Friday, November 29, 2013

Black Friday: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly!

Okay, so there are 2 days a year that I am a Morning Person! (And only those 2 days, the rest of the year I'm a certified Night Owl!) They are Christmas Day & Black Friday! Every year I take the day after Thanksgiving off of work to shop. When my kids were little I stood in line in places like Toys Are Us & The Disney Store! And now that they are older, I don't have to hunt for toys anymore, but I still go out just out of tradition. I've always thought it was fun! I love to shop! I love crowds! So for me It's a win, win! Sometimes I go alone, sometimes I would talk a Friend into getting up early & going with me! Sometimes after my Husband would wake up (after I'd been up shopping for hours) he would meet me at Starbucks!) The past few years my oldest son, Kyle goes with me, yes I raised him right! A Man that loves to shop! ;)


In years past I would get up bright & early (or more like; dark & early) but this year, with stores opening on Thanksgiving, after we had eaten, my Niece wanted to go to Walmart, they had several things she wanted that was starting at 6pm. So I said I'd go with her, my daughters wanted to go as well. So why not?! And let me just say, normally I go to Target. They have Black Friday down to a Science! You stand in line outside, (and in Arizona, that isn't bad. I've done it in Michigan too, which is more of a challenge due to unpredictable weather!) They let in shoppers, then hold the line for a bit, & let in more, etc. Once inside items are clearly marked. They've even come through the line & handed out maps letting you know where Door Buster Items are going to be. They have a path clearly marked to stand in line to check out, and as you get to the front of the line, there is an employee up on a raised platform, that can see all the registers & directs you as to which one to go to! It all runs very smooth! Well, let's just say my experience at Walmart was not at all like this! I now know why I'm "Team Target", instead of "Team Walmart!" It was a Free For All! No line, just wall to wall people everywhere. Everything we went there to get was gone & we got there at 6, when the sale was supposed to start. We made our way through the store & finally pushed out into the back isle & could not believe the people there, I raised my phone in the air & had to take a picture . . .


Now everyone was nice enough & would even help other people find items they were looking for, but I could see how things could go bad, so many people crammed in there & with so few items of what was advertised. I saw on Twitter, last night that the police were called out to a Walmart in Pennsylvania, or somewhere, due to customer violence. Yikes. I don't want to be, or have my kids anywhere near that! So this is probably the first & last time I do Black Friday at Walmart! It's not worth it! So we made it out of there finally & latter that night after heading back home (we were on the other side of town at my Brothers house) Kyle & I went to Macy's at Midnight. And can I just say, a complete opposite experience! We walked in & I said "Now this is how shopping is supposed to be! Not what we saw earlier!" All the Door Busters were in the isles, all sales were clearly labeled! We found everything we'd gone there to get & more! We got some really great deals! My Husband even bought me a couple gifts & he wasn't even there! ;) Then we stopped by Target, all the crowds were gone, we picked up a couple of DVD's & walked right up to the Register! Went home & went to bed! I got up on Friday & leisurely looked through the Ads again & hit a couple more stores! So nice!

 

Best deal of the day: I got free Tote Bags (no purchase Necessary, though we did make a purchase!) at Down East Basics! It was one per Voucher that had come in the mail, but Thankfully our Neighbor gave us her Voucher, (Thank you Lori!) because when you have Twins, you have to have two of everything! :) So that was our Black Friday Adventures this year! Do you shop the Black Friday Sales? I probably always will! Just because I think it's so fun! But I will probably steer clear of Walmart from now on! :)

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