Nov 25

Nov 25 Black Friday - Love it or Leave it?

To shop, or not to shop on Black Friday, that is the question. There is no middle ground: either you love it or loathe it. Read on to see how our Marketing staff tackles the perils of this infamous day:

Pier Alsup

My Black Friday is not very exciting since I work that day. Typically, I spend the day cleaning and purging my office…getting a jump on my New Year’s resolution. I am crowd-avoidance so even if I were off, I would not go near the malls--too scary. My preference is to shop on off-peak days and times. Also, I like to support local artisans so I select most of my gifts from art galleries or at art events throughout the year.

Paula Anderson

I love my sleep as much as I love a good deal, so you won’t find me up at the crack of dawn in search of early bird rewards. That said, I have done a modicum of Black Friday shopping over the years. Of course, I prefer to call it Black Friday “buying” and it only occurs after my morning coffee and before the afternoon’s traditional “cousin ice skate extravaganza” and college football sit down. I’m typically good for one, maybe two stores at the coaxing of my kids.

Beth Blafka

Spending the day after Thanksgiving in a mall with a tangled mess of pushy people who move at maddeningly inconsistent speeds isn’t my thing. If I have the day off I sleep in and spend the late morning sipping on coffee in bed. In the afternoon I nibble on leftovers and nap. If a great deal catches my eye I'll set a reminder on my phone to buy it ONLINE the night before Cyber Monday. Gotta love technology.

Tracy Dickey

Only once in my life have I ever endured the insanity of the all-night crazed bargain hunters in search of limited-quantity Black Friday sale items. It took just this once to discover I do not have the patience to deal with overly big crowds. For me, shopping begins in early December and is not completed until a few days before Christmas. About 85% of my shopping is done online--10% goes to buying gift cards, and 5% in stores.

T.J. Grigone

I’m not a Black Friday shopper and I probably never will be. The thought of standing in a cold line for hours just for the opportunity to wrestle somebody over a flat screen TV makes me ill. It makes me appreciate the luxury of online shopping. I’m not sticking my nose in the air or anything…I’m just not a Black Friday kind of guy.

Cindy Helmkamp

I’m pretty boring when it comes to fighting crowds on Black Friday. I was once a huge fan but I got tired of being met with empty shelves before I could even fight my way into the store. Now, I typically will scan the ads to see if there’s anything I can’t live without and then make the purchase online. This year instead of fighting the crowds I’m heading to the Caribbean!

Kayla Lackner

Black Friday is the most anticipated day of the year in my family. It takes strategy, stamina, patience and lots of coffee to successfully tackle. Planning begins after all the Thanksgiving dishes have been cleared. Each family member takes a different newspaper ad and we start mapping out our plan of attack. Once we have chosen our items it’s time to divide up the duties:

Driver: The person who drops us off at the front door because there is no time to waste finding a parking spot
Runner- The person who pushes their way through the crowd to find the item(s)
Line Keeper- The person who saves a spot in line for the runner

Remember: this is not the day for an amateur to be out there shopping. It takes skill, timing and a team to have a productive Black Friday.

Joel McDaniel

I love to shop, so Black Friday should be like Heaven for me, right? I enjoy hunting for a good deal, but the long lines, crowds, rude people, appealing yet limited in-store “deals”…no thanks! I get my Black Friday fix online. No lines. No crowds. Better deals. Plus, most retailers offer free shipping, so there’s no added costs. I can sit comfortably at home and click and buy well into the morning or until the tryptophan knocks me out.

Tonya Stallings

I don’t partake in Black Friday shopping every year, but when I do, I am a full-on, deal gladiator. Starting a few weeks out, I strategize: What do I need to purchase? How will I get this item home? What is the off-sale price of any item on the wish list? Then I work on the tactics, spending hours hunting for e-rumors and searching online for item sales and their locations. Lists are made and timing is carefully calculated. When the day finally comes I am not opposed to camping in the snow outside the store without makeup, fueled only by a can of Coca Cola.

Sheila Sova

I went shopping on Black Friday, once. That was about 20 years ago and I have never stepped foot into a store again on that day. My idea of a Perfect Black Friday? Sleep late, order a pizza and watch the news showing shoppers knocking over displays trying to get a bargain!

SO what do you do on Black Friday? Tell us in the comments!