Do You Do Black Friday?

By drodriguez Nov 28, 2009

For those of you that were brave enough to wade through the crowds of Black Friday shoppers this year, you may have noticed that not everyone stuck it out all day long. The Wall Street Journal reported Friday evening that Black Friday started out strong, but slowly thinned out by afternoon. This is because shoppers were not willing to stick around unless they were seeing some major discounts.

A lot of the savings we were seeing this year came in the form of doorbusters and a good deal of sales on electronics. Unless you were lined up outside the door just as stores opened in the early morning, you may not have seen too many savings. The Wall Street Journal reports that Andrew Harris, a Dallas police officer, planned his Black Friday out perfectly when he showed up for a sale at Target at 3am, 2 hours before the store even opened, and bought a 32" LCD HDTV for $246 (a savings of $180).

Wal-Mart also saw lots of traffic, with some customers showing up the evening before to camp out in front of the store. Stores like Wal -Mart recognize the need to get shoppers in by enticing them with deep discounts since many consumers have expressed a need to spend less this year than last.

Aix Partners LLP released a study earlier this year with some data about the upcoming holiday season. They found that 88 percent of consumers planned to spend less this year than last year and 82 percent said that what they do spend money on will be purchased from value stores like Wal -Mart. Though the numbers sound bleak for retailers, the National Retail Federation is only predicting a 1 percent drop in U.S. holiday sales, which is up from last years 3.4 percent decline.

Did you venture out to the stores this Black Friday?

Do you plan on spending less on gifts this holiday season than you did last year?

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Comments

by whslibrarian | Chesapeake, VA

Nov 28, 2009

We started at the midnight opening at Prime Outlets in Williamsburg. Kate Spade had wonderful deals. Everything 50% off marked price plus i had an additional 10% off coupon. Weather was too rainy and cold to just roam. I visited fewer stores this year. Usually Best Buy is always a stop but not this year.

by sakana | Seattle, WA

Nov 28, 2009

I was done shopping (all 5 presents I actually bought) before Black Friday - sale or no sale, shopping on Black Friday seems to me a masochistic choice of how to spend a holiday ;). The rest of our gifts will be homemade (we make candy and cookies and other fun stuff like pop up cards and creches) and charitable gifts (Heifer, etc). We don't have kids, so it makes it a lot simpler...

by aprlar3lil1s | Phoenix, AZ

Nov 28, 2009

My husband and I go every year for Blackfriday normally we do just Toysrus that what seems to have the most christmas items on the lists however this year my husband and I went to Toysrus and Walmart.. we really did great this year.. We budget every month and we set aside money for our family for christmas year it was great.. I then went to a Sports place to go get my husbands Suprize Christmas Gift Still have to find a suprize Birthday present though.. he never got gifts on both days as a kids and i dont think thats fair so i make sure he has something to open on his birthday right before Christmas... (oh and I am 13weeks Pregnant High RIsk and on a Medical Pump and I still went to injoy the time with my husband) the places we went to were great and very well orginized too shocking cus some places are CRAZY!!

by BlondieChell | WASILLA, AK

Nov 28, 2009

i <3 Black Friday, but right now we live in a small town & the only "department store" is walmart which has been seeing an increase in the Black Friday crowd, but it's nothing like the city. we arrived @ walmart @ 2:30am 2 get a laptop & my hubby was 3rd in line...people didn't start arriving till about 4am..... but we did get come great deals on stuff! soooooooooo excited!

by 64naenae | Boynton Beach, FL

Nov 28, 2009

i attend black friday to shop for christmas gifts

by peacelovepink0x14 | Berlin, NJ

Nov 28, 2009

I didn't go black friday shopping this year, but last year I did. It's really fun, (after all, what day dedicated to shopping isn't?) but the only turn-off for me is the crowds. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a little competition, but after awhile, I just need an escape. Plus, most of my favorite stores, such as Sephora, aren't even worth it because the deals aren't too outstanding. But hey, maybe I'm just bitter because I was low on cash yesterday.

by simplecindy | vinton, VA

Nov 28, 2009

I didn't go black friday shopping, however i did already do my shopping before hand and it is all done. I went one year for black friday and never again. It is too crazy for me.

by pjclayton57 | Oceanport, NJ

Nov 28, 2009

I didn't go the Black Friday shopping adventure.....however, I DID have to venture into Target for something non-holiday related. This was later in the day and the store really was quite empty from what I had expected. I was happy and surprised at the same time. I was in and out in under 15 minutes! Thankfully so!

by momagarry | MILWAUKEE, WI

Nov 28, 2009

Yes normally, but I am 38 weeks pregnant so I did not go this time.

by loli1707 | BONITA, CA

Nov 28, 2009

i didnt do teh early AM but i started shopping around 12 .. and it was pretty much sad ..not very many people , so/so deals ..overall it was just ok

by ksumm77 | Middletown, OH

Nov 28, 2009

I actually attended Black Friday for the 1st time this year. It wasn't as crowded as I thought it was going to be. Some places had really good sales, but not every place.

by msfriendly | MONROE, WI

Nov 28, 2009

I really hate the crowds. Unless I REALLY need something that is deeply discounted, I avoid shopping on Black Friday. Stores are being so competitive, that there will still be great sales before Christmas and online.

by blueeyes1 | Topeka, KS

Nov 28, 2009

I chose to not attend black Friday this year, but partly because the items which were deeply discounted were not items on my shopping list. I am spending less this year, but not by too much as my family has keep a managable budget on holidays all of our lives. What I did do was to purchase everything my son wished for online from Amazon... just a few clicks and his shopping was done complete with free shipping.