The holidays are here and people are filled with cheer. Family will be coming together over Thanksgiving dinner to joke about the past year and rejoice the year to come. After you pass out because your stomach feels like an expanding balloon, don’t forget that you’ll have to get right back up for Black Friday door busters.
Shopping on Black Friday takes commitment and sacrifice. Don’t think that you can just stroll into your favorite store well after it opens and expect to find exactly what you want.
The night before, make a game-day plan, almost like a sports playbook. It is imperative that you know exactly what you are looking for once the stores open on Friday, and if you happen to find other good deals, then lucky you. Things to consider are, of course, what you’re looking for, amount in stock, what you’re willing to pay, time of opening and location.
I can remember a year when my mom was so determined to rule Black Friday, she created a plan that included store numbers, driving directions and alternative locations with the next cheapest deals.
Yes, I agree, she’s insane — although she got everything she wanted. Your “plan”, which doesn’t have to be written down, is sometimes better executed with a buddy to help you grab multiple items in a frenzy.
This year, be sure to get plenty of rest early because Briarwood Mall in Ann Arbor is opening its doors at midnight for shoppers. Not all of the stores will be open at midnight, but those that won’t are opening earlier than usual. The mall opening at midnight is really convenient when you put it all into perspective. Instead of having to get up in the middle of your great sleep to be at the stores by 4 a.m., just eat dinner, rest and then get back up to start your shopping.
Retailers such as Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Target are sticking true to the Black Friday tradition with great deals on favorites like TVs, game systems and kitchenware. Wal-Mart and Target are actually opening their doors on the evening of Thanksgiving to get their customers in quickly after dinner. Best Buy has an amazing deal on a 40-inch Toshiba television, but I can’t share the price unless you’re buying me one (joking, of course). The big deals are usually on the front page of the company’s circulars, which you can find in the Sunday newspaper. Don’t fret because Sunday just passed — stores usually receive larger shipments of the Sunday paper before Thanksgiving every year for that reason.
Black Friday is like a national holiday. Everyone finds joy in getting things for mind-blowingly inexpensive prices. What this holiday is about has unfortunately been blurred in the recent past because of people forgetting their morals at the sliding doors. Stampeding innocent people, fighting and just plain anger are very animalistic and set us back as a people. If someone who woke up and got to the stores earlier than you is the reason you will have to pay an additional amount for a similar item, then so be it.
Although we want that half-off television, when those around us start to get rowdy we have to take a step back and think, “This is getting out of hand. Do I really need it that bad?”
Embrace Black Friday as an additional day to spend time out shopping with family and friends in the pre-Christmas spirit, and if that’s too much to handle then just stay home to relax and wait for Cyber Monday.
