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My son and I are going to Best Buy in Bangor when they open on BF. He wants to upgrade his digital camera and the one he wants may be just too cheap to pass up, he fears. I'll run interference for him. And then probably check out a couple other stores while I'm invested. There may be a good picture opportunity if see a crazed Mainer mob.
This could probably go out as a poll too but since there's one or two already running I'll just start it as a thread.
Do you get into the shopping scene on Black Friday the day after Thanksgiving touted as the official start of the Christmas shopping season?
Merchants call it Black Friday because hopefully the Christmas retail season will keep them in the black instead of ending the year in "The Red".
I refuse to participate in such nonsense (plus I'm usually deer hunting anyway) and DW won't go shopping on that day either. My kids never got the "must have" toy of the year as I would not stand in a line for ANY toy.
It's always great to start out the observance of a Holy season with people punching each other out over a video game.
Personally I still do 90% of my Holiday Shopping at LL Bean on Christmas Eve. Nobody is there ,stuff is marked down, and I can get it all done in an hour, plus they wrap it!
Online shopping is where it's at. No lines and no pushy people. Sometimes the price with shipping even turns out to be less than the big stores. But really, in my family, we don't buy a lot. We have all we need and the desire for "stuff" has worn off.
Black Friday as the busiest shopping day of the year is a myth. It's more of a social thing as the biggest revenue day for retail for years has been the Sat before Xmas. All the deals offered are there to get people to actually buy something. Sure, it's crowded and chaotic and people do buy stuff but not as much as the retailers would like.
There was a news story last night about flying the Wednesday before Thanksgiving as a busy and crazy day at the airports. Again, another myth. Last year it was the 221st busiest day of the year for airlines. The last time it was a semi-busy day was in 2000. The reporter went to a couple of airports and the people flying said they arrived 3 hours early because they thought it would be so busy and the place was practically a ghost town. Conversly, less people are flying but more will be on the road than ever before for Thanksgiving.
Be safe out there and have a great holiday season.
My darling youngest daughter (almost 17) is heading out tonight with 3 friends from midnight until 3 :00 against our objections appealing to common sense.
Let's hope she stays safe and remains vigilant.
I went out three years in a row when we lived in Bangor with some friends. I saved almost $300 with the markdowns. Now there are really good deals online, and with being 90 miles from "big" shopping it's just not worth it now. The key is organization if you go.
I've gone out a couple of times on the day after Thanksgiving. It was more of an activity with a group of friends rather than any real shopping being done. This year I'll be making bread for my sister to take home with her and loading up her car as she leaves tomorrow
I've never gone shopping on BF, but my DH, who often gets up at 4-ish anyway, went this morning. He believes me now that it can be crazy (he went inside the front door of Target in Topsham and said he didn't have the you-kn0w-whats to go more than ten feet inside. He said it was a packed mob scene!) So he wandered down the road to Home Depot and picked up a microwave (which we haven't had in several years and I never really missed that much) for $25. It fits the counter just fine, so I'm happy he did it.
So how did those who braved the crowds make out? Did we make it home without any broken limbs?
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... remember to wear your football uniform and helmet too. (shoulder pads are a must for BF)
