While families gathered around the table to enjoy each other’s company and great food, others were hitting the street in search of great deals and shopping madness.
Black Friday is the most anticipated shopping event of the year, according to ABC news. The stores are crowded with rushes of people taking advantage of the great sale opportunities.
“I liked how busy everything was in the store, I just did not like how much energy needed to be put into working Black Friday,” Morgan Williams, Delias employee and freshman business major, said.
A lot of employees in many stores looked tired once the sun rose, but tried to keep a positive attitude for the excited customers. Many of the employees were scheduled to clock in at 11 p.m. on Thanksgiving night to prepare for the shopping holiday and worked 12- hour shifts to ensure customer satisfaction.
Late in the evening, crowds of people lined up along the building of Best Buy, WalMart and Toys/Babies R’ Us. Outside of Best Buy, people camped out in their sleeping bags to catch the midnight sales.
People camped out and sacrificed their Thanksgiving because there was a limited supply of sale items. The electronics were the most popular items that people wanted to grab according the ABC news. Flat screen TVs and gaming systems were on high demand by the shoppers who came out early.
“I took advantage of some great deals,” Erica Garner, WalMart shopper said. “I’m extremely proud of myself for finding my tax included $3.01 waffle maker out of Wal-Mart.”
Babies ‘R’ Us had over 150 door-busters for the 9 p.m. sale. WalMart also had great deals beginning at 10 p.m. There were 55 in. flat-screen TVs for $249, along with almost every toy on sale for parents with children to luck out on. Game systems such as Nintendo Wii, Play Station 3 and Microsoft XBox bundles with the kinect were also on sale.
Garner arrived at 9 p.m. for the 10 p.m. sale.
“WalMart employees were extremely organized, the plain clothes security did their best to keep order in the store,” Garner said. “I did notice the shrink wrap being taken off a lot of items prior to their sale time causing much confusion and controversy.”
Most people enjoy being out in the holiday shopping rush and others would rather grab the deals online. “I was excited about the shopping; once I finished my Thanksgiving meal I thought, ‘Happy Black Friday’, let the shopping craziness begin,” Courtney Haugh, junior education major, said.
Once the Black Friday rush was over, many dedicated shoppers engaged in Cyber Monday.
“I shopped online at Target and JCPenney from the comfort of my bed and did not have to try to find things in all that madness,” Felicia Melvin, senior communication major, said.
Shop Track is a system that keeps track of the money being spent on Black Friday. This year, sales have increased 6.6 percent according to CNN Money.
Throughout the entire weekend, sales gave people a chance to start their Christmas shopping. From now until New Years, they are given the opportunity to shop even later with the extended mall hours for December.
“I think Black Friday is great. In these hard economic times, Black Friday stimulates the economy and saves people a lot of money,” Amandeep Kaur, junior biology major, said.
