Black Friday Report

[littlebeast13]

Nowhere near as bad or stressful as the only other time I worked the sale 2 years ago. The customer traffic, especially after the first hour, was much lower than in 2005... so either it's an early sign that holiday sales aren't gonna be too great, or the other stores just had better ads than we did (Judging by what I heard, I'd go for the latter).

Also, unlike that last time, I didn't get thrown into the middle of the Electronics department 5 minutes before the doors opened, with absolutely no idea where anything was or WHAT anything was. I was put back in the old layaway room where a lot of the high dollar/high shrink items were being kept and got to hand the stuff out to the customers as they came back. Most of the time I was back there was spent just standing around since very few people came back after 5:30...

Overall, it was a great night. We had all the stuff set up an hour before the doors opened, so we got the extremely rare privilege of spending idle time while on the clock. That's something we NEVER get to enjoy on my shift.

We also got to leave a half hour early since the traffic was down. When I left at 6:30, the parking lot was barely as full as it would be on a normal weekend...

lb13

[Bob Juch]

Nowhere near as bad or stressful as the only other time I worked the sale 2 years ago. The customer traffic, especially after the first hour, was much lower than in 2005... so either it's an early sign that holiday sales aren't gonna be too great, or the other stores just had better ads than we did (Judging by what I heard, I'd go for the latter).

Also, unlike that last time, I didn't get thrown into the middle of the Electronics department 5 minutes before the doors opened, with absolutely no idea where anything was or WHAT anything was. I was put back in the old layaway room where a lot of the high dollar/high shrink items were being kept and got to hand the stuff out to the customers as they came back. Most of the time I was back there was spent just standing around since very few people came back after 5:30...

Overall, it was a great night. We had all the stuff set up an hour before the doors opened, so we got the extremely rare privilege of spending idle time while on the clock. That's something we NEVER get to enjoy on my shift.

We also got to leave a half hour early since the traffic was down. When I left at 6:30, the parking lot was barely as full as it would be on a normal weekend...

lb13

Yep, holiday shopping is going to be way down this year.

[peacock2121]

I am happy for you and not sad for WalMart.

That is, happy that you didn't get beat up during your shift. That is, not sad that sales were not great for WalMart.

[PlacentiaSoccerMom]

Last night we were watching TV, live. I couldn't believe how many ads there were for early bird shopping. JCPenny was open at 4:00 a.m. another place at 5:00 a.m. and yet another at 6:00 a.m. The commercials made it seem imperative that I leave my warm bed and spend money.

The girls asked me if I was going shopping and I said no.

Last year on the way home from Jeff's parent's house I saw people lining up on Thanksgiving evening at Best Buy so that they could get something cheap. What a way to spend the holiday.

[PlacentiaSoccerMom]

Also, unlike that last time, I didn't get thrown into the middle of the Electronics department 5 minutes before the doors opened, with absolutely no idea where anything was or WHAT anything was. I was put back in the old layaway room where a lot of the high dollar/high shrink items were being kept and got to hand the stuff out to the customers as they came back. Most of the time I was back there was spent just standing around since very few people came back after 5:30...

I didn't see any "must haves" in electronics this year. The Wii has been out for a while, Guitar Hero has been out for a while, the only new item that I saw was Rock Band, but it came out on Tuesday.

I am glad that traffic was light for you this year.

[macrae1234]

Was down at my local Walmart about 90 minutes ago 11:30 mountain and I have seen busier Saturdays. Even return line had only a half dozen people

[traininvain]

Overall, it was a great night. We had all the stuff set up an hour before the doors opened, so we got the extremely rare privilege of spending idle time while on the clock. That's something we NEVER get to enjoy on my shift.lb13

Wow, getting everything set and ready to go with an hour top spare, my hats off to you and your night crew.

[littlebeast13]

Overall, it was a great night. We had all the stuff set up an hour before the doors opened, so we got the extremely rare privilege of spending idle time while on the clock. That's something we NEVER get to enjoy on my shift.lb13

Wow, getting everything set and ready to go with an hour top spare, my hats off to you and your night crew.

The entire crew was scheduled to work, with the exception of one who whined her way out of it because she's normally off on Thursdays. I am normally off on Thursdays too, but I'm not the whining type....

Tonight will be hell, though....

lb13

[PlacentiaSoccerMom]

Hopefully you got holiday pay for working on Thanksgiving.

[littlebeast13]

Hopefully you got holiday pay for working on Thanksgiving.

We get holiday pay for Thanksgiving whether we work it or not...

lb13

[MarleysGh0st]

Non sequitur comment for this thread, but I really like your Simpsonized family avatar, PSM!

[littlebeast13]

We actually finished the day yesterday up 2% in sales over last year. The evening crew was saying that when they came in during the early afternoon the place was jam packed, so the traffic definitely picked up after the dead morning. Given the fact that the store was ravaged with the exception of a lot of the special 5-11 items, that seems to confirm what I had heard that we just had a crummy sales ad compared to the other stores, so most of the Black Friday shoppers camped out at other places, then came here for their regular shopping....

Now it will be interesting to see what gets done with the enoromous amount of Blitz items we're still sitting on....

lb13

[PlacentiaSoccerMom]

Non sequitur comment for this thread, but I really like your Simpsonized family avatar, PSM!

Thank you. It's going to be our holiday card this year. We were too busy to sit for pictures.

[PlacentiaSoccerMom]

Now it will be interesting to see what gets done with the enoromous amount of Blitz items we're still sitting on....

lb13

I didn't get an ad for Wal Mart, what type of Blitz items do you have?

[kayrharris]

My daughter owns a small boutique in downtown Auburn. They do very little outside advertising. The store is about 1500 sq ft max. The students got the whole week off for Thanksgiving.

They got a DJ in yesterday, which for some reason seems to be an attraction for the young people. It's just noise to me.

They had their biggest day in sales ever (this is the anniversary of their 4th year in business). They had over $23,000 in sales. Her business partner's husband manages the American Eagle in our mall and he said their projected day after Thanksgiving sales were $27,000. I'd said these girls had an all right day and they are quite thankful.

Today is the Auburn/Alabama game here in town. It's a night game, so they are hoping for another big day today what with 85,000+ people milling around most of the day.

[MarkBarrett]

Very distasteful and not to be worn around children, but for the Grinch on your shopping list: HERE

[kayrharris]

Wow, what a link.


That is an interesting t-shirt.

[tanstaafl2]

Very distasteful and not to be worn around children, but for the Grinch on your shopping list: Really, really long link

I suppose the T-shirt is a matter of personal taste but the link certainly seems a bit excessive...