Black Friday...story of survival

We survived...literally! It was definitely a "Black Friday" to remember. For starters, it was "the boots" first experience at Black Friday! We decided that we'd run by Tanger at midnight, catch a few quick sales, then head home to sleep about 12:30/1am until we would arrive at the mall around 5:30am. OH MY GOSH! Someone told everyone our plan!! It seems that everyone else had the same exact idea! Tanger was completely not prepared for the massive crowds that descended upon Tanger at 12am. By 12:15, there were no parking spots in the entire parking lot. The one store that I wanted to go to the most (Maurices) was selectively not opened at midnight. The only one we made a purchase at was Old Navy. They had things worth standing it the 1+ hour line to check out.

Tanger's most notable experience there was the attitude. I now completely understand the reason it's called "BLACK" Friday. There was a darkness that descended on the vast majority of the shoppers. I believe that 85% of them were smokers that enjoyed blowing smoke in your face as you walked past them. This year was by far the worst attitudes I have seen in people. Women AND MEN were grabbing things, pushing people, acting as if they had never seen anything for sale, treated one another with utter disrespect...I've NEVER seen anything like this. It was definitely a different kind of crowd at Tanger than I am accustomed to!

We arrived back home at 2:45am (so much for 12:30/1am) and unanimously decided that if we went to sleep now, we would not wake up in time for "phase II". So off it was...to the mall to go to JCPenneys at 4am. We figured that all of the crazies left Tanger to do the same, so we headed that direction at 3:15am figuring it would take 45 min to an hour to get there with traffic. Taking a mere 12 minutes to get there, we discovered that no one else had heard that part of the plan. We were so early. HOWEVER, shortly after arriving, people started coming out of the woodwork.

The best part of the night had to be once we were in the store just minutes after the door opened. I looked up only to spot Katie and Gabby (some of my fave f/t interns at HPC) coming in the entrance! Katie's famous quote was (now remember it's 4:01am) "we just came for the free gift...we have no money for shopping!!!" I had to laugh...that was the highlight of my night!!! It was worth it to hear that. I just love Katie and Gabby! They are so awesome!!

Around 5:30am, there were paramedics trying to get through the hundreds of people standing in line waiting to check out inside of JCPenney's. They were yelling to "make a way" and "step to the side". People were just standing there ignoring them refusing to move. I couldn't believe that! UNREAL! What if that person on the other end was in desperate need of medical attention?...were the sales or a spot in line worth more than someones health? The ultimate disrespect that I witnessed?! That's when I came to two conclusions about Black Friday. In years gone by, the deals you would find were amazing. Unfortunately, the sales are getting worse and worse. The answer for this is in the people. They come in as if they have no concept of pricing, grab everything they can grab and stand in line for hours. No wonder the retailers are having fewer and fewer sales. Why should they do amazing bargains?! People go crazy buying regular priced items. I'm beginning to rethink the entire Black Friday shopping experience. But then I'd miss out seeing Katie and Gabby's joyous expressions receiving their free snow globes! The second part is Black Friday is an outreach opportunity if I've ever seen one. Gotta think about this one...