Black Friday is a shoppers dream. It is the day after Thanksgiving, and marks the start of the holiday season. Stores open at insane hours- Kohl’s opened at 6am, Target at 7am etc. Each year during the week of thanksgiving stores such as Kohl’s and Target advertise their insanely early store hours to lure customers in. They have special “door buster” sales and other promotional offers to attract you in.
I for one have never gone to a store before 10am. And why would I? I don’t see the need to shop at Target at 6:00 in the morning to save a few bucks. Unless they were to give away a T.V for every $100 spent or something, then maybe I would consider going. However, I did make my way downtown to go shopping with my parents. Economists say that “Black Friday” is a good way to see how the economy is doing, and how much consumers are willing to spend. I was anticipating heavy traffic into the city, and large crowds of people in the stores. I was surprised when I got downtown in thirty minutes, and was able to move on Michigan Ave. with ease. I was able to get around large department stores such as Bloomingdales easily, and didn’t feel overwhelmed like I thought I would. From my observations, people were definitely willing to spend money. They had multiple large shopping bags, and had no problem throwing down hundreds in specific departments such as shoes.
While I love shopping, I think that the overcrowding on black Friday is a myth. It was just like any other shopping day- although there was a sense of holiday spirit in the stores, which I love. So for those who think that the economy is on a downward spiral, they clearly haven’t gone shopping in downtown Chicago, because while it wasn’t completely packed, I’ve never seen more shopping bags before!
3 comments:
I've read some newspaper articles analyzing this year's Black Friday. One writer commented on the fact that most of the shoppers were at the big box stores, so that would explain why downtown department stores were not unusually crowded. People want to save a couple hundred dollars on the the HD TV's and other electronic stuff, and find it worth sleeping in a line all night to do so. I don't see that myself, but then, I'm content to watch a regular TV until the technology forces me to move up. But another article I read noted that inspite of a poor economy, people are shopping this year. It's as if they are trying to fight the news about the slowing economy, or just ignoring it. These are obviously the people who are not affected by the mortage crisis. Those people won't be buying anything this year.
While reading your post, I came across a point that seemed to contradict your experience. You said that, "Economists say that "Black Friday" is agood way to see how the economy is doing, and how much consumers are willing to spend." Then after I finished reading your post, I wondered where this may have come into play. Does the fact that not as many shoppers were out shopping reflect the economy? Or does the fact that less people were out, but spending more reflect the economy? I also questioned why you would discuss early opening times for stores such as Target and Kohls and then give the example of few shoppers in Bloomingdales, which is known as a very high-end expensive department store. If you would have visted a Target or Kohls do you think you would have seen more shoppers? I really enjoyed reading your post, but think if you had visited discount stores that your experience and opinion of black friday may be different.
Companies will try anything to get you to buy their products, as long as it draws enough of a profit, you can be sure they'll do it. A lot of deals etc. have a lot to do with promotion, the sort of getting your product name out there to generate sales, which is why apple inc. won't put a password on their install CD for their OSX leopard operating system, they wan't you to be exposed to it so that you'll tell your friends, and potentially buy it yourself once you see how good it is. I don't think peole give enough credit to companies for figuring out how to keep their business going. Believe me, they have every angle figured out which is why their in business in the first place.
Post a Comment