In Defense of Black Friday Shopping
Like Thanksgiving and Christmas, Black Friday celebrates bounty and benevolence.
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Like all holidays, however, Black Friday derives its power in large part from its ephemeral nature. It only happens once a year. The best deals go quickly. You spend weeks recruiting team members, scouting store layouts, devising the route plans and nutritional strategies that competitive endurance shopping requires, and then, poof, after all that anticipation and rehearsal, the whole thing’s over, just 24 short hours after it began.
Cannibalizing Thanksgiving in the name of Black Friday is a grand humanitarian gesture and probably good business practice as well. At least in theory, longer Black Friday hours and more enduring specials should result in less crowding, fewer confrontations, a safer holiday, smoother commerce.
But less time waiting in lines will also mean less time for family bonding. Deals that last longer will reduce the need for extensive strategizing and planning, which will also likely reduce the excitement and satisfaction that Black Friday’s most diehard adherents derive from the day. And when $100 flat-screens become absolutely easy to acquire, $100 flat-screens will no longer be magic wands that transform mere friends into comrades for life. The true value of hardcore consumerism can’t be measured in dollars and cents alone.
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Still not getting it. Black Friday is neither a rational nor efficient use of my money or my time.
The potential deals are more than counterbalanced by the hassle of finding a parking spot and waiting in the checkout line.
Even if I needed a Playstation or an IPad, I can probably find a better deal online. -
"Black Friday is neither a rational nor efficient use of my money or my time."
Then don't participate. Other consumers may act different according to their preferences.
It's not hard to understand.
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I think he made it quite apparent that he does understand.
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Every time I catch some TV news around this week all I hear about on that ADD box is Black Friday. I makes me think...
...People still shop retail?
Wow.
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At least this thread didn't get Michael griping that 'people shouldn't consume!'
HM, I'm not griping; neither wife or I shop on Friday, but I still enjoy it as a spectator event. -
Thanksgiving and Christmas are largely private affairs, celebrated at home with only select invitees in attendance. Black Friday is for anyone who wants to show up.
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How many people design proprietary t-shirts to celebrate their love for the Fourth of July?
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What gets me is the poor planning that the retail chains often do. An acquaintance of mine was working as a manager in a retail clothing store, part of a chain, and was told by HQ that she was required to stay open on Black Friday until midnight. She had to point out to them that by company policy, she was the only salesperson in the store over the age of 21, and that by State law persons under that age could not work after 10PM. Since, again by company policy, the store required two people on shifty at all times, what they wanted her to do was not possible.
The store closed at 10PM that year.
I must say I'm very glad I'm not working retail with this nonsense going on; chains are notorious for understaffing. Extend hours to this ridiculous degree, and you are going to get some VERY cranky sales clerks. I always used to make my Holiday Season goal (Gods, but the chain stores love to push that idea!) "Let me get through Christmas and the Return season without actually biting a customer". By setting my 'goals' that low I was usually able to keep my good cheer a lot longer than my co-workers.
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I took on a part time job at Best Buy this summer to fund a hobby. For the most part, customers are idiots so I can hardly wait to see what shows up for black Friday!
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If you want to keep what remains of your sanity, you really need to change that to "customers quite naturally don't have my specialized interest in this stuff". Otherwise you will find it really hard to, referring to my above post, refrain from biting the customers.
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Seriously? Every Best Buy I've been to the salespeople are idiot teenagers who know absolutely NOTHING about what they are selling. The best they can do is read what it says on the box.
If you want to know what stereo to buy, you have to do your own research before coming to the store.
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Once we used to laugh at those shlubs in the CCCP queuing up for hours to get what they want. Now I suppose we should look back in admiration. In any case no one can deny that the mood of giddy desperation that characterizes black Friday is a step forward from the old grim resignation.