Do you believe in the concept “too much of a good thing?”
If so, you may have noticed these past two years that the hullaballoo surrounding Black Friday is beginning to subside.
I certainly did last night.
In making the rounds in Lawrence, I hit three of the top chains here – Michael’s, Best Buy and Target – that opened opened early on Thanksgiving Day.
A little background…
Three holidays back I took my daughters to the Target on Metcalf in Mission on Thanksgiving night.
There were gigantic lines – three or more deep – encircling Target’s entire, huge parking lot. At the appointed time people were allowed to go in – in a somewhat orderly manner – and were funneled into a fairly complicated store layout designed to handle the ridiculous crowd flow. Needless to say, the checkout lines were daunting.
From there we proceeded to Oak Park Mall which had advertised it too would be open Thanksgiving night. And an erie sight it was.
Probably only a third of the stores had agreed to open and with the other two third’s lights not on it created a ghostly look – almost as if we’d broken into a closed mall. Most of the workers were unhappy seeming and for us it was kind of a, “Now why did we come here, again?” sort of experience.
Last year I did Lawrence with the area’s first and oldest Target store the highlight.
The crowds were fairly huge – you know for Lawrence – and like the Mission Target, it had been roped off to herd people in specific directions, including an exit strategy for the checkout. But it wasn’t so bad, really – we were in and out with little fuss.
Which brings us to last night…
Black Friday 2012
Where did everybody go?
All three stores – again, Michael’s, Best Buy and Target – looked no different that on an average to average plus night. No intricate crowd control and exit schemes, zero huge lines at check out. Nada.
Truth be known things were so laid back at all three stores that it didn’t even feel festive – you know – Christmas shopping festive. What’s the deal? I asked the young women at the Target checkout?
Nobody much came, they said. The store had been laid out to handle a huge crowd, but after nobody much showed, they converted things back to normal and everything went off without a hitch.
Without the frenzied buying of Thanksgiving night and Black Friday’s past.
Here’s the deal.
For years – all through my childhood and to present day – Black Friday represented the kickoff of the Christmas and holiday shopping season.
The name Black Friday reportedly started in the early 1960s in Philadelphia and was used to describe the ugliness of dealing with the unruly customers retail staffers had to put up with.
Because it was an ugly term, one store owners felt unflattering to their customers, as its use spread in the mid 1970s they began to spin it as the day the businesses become profitable, you know, went into the black.
But as we all pretty much ow know – this year especially – the term Black Friday has been so overused that it’s all but lost it’s meaning. Retailers seem to believe that it’s mere mention creates a Pavlovian reaction in customers who associate the term with ultra low prices and begin to buy.
Even though the “ultra low” part of the equation is often in great doubt.
In point of fact, Black Friday has become almost meaningless based on its over usage.
This year I was told all the stores at Oak Park Mall would be open Thanksgiving night.
“I have to work that night but I wish I didn’t,” shoe sales person Amanda told me. “I’d rather be home with the family or doing something else, but I’m on commission so I can’t afford not to be here.”
Salespeople at other stores who didn’t have to work, said they were thrilled.
And a story in the Lawrence Journal World today interviewed KU Business School “experts” as saying Black Friday’s gotten “too big for its own good.”
“Already it’s losing its potency. It’s not going to be this buying frenzy that they’ve had — people are not going to get this sense of urgency,” assistant marketing professor Noelle Nelson said.
Is it possible a semblance of holiday shopping sanity is poised to make a comeback?
We’ll see – catch you at Oak Park Mall next Thanksgiving.
Never really heard the term until moving to Philadelphia in 73. The big shopping day for us was the day after Christmas.
Philadelphia police started it. Tons of out-of-town folks came to Philadelphia for the Army-Navy game so the town was full of people who jammed the roads and streets.
Notice a reference to a writer in Philadelphia who is a doppleganger of Hoops at the Star in the comments.
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/trending/Philly-cops-coined-the-term-Black-Friday.html
omg…do I have to correct hearne now too?
JUst pointed out to glaze that his fuzzy math and phony bets and phony
record are getting old.
Black Friday will go forever. Obviously you’re not up on the important
businesss facts that should have been included in your story but were
noticeably absent.
This black Friday was especially important. #1: short xmas season..really
only 3 weekends betwteen turkey day and xmas. So its a compressed season
and with some stores getting a huge per cent of their revenues dring this
period they really needed to hit it hard this year. Hearne correction #1/
INternet: internet purchasing is skyrocketing. So just because the
stores were not as busy (I don’t shop this weekend)…internet purchases
are expected to hit record numbers. Why fight the crowd….when you can
be like wislun….buying gifts and writing phony articles on the ferguson riots
for such big time news talent and parks (hahahahaha).
Repeat: studies show that shopper who do take advantage of these black
rfriday specials come back multiple times…so you’re not just getting
a one time customer…you’re getting multiple purchases thru the holiday
season . Hearne correction #2
As crazy as it sounds…people love black Friday…for many (probably like chuck
so he can get his swastika flags on black Friday so they’re ready to put up during
hanukka) they love doing this and as long as customers overcrowd and get
free tv time for these stores it will continue.
And the worst is to question KU business experts. When yoursource of
personal information is a small time town like Lawrence you’re really
off kilter. KU business experts…lets just say
“former high school distributive education teachers” instead of experts…
of course you wroteit like they were jokes with the ” signs.
NO they’re not experts…probably never ran a business like you or southy.
But for the sake of argument..lets just say that the bigcorps and retailers
will prove them to be the fools they are when the cash is counted.
Did you see the stores in new jersey on tv…..10k waiting to get into a
shopping mall (and that’s a real count…not your ‘plaza” bean counting b.s.s)
So hearne…looks like you’ll have to muddle thru another year of
thanksgiving and black Friday circulars and shoppers or do what
smart people do…buy online.
When brownie gets his cuts figured…expect Lawrence to take a big hit.
And now that self has his new jet…getting new dorms for the one and dones…
and they still can’t afford to fix the plumbing in the athletic department..
its beautiful sailing thru at least march for the Lawrence crowd.
good luck…don’t eat too much turkey…it affects your brain!!!!!1
“Dont eat too much turkey it affects your brain”
Which explains why harley was spotted in McGonogles parking lot, mainlining Turkey drippins from the meat smoker.
yeah but sasquatch were doggie styling the turkey…kind of
what he calls stuffing!
Please don’t mix beer, wine, and whiskey. Your writing is even worse.
Jack, please enlighten me; how does one determine when his nonsensical ramblings are bad, really bad or incoherent?
Sh*t is sh*t; it all smells the same, it all comes from the same orifice.
IN one comment I literally piece by piece breakdown hearnes story and
obliterate every phony fact he has.
I even make a joke that he is making fun of the ku “business experts” as
if he’s taunting them.
I go point by point why he’s wrong and how does he refute my facts…
with nothing except an attempt to say I’m older than him…which I’m
not and which if you looked at Harley and hearne and glaze and sasquatch
90 percent of the people would say I’m at least 10 years younger than
all of them.
Harley rules….hahahahaha!
next itme hearne…see if you can prove Harley isn’t right…but youcan’t
Harley got it going.
Our father in capitalism,
Hallowed be thy name,
Praise Jesus and pass the debit card.
We need to work on your use of “its” versus “it’s,” Hearne. Seriously.
If a private school tuition couldn’t produce proper English for the lad, what makes you think you can?
Why did Greg Hall from OTC quit his blog? He said it was commenters but the comments never really seemed that odd, just people making fun of radio goofs.
Oh yeah, Hearne:
Harley is over there impersonating you in the comments section and insulting Greg. C’mon you know you want to throw harley a shadowban…
This is hilarious. Harley’s new and borrowed nom de guerre delivers all the ignorance of his usual rhetorical flechette leavings, complete with the stench.
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Hearne says:
November 29, 2014 at 2:30 pm
Mr. hall….you act as if you’re a huge blog with huge readership when in fact the
stats show your blog as a failure except for the 10-15 regular comments you
get.
You’re not all that and for a man who lied to his readers you should be ashamed
of yourself.
You’ve got a small time blog in a small time town and pretend you are somebody when
you are just reciting what those who are smarter than you have said.
Move on. You really won’t be missed because some other know nothing will
take over.
We’re not crying any tears. In fact, since we hardly read this blog we and millions
of others won’t miss it.
Good luck in the future wherever your self professed writing skills take you.
Bye. Ain’t gonna miss
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Harley writes like Joey Chestnut sh*ts. There is a lot of it, it is all over the place and no one wants to see it.
Black Friday just got Hearne’d.
Cities/States should assess a surcharge of 10% over and above regular sales tax on all purchases made on holidays. That may put a crimp in stores opening on Thanksgiving Day. I am not sure why tax starved cities and states have not thought of this before. Are you listening Kansas
When I went up to Pennsylvania and saw that little city on the lake? Now that was an Erie sight.