The TV and radio commercials have been blasting non-stop since I got out of the hospital, and it’s finally here – Black Friday. The American retailers are crossing their fingers hoping those of us who are still employed have disposable dollars left to hit the stores at 3AM, or click their mice to start buying for the holidays.
Kate and I switched over to online shopping years ago, since we both hate navigating crowds and parking lots with maniacs trying to “be first.” She did say that back in the day, she and her dad used to go for “the experience” — I’m not sure what “the experience” is, since the whole thing is a big mind game. The whole point of Black Friday is that these stores get you inside by luring you to buy whatever items are deeply discounted, hoping you’ll toss impulse buys that aren’t fire sales into your cart.
Given the economy is still sucktastic in many parts of the country, it will be interesting to see how well local stores do, and whether e-tailers fare worse or better than predicted.
What I can say so far is the Gmail account that I keep just for online purchases is loaded with e-blasts about things being 30%, 40% even 50% off for this weekend, usually by the use of online coupon codes given in the email.
(BTW, my Amazon wish list is up to date, Tim, so you can’t say I didn’t think of something to get me, little brother…)
Q of the Day – are you a Black Friday offline shopper? What time did you go and what was the scene like?
Pam’s House Blend – Front Page
