed off as I was promoted and she is still selling suits. Posted by James Tiberius Kirk (Member # 2832) on :
Peripherally related: is anyone else slightly annoyed that, as of yesterday, the "Video" search link on Google's main page was replaced by a "Products" link?
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It was a glorious night.![[Razz]](tongue.gif)