Black Friday ’08 Tragic Nationally, Invigorating Locally
In “Men in Black,” Tommy Lee Jones says people are smart, unless they are in groups.
“A person is smart,” he said, “People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals.”
Black Friday is the day when happy individuals become frantic, storming swarms of people out to get a great buy, saving money but possibly costing them more.
Some might call it a holiday tradition, since it falls on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Others call it a shame. As written in The Wall Street Journal MarketWatch, the day is named after the profits which take retailers’ balance sheets from red to black.
However, this year, many say the day lived up to its name as a tragedy. A 34-year-old temporary maintenance employee was trampled to death working at the Long Island Wal-Mart. Two men shot and killed each other in a Southern California Toys R Us.
Blogs and comments are rich with accusations placing blame. Some call the consumers “pathetic.” Others claim retailers asked for it by encouraging the behavior and not organizing their systems well. Several consider the root of the problem to be based in societal fundamentals and the global economy.
Some suggest Buy Nothing Day is the solution. The annual anti-capitalistic campaign points out gross statistics, such as, “the U.S. accounts for 20 percent of the world’s population, but uses 80 percent of its natural resources.” As the idea grows in popularity, many promotional video ads can be seen on YouTube. The main focus is to discourage individuals from consumption of any type on the day after Thanksgiving, specifically by not making any purchases. A supporter of the campaign said, on YouTube, the fatalities never would have happened if people would observe Buy Nothing Day.
But shoppers are still the majority by far. Despite the economic downturn, Christmas will remain merry for most Americans. BizReport states this year’s Black Friday haul was 1 percent higher than last year. They report women only plan to spend an average difference of $50 less this year than last year, omitting gifts to neighbors and bosses, in order to keep gifts under the tree for their families.
Internet articles report this year online sales will be up, Americans will be using less credit to make purchases and people will plan and organize their purchases prior to shopping. Overall, they report Christmas shopping is unaffected by the state of the economy. It could be because, as the Associated Press reported, consumer prices dropped a record 1 percent in October. Cheaper gas translates into more presents.
Utahans were out in droves before Black Friday hit. More than 150 malls across the nation held a Jammy Jam, opening at midnight and holding special promotions. Five Utah malls, including the Cache Valley Mall, participated. The South Towne Center in Sandy, Utah offered live music and a free gourmet breakfast to the early-early morning customers. Within five seconds, the 200 free FM100 CDs were gone. Surrounded by empty boxes, the people stationed to hand out the freebies were stunned.
Spencer Hutchinson of West Valley City didn’t stop for a CD. He went straight to Play N Trade to get his Wii gaming system. He said he was at the mall at 9:30 p.m. to make sure he’d get it, but he was content because it paid off. He was first in line and got a free iPod and a free Guitar Hero guitar. At 12:04 a.m. he was leaving the mall with a grin.
Six minutes after 12 a.m., the mall was packed and crawling with people on all sides, levels and stairs. Stores were jam-packed by predominantly teenage crowds. Aeropostale was filled literally shoulder to shoulder and the line to get in wrapped around kiosks.
Kelsey Jones, 21, traveled from Rexburg, Idaho, because Utah “has better shopping,” she said. She compared the crowd to last year.
“It feels a lot younger than last year. There are a bit fewer people but more teens,” she said.
Children were overwhelmed. Five-year-old Abby Tuckness said she heard a man looking for his little boy. She was startled and said she thought she might get lost.
“I was so scared,” she said.
Many Black Friday shoppers make plans to visit several stores throughout the night. Tammy from Sandy said when she finished at South Towne Center she intended to go to Target for a Power Wheels Ride and Wal-Mart for ad price matching.
At 1 a.m., the Lehi Wal-Mart was a quiet store. Two women sat in their van studying the Black Friday advertisements. A maintenance worker was buffing the floor and employees were calm. An employee named DeAnn was flipping through ads at her register. Working her regular overnight shift, she said she wasn’t nervous for the 5 a.m. sale to begin.
“It’s just another normal type thing at Wal-Mart,” she said.
Her co-worker Stefan said, “It’ll be fun.”
Wal-Mart in Lehi is open 24 hours so there was no line and people just hung around inside, waiting for 5 a.m. The Black Friday merchandise displays were ready to go but wrapped in Saran Wrap like giant Christmas presents. Instead of “Do not open ‘til Christmas,” signs posted on the items read, “This merchandise is for the 5 a.m. sale only. Sorry for any inconvenience. Please don’t open.”
If anyone was seen tampering with the restricted merchandise, they would run the risk of being kicked out of the store, DeAnn said.
People were staked out in front of the items they had already claimed. There were four Samsung 46-inch LCD TVs which had all already been claimed by people who sat waiting in camp chairs. They read magazines and lightly dozed, but kept an eye on any approaching activity.
Seven of the eight Samsung 50-inch Plasma TVs were already claimed by a group of individuals who had been there since 9:30 p.m. One was a 17-year-old girl whose mother was staked out by the scrapbooking Cricuts. Some people toted walkie-talkies to communicate with their friends and family waiting at various sites throughout the store.
The eight who had claimed the plasma TVs were strangers when the night began but they became a union with an oath to ensure they each got the TV they waited for so long.
The first to get the TV up to the register and pay for it would be the one to own it, according to Wal-Mart policy, assuming they would live to watch it anyway. A man came at 3:30 a.m. and claimed the last TV. Helping each other at 5 a.m., all eight individuals who had claimed the TVs were successful.
USU students April Lockwood, junior in special education and math education, and Melanie Voshell, senior in special education and elementary education, participated in Black Friday for amusement. Lockwood said her Black Friday tradition is instigating fights.
“That’s the only reason I go,” she said. “I actually hate shopping. I just think Black Friday is really funny. I just wander around and look for where the most people are because I think where the most people are gets the craziest.”
She said she likes to grab several items people want just to upset them. She said she would take “as many as it takes to start a fight.”
She said the way Wal-Mart explained their rule-enforcement didn’t restrict her.
“They said, ‘Don’t move anything because we’ll come and move it back.’ So what? That just makes more work for you,” she said. “I can move whatever I want and just watch you run around and put it back.”
She said last year she saw a woman bite a man over a Razor Rip Stick and get thrown out of the store.
“He had it in his hands and she came up and wrapped her arms around it,” Lockwood said. “He looked at her and said, ‘Are you kidding?’ She said, ‘No,’ and bit him.”
She said she would like to work retail on Black Friday.
“I’d be the one to open the doors,” she said.
Five minutes before the sale began people were clustered around the stacks of merchandise. They were helping each other arrange the piles so they could easily grab the colors of items they wanted and get out of the way. At 5 a.m. a muffled announcement was made and commotion and noise moved like a wave from the back of the store to the front as people realized the sale had begun. Most grabbing went smoothly, but there were tears when there were 15 KitchenAid mixers and more than 15 people who wanted them.
The line outside Kmart more than quadrupled, by people who had been waiting in their cars, ten minutes before the 7 a.m. door buster began. A small group of people waited about 30 yards away from the door. People in line shouted at them, calling them “line-butters,” and telling them to get in line. The group was impassive. When 7 a.m. came, they patiently watched the long line stream into the store.
Jerry Van Wagenen, computer science senior, said he likes Black Friday regardless of whether or not he buys anything.
“Most guys don’t like shopping, but I love Black Friday,” he said. “Even if I don’t end up buying anything, I just love the atmosphere and watching people freak out. There’s no other day of the year you’ll get that.”
-april.larsen@aggiemail.usu.edu