Tag Archive | shop

Black Friday: Inside a trip to Wal-Mart

Nov23

Last night, My mother, her friend, my boyfriend and I were one of the thousands of shoppers to head out to Wal-Mart for the beginning of “Black Friday,” which began at 8 p.m. on Thursday.

We headed to the Wal-Mart in Buckhorn, lists in hand.

It was actually pretty enjoyable. We got our items and were able to have a good time, without much pushing and shoving.

But for those of you who were in a tryptophan coma last night, you can still experience the inside of a Wal-Mart on Black Friday – here’s my photos documenting the experience:

Here what a typical Black Friday Wal-Mart looks like: pallets of goods everywhere, all wrapped up until it’s time to open them. The key is to find your pallet and stick to it like glue until the appointed hour.

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Black Friday vs. Thanksgiving: When should stores open?

Nov22

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is traditionally followed by my favorite holiday, Black Friday. My mom and I used to get up at 2:30 a.m. and joke that soon we wouldn’t even have to sleep at all, since stores were opening earlier and earlier – first 6 a.m., then 5 and finally 4 (Could you believe it!).

But now, it’s happened. Last year, most stores opened at midnight – and this year, Thanksgiving Thursday is the new Friday – and it has people angry, saying they can’t enjoy the holiday with their families anymore.

So now struggling retailer JCPenney seems to be going with a “we’re the good guys” strategy, saying they won’t open until Black Friday:

— jcpenney (@jcpenney) November 18, 2012

Personally, I’d like to see all stores go back to an actual Black Friday opening. It’s getting to be too much, in my opinion.

But will opening later put stores at a disadvantage? Crowds last year for the midnight openings were the biggest I’ve ever seen them in my Black Friday openings.

What do you think? Should retailers wait until Black Friday morning or continue to push the envelope?

[BTW - I'll be posting some pics tomorrow of my own early-morning adventures!]

Shopping local this Saturday? Let me know!

Nov21

Looks like I’m going to be hanging around the Valley doing some coverage of Small Business Saturday this Saturday!

I’m pretty excited to see what the local businesses have to offer and talk to some people who come out to support them.

Where do you think I should go this Saturday? Let me know!

It’s a nation-wide event and people from all over are getting excited: