'Black Friday' shopper sees worst crowds as good sign
7:02 AM Fri, Nov 27, 2009 | Permalink
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By Tom Mooney NORTH ATTLEBORO, Mass. -- Don't know what to get that special person? Boy, you're in the wrong line. Thousands of eager shoppers, with clear visions of cheap laptops and toys dancing in their heads, crammed through store doors in the wee hours of Friday morning, in an annual retailing rendezvous that gives new meaning to shopping in the dark. At 11:30 p.m. Thursday, with her Thanksgiving Day leftovers cooling in the fridge, Linda LaFreniere of Pawtucket joined the back of the line at Toys R Us that stretched across the parking lot to Route 1. She survived a "near riot'' when, she said, the store moved a section of the line prior to the midnight opening and people tried to cut ahead of others. But she emerged from the store at 3:30 a.m. unscathed, carrying several bags and the happy knowledge that she had saved almost $70. ``I got everything I wanted to get for my daughter,'' she beamed. ``I go shopping like this every year and this [the crowd] is the worst it's ever been, which is probably a good sign for the economy.'' A half-mile away at the Super Wal-Mart store, the 4 a.m. opening was still a half-hour away as store employee Andrew Puchalski shivered in the rain and tried to keep the line of several hundred people corralled along the sidewalk. ``I'm usually a remodeling associate,'' he explained, ``but they put me out here because I used to be a bouncer at a nightclub.'' Good thing, too. ``I had one woman threaten to sue me because I told her she would lose her place in line if she left to go to the bathroom,'' he said. ``Some people are just dropping their drawers and going right there. It's crazy.'' At the front of the line stood Richard Esmeraldo, 40, of Attleboro. He said he had eaten his Thanksgiving meal at noon Thursday and became the first in line for Black Friday at 2:30 p.m. The object of his desire? A $198 laptop which usually sells for $350. ``I'm getting a few of them,'' he said. Esmeraldo summed up his 13-hour vigil: ``It's been very pleasant -- until the rain started. Everyone is in a good mood.'' Michelle Poirier, 42, of Worcester, is an old pro at this night shopping. She's been waking up long before the birds for the last 10 years to take advantage of Christmas enticement promotions.This year? She pulled out a store circular from her wet pocket. A Nintendo DS, hand-held game system. Usually selling for $149, now $98. Her sister-in-law, Donna Ferra, 35, of North Smithfield, hugged a tall coffee and outlined their attack: ``From here we got all our stores mapped out,'' she said. ``K-Mart, Kohl's J.C. Penny's then Sears.'' ``We'll go out for breakfast,'' said Poirier, ``and then keep going.'' 
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Seriously, don't people have any shame? Dropping your drawers and going to the bathroom right in fron of Walmart? It's illegal, not to mention downright disgusting! I guess saving money is worth acting like an animal and breaking the law.
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Good luck maniacs...I can't be bothered waiting in line 12 hours to save $100
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All you foolish people are sheep! That's right. Reinforce that negative notion that others outside our country have about Americans and their never ending greedy quest for materialistic goods.
I spent nerly two years traveling and have FINALLY gotten back with my family in our new house. We spent all day yesterday together with a nice meal and will enjoy the next few days off as well. Not running from store to store looking for cheap pieces of junk that will be "loved" for one minute until the next obligatory "where's my next gift" comes from their mouth. Doesn't at all seem worth it now does it??
Baa Baa!
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Is this what Christmas means to people? Fighting and competing to save a few dollars on mass-produced garbage? You should all be ashamed. I'm not even Catholic and I know better. Try spending your day doing something good for people who have less.
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I guess it's not that bad of an economy after all - or maybe it's charge, charge, charge - then foreclose on the house and let the taxpayers bail everyone out...oh well - it's the typical "American Way".
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I was at that Toys R Us. It was insanity. At least a 1000 people all came in the store at once. I personally got stuck in the back of the store and literally could not move. If there had been a fire-it would have been worse the Station Nightclub. Additionally-there was no order to get to check out. As a result-myself and a bunch of others who did as we were told stood line the "check out line" at the back of the store for hours-while other people funneled into check out line via closer isles cutting the real waiters off. Finally, someone got someone at the store to listen to what was happening-and our proper line was acknowledged. But I still waiting in the check out line almost three hours. The bargains became my mission after a while.
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My family will spend absolutely NOTHING on "Black Friday", nor have we ever done so in the past.
On this day we clean out our closets and give our unused winter coats and other clothing to the less fortunate.
As far as I'm concerned, people who line up in the middle of the night like a bunch of stupid sheep so they can rush into WalMart or BestBuy to purchase a lot of useless junk they can't afford (and will be forgotten the day after Christmas) are out of their minds.
This is not what the holidays are about - one simple gift per person is enough. My husband and I don't even exchange gifts, and our daughter only receives one. My parents stopped giving me and my sister birthday and Christmas gifts when we turned 16.
People need to get their priorities in order. If more people used common sense, many wouldn't have financial problems.
This is the time of year to think about those less fortunate than you, not about the latest XBox Game or HD TV.
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Ran to walmart in seekonk for a $50 bike for a needy child. I waited until 9am to go and it was busy but only a little bit more busy than it would be on a Saturday anyway...got my bike and left...I will not be hitting any more stores...that child's only wish was my concern and I fulfilled it. Material things are not important enough to stand in line in the middle of the night, go to the bathroom outside stores, etc. Disgusting. When will people get it? When I'm on my death bed, I'm not going to talk about the things I owned...I'm going to remember the wonderful times with my family and friends. That's it.
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I will buy nothing for anyone this year and will not decorate either. There will be no Christmas this year or any year hereafter. What is the point of this madness anyway?
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People who think that the economy is in a slump did not see the parking lots at Walmart and Sears this morning. I came in for deodorant before coming into work this morning and was overwhelmed, so I left. I finished my Christmas shopping last week, and the only shopping I did in store was for a DCYF child who asked for clothes.
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Walmart has to be the biggest abuser of the "Black Friday" insanity. Opening at 3:00 and having people get in line to wait for an item but not being able to buy it until 5:00. Letting 10 people in at a time. Handing out bathroom passes!
Having associates who had plans and had Friday as a scheduled day off come in at 2:30 without the benefit of shift differential pay. Walmart showed one video about crowd control and then expected associates to be trained in crowd control!
Walmart pushes their policies to the limit.
Personally, I would pay more to shop elsewhere. Until they start respecting their associates.
A story on cable about Walmart had some executive claim that the company thinks of their associates as "family". Yes, all the associates across the country is family. Please.
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I'll bet, if Walmart unionized, all their associates' problems would vanish into thin air. Like their union dues would.
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When we Christmas shop in July and August the lines are SO much shorter! Prices are great too since it's typically a slow time with everyone out on vacation and not wanting to be inside. It's only token gifts now anyway which is a bonus in itself.
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I seriously cannot shop if it's not enjoyable. Therefore, I don't venture out to shop on this weekend AT ALL. Personnally, my time is more valuable than the $30.00 I would have saved...waiting in traffic, lines, dealing with crowds....BORING!!!
I ventured into the "rennovated" Walmart a few sundays ago...and there were at least 10 lines that were easily 10-15 people deep. I priced what I needed and headed to Target (which was very quiet)...and to my surprize I would have saved a WHOPPING $2.50 on the 6 items I was buying. $2.50????? No thank you!! My time is more valuable than that! Not to mention it was a total freakshow in there!!! gross!
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Having been the one getting there at 230pm for 17 hours.I would say walamrt plan was horrible.There plan was to open both doors at 4am not understanding that people in our line where there at 6pm or earlier.So alot of people went to the other door,to get in first.Was not right its amazing how many people show up late an try to take every advantage for themself. Even to boot a handicap gentleman showed up at 330 am an tried to get in before everyone.Gotta love him trying to use that to get in before people that been there 17 hours!!
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This is exactley why people can plot to hurt and kill us with planes. We worry about the wrong damn things in this country. We pay more attention to saving a few pennies on some flat screen TV's then what's really important in life...which is love and family. This is what Thanksgiving is suppose to be about.
The United States is probably the most materialistic country there is. And believe me, we have the debt to prove it. These people were out buying things that they could not afford and don't need. If they really could afford this stuff they wouldn't be acting like asses to get it. Instead of sitting down with their family and having dinner, they would rather be camped out at some damn store to get the next gadget.
I looked at that picture of the man and woman in Sears shopping in their pagamas and just shook my head....What a waste.
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It's not bad enough that people go out in pajama's? The Journal runs a photo of a man in PJ's and ROBE above the fold on the front page.
Seriously, do slobs need encouragement?
The decline of western civilisation.
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