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Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Black Friday 2011: My Shopping Report and a WINNER

First off I would like to announce the winner of Cathy's Birthday Blog Hop. The winner is #37 which is Simply Pam. Simply Pam said:

Love this card Glora! It is super fun. LOVE the papers you used, adds design and texture but not over much. :)

Pam


Congratulations Pam!

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NOW HERE is my fun BLACK FRIDAY STORY...


I was crazy. I went shopping at a "Black Friday" sale at my local Roberts craft store.


For those of you outside the United States who are lucky enough not to have such traditions, Black Friday follows Thanksgiving Thursday, and it is supposed to be the biggest shopping day of the year. It is the day that puts retailers "in the black."

On this day, many stores open at insanely early hours, and use "loss leaders" and special sale pricing to lure shoppers out of bed and into their cash register lines.

The Roberts advertisement showed, among their sale items, that Cricut cartridges would be $10 each. They even pictured some popular cartridges which appealed to me. Doors opened at a reasonable 6:00 am ("reasonable" when compared to most other stores).

So I set my alarm to wake me up early, and joined the line of customers outside their store. When I arrived about a half hour early, I was about the 25th in line, and many more joined me afterward.

At 6:00 am the doors opened, and it became very clear that everyone in the line wanted the same sale item. The line simply flowed into the store and followed to the Cricut cartridge display.

All the cartridges were against a wall in one location at the front of the store. The press of the crowd flowed that direction also. By the time I got my turn at the display, I found myself at the rack of cartridges, trapped by a mass of people behind me, other shoppers to each side of me, and a wall of cartridges in front of me.
The mass of humanity behind me was growing impatient, and slowly the back of the line was pushing faster and farther, threatening to smash or impale people like me who were trapped with nowhere to go.

I grabbed several cartridges, no time to think about what they were or what I really wanted (other than the fact that they were cartridges that I didn't currently own). All I could tell for certain was that the cartridges they pictured in the advertisement were not on the rack. Apparently they forgot to print "Selection may vary by store."

Being stuck and only able to reach a portion of the wall, I asked people to pass me this or that cartridge which was out of my reach. Sometimes they were helpful and handed it over, but other times they were only looking out for themselves. Unable to move, I asked people behind me what cartridges they would like and began handing them back. I secretly hoped to relieve some of the crowd behind me so I could make an escape, but instead it only angered people who thought I was dawdling.

There were certainly some cartridges I could see but not reach, and there was an entire rack of "SpongeBob" carts that nobody wanted. When I finally could make a break, I took my selections to the checkout. The press around the cartridges was just about right to let one person out at a time, and people were heading straight to the checkout and then leaving the store. Thus, the majority of the store was completely empty.

Now I'm not a business woman, but maybe next year they should think about spreading the sale merchandise throughout the store. If those cartridges would have been scattered about, people would have to explore the store, and maybe see other items that they wanted to buy. As it was, people were only buying cartridges and the store made no profit.

And maybe next year I'll think harder about whether the sale is worth losing sleep over.

Here is what I ended up with:

- Freshly Picked
- Fabulous Finds
- Give a Hoot
- Graphically Speaking
- Pagoda
- Printing 101
- Spring Holiday Cards
- Tie the Knot


In the comments, tell me what your best "Black Friday" find was!

13 comments:

  1. Wow that was a great deal my friend. so glad you made out alright.

    Hugs,
    kate

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  2. Oh my! I did all of my Black Friday shopping online...I am Canadian but, live 5 minutes from the border crossing so, I go shopping in the US all of the time! Everything is half the price of up here even when it's not on sale! I got some good deals, though...Copics from ohmycrafts.com for $3.86 no tax (because it's shipping out of state), Tim Holtz Winter Distress Inks Set $12, Janome Sew Mini $39.99, some Market Street Stamps for 30% off, some There She Goes Stamps for 20% off, some Flourishes stamps for 25% off, a ton of Spellbinders (Labels 22, Labels 23, Butterfly Circles, Picot Circles, Tear Drop Circles, Rose Creations) for 13.74, Spellbinders Nested Mittens $6, Spellbinders Petite Scalloped Circles $7, Lacey Pennants $10.99, 3 different Grand Nesties for $27.49 each...oh yeah, I got LOTS of stuff! My friend goes Black Friday shopping in the States every year and invited me but, most everything I wanted I could get online as cheap or cheaper not to mention, the best places to buy a lot of the stamps I like are online...plus she has kids and I don't yet so, I would've gotten stuck toy shopping the whole time anyway...oh, and I was also FRIGHTENED! We have Boxing Day the day after Christmas up here in Canada...not sure if you guys have this in the US...well, that's our biggest sale day of the year but, I don't think braving the crowd is worth it! I go shopping a couple of days later and the sales are still on...hehe...anyway, sorry to hear about your experience but, at least you did ok and got some cartridges...if you don't like any of them, you can always sell them on Craigslist or SCS....Hope you had a good weekend aside from that!
    Sorry for the SUPER LONG comment...
    Hugs,
    Naomi

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  3. Wow, what an experience! I'm not much of a shopper but my sister in law and Sara go out every year. This year her big find was one of those fancy waffle makers, yes a 14 yr old excited about a waffle maker! Too funny. I did go to joannes, Michaels and Target, but not til Saturday. I found some great deals on punches, paper and ribbon.
    It was a bit crazy, but nothing like you experienced. I hope you give them your suggestion, It's a great one.

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  4. Wow, you got a lot of great carts, Glora, but that experience sounds scary!!! Glad you made it out safely!

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  5. My best buy was my Imagine! Now I just need to learn to use it!!

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  6. You are so much braver than I am. I would have been scared to death with people pressing like that from behind. I don't like being in large crowds of people. The sad part is that crafters usually behave better than that. I've always thought of crafters like you - passing back and sharing. Not nearly squeezing the breath out of the people in front of them. Glad you are safe.
    Sherry

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  7. Awesome deals! I'm your newest follower and I hope you will follow me back at www.createdbycori.blogspot.com

    Off to see more of your blog!

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  8. I know what you mean, Menards was like that last year with the cricut/carts. I pretty much got what I wanted though and not by being rude :) I went to Walmart for the imagine this year, unfortunately I was too late after having to park the vehicle almost a mile away. Guess I didn't need it :) Glad you survived. I really think next year I am just doing the online thing!

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  9. I hate the thought of Black Friday, but my 12 year old daughter and her bestie wanted to go...so, I went. My daughter got some boots that she absolutely loves. That was the best part. No great deals on carts here. That store sounds like it was crazy!!!

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  10. YAY ME! :) Congrats on your find. Sounds exciting and I would have had a panic attack w/ all the people all over me.

    I didn't shop on Black Friday. I'm on a $$ crunch since no job so I didn't spend anything. Then Cyber Monday came and I spent. Well, all I bought were clothes to wear to interviews so it was worth it. 1/2 off everything and no shipping cost. My parent said they would pay a little bit of it and count it as my Christmas. Anticlimactic but I'll take it. :)

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  11. Hi!! I found the best things on Black Friday - my grandchildren stayed with me while their mom and dad hit the stores! I had a ball!!!!

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  12. Glora,

    So happy for you! You did well!!! :) What a score! We don't have a Robert's here...& I'm not so sure I can brave the crowds. ;)

    Crafty hugs,

    Jennifer

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  13. I got an im agine at Walmart at almost $200 off!

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