Black Friday? Really?

I thought that my sister and I were going to try and join the morning masses for Black Friday. There were some very nice bargains but there’s always that fine print that says there’s only a limited quantity available so you have to really be cut-throat if you are going to get them. I’m not a person who likes to deal with crowds but I think it would be fun to do at least once. Black Friday is a beast that I would not tackle alone. Nope, I would have to have my sister with me! But… she chickened out.

We didn’t join the crazies. Instead, we left at a leisurely 11 which is about the time when all the door buster hours end and the longer sale periods start. We’d still be able to get some deals but the discounts wouldn’t as substantial. As we left our parents’ house, Dad said that if we were going to get Mom anything, to go for an MP3 player as hers has recently broken. Hers was a Chinese iPod rip-off that her company gave her. Instead of going with a regular MP3 player or Zune, we are going to give her an iPod nano. I am confident that she will find the iPod and iTunes easier to use.

Knowing how Apple operates with their pricing, I knew that getting an iPod at Walmart would be just like getting one from any other location with one difference: going to the one in Niles would be more convenient than going to the one in Mishawaka. Still, I was expecting quite a crowd and was surprised when there wasn’t one. In fact, the place was probably just as busy as it would be on a normal Saturday morning. My old internship supervisor noted the same thing.

Lunch was at a Japanese bistro—Soho in the new Heritage Square. I was very impressed and will blog about it next.

A trip to Target didn’t yield much. That place was picked over. The parking lot was full and people were packed in, particularly in the electronics section. Many of the DVD slots were empty. All but the most expensive GPS units were gone and that disappointed me as I wanted to get one for Dad.

Next up was a trip to the mall. The parking lots were full and I thought my sister was out of her mind to want to try and go in there. But we did and we made our way to Bath and Body works where she went and did her thing. I don’t buy those kind of products so I just held the bag and followed her around as she sniffed and judged a multitude of lotions, candles,--basically anything that gives off a scent.

Our last trip was to a grocery store to pick up some fancy cheese as I will be making some French onion soup. Last time, the soup was a little on the sweet side but still good. Hopefully it will be even better tomorrow.

In the end, it didn’t seem like a productive day. Only one gift was purchased-the iPod nano for our mother. But we are getting Dad the GPS unit. We just ordered online. It was available and it was still heavily discounted. Based on what I saw today, I don’t think that this was a great Black Friday. But then again, I live in one of the most depressed areas of the country (hell, MSNBC has the Elkhart project) so my observations are probably skewed towards a negative Black Friday than what the nation might be experiencing as a whole. While places were busy, it wasn’t that much worse than any other regular holiday.

Comments

Unknown said…
7 bottles of Bath and Body Works lotion for less than $40? Amazing.
Stacey said…
you're right though... except for those deals where there are 5 laptops for $150 that 100 people start waiting in line for at 3 am.. i do not believe in this black friday nonsense, i'm pretty sure its all a conspiracy of sorts. I think that stuff will continue to be discounted all of the way until christmas just to get people to come out and shop.. and if you watch for it (like your GPS) you will be able to get some pretty good deals up until Christmas or at random times online...
David said…
@Stacey: a reporter from WNDU found a person waiting at 5pm on Thanksgiving Day at the Mishawaka Target. What was she going to get? A $3.00 toaster! I would have given her $10 if she would go home and enjoy the rest of the day and then come back at a sane time at get the toaster for $13.

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