Black Friday

Black Friday -- that's what retailers call this day.  It's the one day where sales are certain to exceed expenses in most stores.  I'm thinking maybe not today in my store.  I'm not sure what happened, but in the midst of the 5am shopping spree, a water pipe burst.  There was water everywhere in the back room, spewing from the overhead pipe.  Of course in most cases, this is a holiday, so calling someone out to fix it had to be expensive! 

This was my 12th retail Black Friday, and each year plays out a little differently in the details, but the goal is the same - sell, sell, sell.  And when I arrive at 4am, the parking lot is usually packed to the max.  This year, so many of the popular items went on sale at 10pm Thanksgiving night, that the rest of them weren't still in the store at 5am for the other sale.  I keep wondering if that doesn't mean my retailer sort of shot itself in the foot.  I personally think there's a more buying frenzy when there's only one shot at the sale items.

Take for instance one customer I talked to.  She was in the store last night for the electronics event, wanting to buy a TV.  Afterwards, because nothing else was available for sale until 5am, she left and went to another retailer who's entire sale started at midnight.  Since she'd picked up so many things on her gift-shopping list, she didn't care to come back to another store at 5am for one or two items.  Can't say I blame her.   So does that mean retailers will rethink how they lay out their sales events?  Everyone used to compete with their sales all starting at 5am.  Then someone went to 4am.  Another year, it was midnight.  This year, 8pm and 10pm on Thanksgiving day.    Seems to me the only ones who were giving thanks were retailers! 

For me, I spent the morning sorting things that had been left in shopping carts.  But because the store's volumes were quiet, I was sent home at 9am.  YAY!  Didn't have to ask me twice.  So now I'm home, ready to have a nap while my family heads out to the mall.  

Here's hoping you still have your sanity if you were one of the shoppers!