I just wanted to talk about Black Friday Shopping. I went, but at 10 am. I woke up, ate breakfast, and headed to Babies R Us and got a stellar deal on wipes and diapers. I bought 3 boxes of mega wipes @ $5 each, about a penny a wipe. I also got 2 bags of diapers at $3 for 50 diapers. Another great deal.
I meant to buy a bit more but we were having friends over so I went home to cook. We went out shopping more on Saturday and bought two pairs of maternity jeans @ $20 each from motherhood, stellar deal. And some clothes for my DH. So our black friday shopping was nothing spectacular.
But I more wanted to talk about the experience on a Friday morning. When I went to BRU, I talked to the cashier’s who told me that it hadn’t been very busy for a Black Friday. That they were expecting to be slammed, and while they were busy, people were not going crazy like prior years. That at 10 am, they still should have had lines and a full parking lot.
What really happened? The lot was empty, I got a spot by the door, and there was no line to check out. The diapers and wipes were still standing and full, and the store itself didn’t seem any busier than normal holiday shopping.
The truth is that I’ve noticed that holiday shopping in general seemed slow. On Saturday we went to the mall to get our clothes shopping done, and found parking EASILY at 4 pm. When we left at 6 pm to grab food, there were even more spots open! This is the start of “holiday” Christmas shopping right???
So where were all the shoppers? Why weren’t people spending? I think the truth is that sure it’s the holidays, but if anything, this year people are more cautious about spending. That credit isn’t there to keep on charging. That people have either lost their jobs, or are worried about losing their jobs, OR realize there will be no big Christmas bonus or annual bonus/raise everyone always expects.
I’m not saying that we’re doing terribly, I think the economy is doing better, at least according to the cashiers. At least there are people shopping! But I believe that it’ll be a couple more years before people get back to their free spending ways.
How was your Black Friday? I just wanted to share my rather interesting experience.
9 responses so far ↓
1 Lindsay // Dec 1, 2009 at 10:44 am
My DH and I took the bus downtown and wandered around drinking hot chocolate and people-watching. It wasn’t terribly busy, but there was definitely a hustle-bustle feeling. Other than lunch, we bought a few gifts at the bookstore and concert tickets for later in the month.
2 Meg // Dec 1, 2009 at 11:10 am
We had a great Buy Nothing Day at home. My husband and I curled up on the couch to watch some stuff online, ate leftovers, and even went through our office closet finally.
Since we’re not exchanging gifts this year (3rd year in a row, WOOHOO!), there’s not much reason for us to even head to the mall. So, we spent Saturday helping my mom decorate her home. That was fun and my mom was practically in tears because she didn’t think she’d get any decorations up this year because she just hasn’t been up to the effort.
3 JoeP // Dec 1, 2009 at 11:25 am
I think what we’re seeing is a return to sanity. In prior years, retailers had been enjoying profits that were partially based upon consumers spending money they didn’t have. Now that many folks are “forced” to spend more of their own money, they are likely spending less overall.
Don’t get me wrong, spending is vital to a healthy economy, but this year there will probably be some groaning on both sides of the register.
4 Thinkingaboutit // Dec 1, 2009 at 11:27 am
10.2% unemployment, plus all the unemployment that does not get included in the stats is awfully high and certainly must have an effect on this shopping. Just learned my brother’s job is gone. Will tighten my own belt now in case he needs our help a half a year or more down the line. He’d do the same for me.//More parents than ever are taking in unemployed adult children and in some cases the kids are taking in the parents or sibs. The real gift is taking care of each other, not some hand-held or sweater under the tree.//Less frivolous shopping going on because the times dictate it.
5 laughing808 // Dec 1, 2009 at 12:07 pm
I was expecting to NOT see as many people either, but somehow that was not the case. The outlets were CRAZY packed, the lines in Kohl’s were long, and Target…….the lines were wrapped around the store.
6 LAL // Dec 1, 2009 at 12:24 pm
Lindsey, hustle and bustle is normal for the time of year, but is should be packed being that it’s the “busiest shopping time of the year.”
Meg, I had a nice dinner with friends since we didn’t have turkey on thanksgiving and had no leftovers. Ate a vegetarian thanksgiving, it was interesting. tofurky.
JoeP, I think people weren’t able to spend on credit and it showed definitely.
Thinkingaboutit, definitely it’s not just employment but everyone having paycuts/furloughs, no raises, no bonuses, etc. Just trying to tread water during rough times.
laughing what time did you go out? I went out around 10 or 11 am and didn’t see any lines where I live.
7 savvy // Dec 1, 2009 at 2:16 pm
We went to the movies. I think everyone was there instead of shopping. I was surprised there was a line to get in at a 2pm matinee.
8 JoeP // Dec 1, 2009 at 4:25 pm
I’ll wager that even if people have money and credit and jobs, we’ll see them scale back on spending just to reduce exposure to risk. After being laid off, most people would probably regret having a few expensive gifts laying around when there’s food to be put on the table (although that $300 GPS unit might come in handy on the way to an interview). I am a bit surprised to see healthy demand for cell phones tied to plans.
9 LAL // Dec 3, 2009 at 11:14 am
Savvy, I bet a lot of people stayed at home and watched football!
I agree JoeP, many people probably are scaling back. How do you see a healthy demand for cell phones tied to plans?
That I think is more something that people have given up landlines.
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