Black Friday

[manhn]

So, I'm not going to 4CC this season because of work so I have to use my holiday time elsewhere. I am going to use a portion of it (well, one day because I can't get more right now, and I'm lucky to get this day off) to celebrate the best American holiday ever (maybe the best holiday in the entire world, but I'm not that knowledgeable of other cultures)--Black Friday! First time and I can't wait.

Questions:

1) Canadians who go down during this time--how crazy will the border lineups be? I will be leaving Thursday after work (around 7pm). I'm hoping most Canadians will leave sooner in the day to celebrate Thanksgiving with family, but I don't really know. Especially, with stores like Walmart opening at 10pm Thursday.

2) How is traffic? I love how all the big box stores and malls in the US are always right off the highway. It's so easy to shop. But traffic will be crazy, right?

3) When will transit be available? Do they revise their schedule for this very special day? I'll be going to Portland so was planning to use their Max System, but I somehow doubt that it'll be open at 3 in the morning. Will I have to rely on my car?

4) BTW, will all the big sales only occur at these crazy hours, like 10pm to 5am? During the normal hours of Friday, will everything go back to regular prices? Is shopping at, say, 10am Friday just a waste of time?

5) I have checked out all the flyers, and I haven't seen one sale on something like toilet paper. I don't need a new television and I don't need to buy toys for little kiddies (I'm going for clothes and basic household items). However, Wal-Mart will have a HUGE sale on guns! Am I wasting my time when searching for a deal on toothpaste?

6) Does IKEA do Black Friday? They do not do Boxing Day up here.

7) Are restaurants and coffeeshops open during these crazy hours? Are restaurants and coffeeshops open on Thanksgiving? We'll be driving to Oregon on Thursday and I would rather eat dinner in the US than in Canada because I like to go to places I haven't been to before. As well, I will need in order to shop overnight.

8) Is it really that crazy? I find Boxing Day up here busy but not all that overwhelming. I don't mind the crowds. But I find most people polite and have fun in the madness. I find people pushier during other parts of the year. Is something like the Walmart incident the norm or an exception?

9) One doesn't need to justify a sale, but I have always been confused why the biggest sale of the year in the US is the day after Thanksgiving. Why would retail stores have such deep discounts during a time when lots of people will spend a lot of time and money regardless of the prices? They need to buy gifts for people. Our Boxing Day is the day after Xmas--so the sale items tend to be for things that no one wants/needs to buy.

10) Any tips and secrets of the trade will be greatly appreciated.

Oh yeah, Happy Thanksgiving, Americans. Enjoy your turkey and stuffing. BTW, how do people shop after eating so much? The last thing I want to do on a full stomach is try on clothes.

[AliasJohnDoe]

First time!?!

You need to experience Black Friday at least once.

This way you understand why you'll never do it again.

[Japanfan]

I'm lucky to get this day off) to celebrate the best American holiday ever (maybe the best holiday in the entire world, but I'm not that knowledgeable of other cultures)--Black Friday! First time and I can't wait.

Manhn, you need to get out a bit more. . .little a little

1) Canadians who go down during this time--how crazy will the border lineups be? I will be leaving Thursday after work (around 7pm). I'm hoping most Canadians will leave sooner in the day to celebrate Thanksgiving with family, but I don't really know. Especially, with stores like Walmart opening at 10pm Thursday.

I would expect long wait times as I'm sure many other Canadians are going across the border for either Thanksgiving or Black Friday (especially given the strength of our dollar). And many, like you, don't have the day off.

I love how all the big box stores and malls in the US are always right off the highway.

I'll be going to Portland so was planning to use their Max System, but I somehow doubt that it'll be open at 3 in the morning. Will I have to rely on my car?

3 a.m . . .Well, they say the line-ups are not just fine, but also good fun, providing you don't get stamped . . .

4) BTW, will all the big sales only occur at these crazy hours, like 10pm to 5am? During the normal hours of Friday, will everything go back to regular prices? Is shopping at, say, 10am Friday just a waste of time?

If not, you'd better hurry!!

5) I have checked out all the flyers, and I haven't seen one sale on something like toilet paper. I don't need a new television and I don't need to buy toys for little kiddies (I'm going for clothes and basic household items). Am I wasting my time when searching for a deal on toothpaste?

How could searching for deals on toothpaste and toilet paper ever be a waste of time?

BTW, how do people shop after eating so much? The last thing I want to do on a full stomach is try on clothes.

I'm sure if you work at it, you'll master the art of it.

Have fun. And while you're at it, bring me back a few pounds of sharp cheddar and I wouldn't say no to a few rolls of toilet paper, if you can spare a few.

[PrincessLeppard]

Most of the big sales will go on until noon or one. The problem is that a lot of the stuff will be gone by then, as the deeply discounted stuff is usually in limited quantities.

The basics such as toilet paper are not going to be marked down, at least not drastically. The purpose of Black Friday is to move a ton of seasonal merchandise quickly.

Have a blast, though, and don't listen to the haters. I love shopping on Black Friday, though I usually don't head out until after ten or eleven a.m.

[DickButtonFan]

.

Oh yeah, Happy Thanksgiving, Americans. Enjoy your turkey and stuffing. BTW, how do people shop after eating so much? The last thing I want to do on a full stomach is try on clothes.

After the turkey is eaten, most people take a nap... that's the secret for having the energy to shop the next day

[topaz]

I don't mind Black Friday, really I don't. My mom, her bff, her daughter and myself go each year. We go to certain stores and get the items we want.

The stores that have overcrowding and have fights are usually the stores that are unorganized, i.e. Walmart. I've never had issues at Target, Macys, Boston Store, Kohls, JCPenney and Toys r us. Best Buy is a dream on Black Friday. The stores have the big ticket items out infront of the aisle and restock the area very quickly. The big electronics items on sale, folks are given a ticket to use when they check out and the products are brought to them at the register.

In my experience, the stores are more crowded the DAY AFTER Xmas. But for those who haven't been to any Black Friday sales in a store in years, they need to rethink this idea that the stores are chaotic and miserable to be in and examine where they are shopping.

[Norlite]

I'm crossing the border for Black Friday this year too. First time ever. Leaving in time to be there in time to stand in line for the 10pm openings.

I am having a little trouble finding ads on line for BF sales. Is it too early yet? Will the appear this weekend?

If there are any kind souls who can link for me I'd be forever in your debt. I'm only going as far as Watertown NY but they do have a Target, Kohls, Best Buy, Walmart, JCPenney, Kmart, and actually, most other BB stores. Looking mostly for electronic type things, and movies, games toys and other stuff for grandkids.

[Wyliefan]

I'm thinking of going to a local antique store on Black Friday. They're having a 15 percent off sale . . . and even if they have a crowd, an antique store version of a crowd is nothing like a department store version of a crowd.

[Colleen]

I went last year for the first time - crossed the border at Sumas and there was no line up at all. But it had snowed last year, which probably scared some people off. One tip - very few restaurants are open. There was only one restaurant in Bellingham open and it was jammed. We had our longest wait of the night there.

Traffic was not bad at all. We went to the outlet malls at Tullalip, were there around 9:30 and had no problem getting into stores that opened at 10. Biggest lineup was for the Coach store, which we skipped. It was very odd to see the food court jammed at 2AM!

The border lineups, which I thought would be horrific, were not an issue at all. We went back to Bellingham on Saturday and had no waits at all.

There were deals - I thought a lot like Boxing day here. The novelty of shopping all night long has not worn off; we're going again this year.

[Garden Kitty]

Or you could stay home and shop online - Yahoo reports 95% of the deals will be available on line at most "big box" stores.

[manhn]

I am having a little trouble finding ads on line for BF sales. Is it too early yet? Will the appear this weekend?

http://bfads.net/

Have fun!

Have Canadians ordered things online from US websites? I find Canadian websites not worth it in terms of price, except for some electronics. Are the shipping costs excessive? Anyways, I have never seen how ordering clothes online works.

[Japanfan]

Bump.

Please tell us about your adventure Manhn.

[HeatherC]

I just got done working a midnight to 6 AM shift (I'm working retail just through the holiday season for some extra money) and it actually wasn't too bad. People were friendly, we were all in the same boat of trying to figure out what time of the day it was (no windows in my department ), and the only part that scared me a little bit was when they opened the doors and a MASSIVE crowd of people came roaring into the store. I'm working at Macy's....not Best Buy or something like that so we were all a little surprised by the crowd numbers right at midnight!

I was going to sleep for a bit once I got home but I'm totally full of caffeine right now and can't relax at all. I'm meeting friends for lunch at noon. I hope I can rest at least a little bit before then! I tried to sleep before I went to work last night but that didn't work so well.

[Cheylana]

According to this article, you might want to wait.

It is not until early December, Professor Etzioni’s research shows, that prices are likely to be the lowest for electronics, products that are among the biggest sellers on the Friday after Thanksgiving.

“The bottom line is, Black Friday is for the retailers to go from the red into the black,” he said. “It’s not really for people to get great deals on the most popular products.”

[FiveRinger]

I have always steered clear of the stores from Black Friday thru Xmas. I come from a long line of self-professed shopping experts and they NEVER shopped on Black Friday because they claimed there wasn't enough advantage to justify fighting the crowds. But I have wanted to try it for myself for the last 6 or 7 years but could never get off work for it. I am sitting in traffic now.

I wish everybody the best of luck and look forward to hearing about all of the great deals. And please, stay safe. I just heard on the radio about some idiot lady in Los Angeles who sprayed pepper spray at Walmart to gain a shopping advantage!

[Buzz]

Saw a news bit about 10 people being injured after a fellow customer pepper sprayed them. I also saw the insane line ups and pushing on tv. I have never gone to one of these sales and never will. No discount is worth doing through all that. LOL

http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/news...rt-20111125-es

[Bostonfan]

It's so silly. I went to Kohl's at 7:45am, sailed in, shopped without any issues, got immediate service at the register, and was out 30 minutes later with just as much savings as the idiots that crowded the store at 1 am. The "early bird" discounts that they advertised as being from 1am - 4am only were still in force after 4am. Suckers.

[Meredith]

Last year my #1 grandson opened the doors for Target on black Friday. He was nearly swept off his feet - scared him to death. This year he stocked shelves in the same store until 5:00 a.m. Thursday and was off 'til 9:00 this morning, a huge relief to us all.

[numbers123]

NBC had a story of a woman who used pepper spray to have an advantage over other shoppers to get an XBox
Stupid

[milanessa]

Saw a news bit about 10 people being injured after a fellow customer pepper sprayed them.
http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/news...rt-20111125-es

NBC had a story of a woman who used pepper spray to have an advantage over other shoppers to get an XBox
Stupid

What was she thinking? No one would notice?