A little practical info from an ex-retailer as we approach Black Friday

I posted this as a part of a discussion in another thread and someone suggested it would make a good thread in itself, so here it is. I hope some folks find it helpful!

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I spent 16 years in the trenches in retail. Obviously, that means I never have had much money.

First, those who don't shop on Black Friday are doing a kindness to the poor folks that have to work that day. Black Friday exhausts everyone. Department managers are paid a salary, mainly so they won't be eligible for overtime. Black Friday is an "iron day" - meaning all department managers must work open to close. Plus, this is the first week of the "holiday schedule". For me, it was typically six days a week from Thanksgiving week through New Year's week, a minimum of 2 days each of those weeks were 12 hour days, plus a handful of "iron days" thrown in when there were big sales and the day after Christmas, for the returns. Special hours for Christmas often mean the store is open from 8 in the morning until 10 or 11 at night. So you work all those hours and then come in the next day at 8 to do it again. All for no additional compensation. This was at a high-end department store that no longer exists. Discount operations might be different.

If you do shop on Black Friday, please be kind to those that are helping you and ringing you up. I've seen many a green cashier dissolve into tears from stress.

Having worked in retail all those years, I'm pretty well-versed in how to get good deals on things. I completely endorse getting the best deal on everything you buy, and in a few cases that deal may be had on Black Friday - but not usually. Most items for sale have about 3 or 4 different price points they will be sold at before they go to clearance. Your best option is to wait until your item is on clearance and then a percentage off that. However, for Christmas shopping, you probably won't be able to do that. Anyway, as I said each item will have 3-4 price points. Depending on the item, it could be, 20% off, 30% off, 33% off and 40% off. Some items have better sales. They may go 20% off, 33% off, and 50% off. There are even a few items that will occasionally go 60% off.

Most of the best deals are NOT available on Black Friday, because the retailers know they don't need to try to hard to draw people in on that day. You will probably see a lot of 20-30% off items. What you need to do is decide what it is you want to buy and follow it for a couple months, or at least a few weeks (since it isn't too long until Christmas now). You will see that the sale prices change frequently, with brief periods of regular prices in between. Take note of what sale prices you see for the item you want. Then you will know what the best possible price is. You will know, item a never goes below 40% off, or item b is 50% off every few weeks. Then, wait for that "best" deal to come up and buy the item then. Usually these deals will be offered a little later in the Christmas shopping season, frequently on a Friday or a Sunday when they want a big day.

Don't fall for an advertisement that says something to the effect of "Our biggest sale event of the season". What this typically means is that MORE items are on sale - possibly even every item - but it does not mean they are on sale for much. Usually with that type of sale, you'll see more 20% off prices, but few or none of the higher percentages. You will probably need to shop several different days, getting the best deal on one or two of your items one day, the best deal on other items other days.

Now, there can and will be exceptions to this, but this is generally the way it goes, at least in department stores. Some really popular items in less "commodity" like categories (i.e. a toy as opposed to a sweater) will never go on sale for a very good discount, and you may need to buy them early before the supply runs out.

I hope this helps some of you hard-working DUers stretch your money a little further this season. I'd rather see the money in your pocket than any big corporation's vaults.

Thanks for the information and the inside look at how you 'retailers' think! ;)
I saw some ads locally claiming 65% off! I do watch the prices and think I've
had enough experience at my age to know what looks like a deal and what doesn't.
But I don't shop much anymore anyway. Only for things I really need.

Thanks again!

:kick: & Recommended

which is the manufacturer's "suggested" retail price. In my corner of retail, that's 3X the wholesale price. So if an item costs $100, MSRP is $300, and 65% off is $105. That's actually a loss for the retailer in this case, because freight's not factored in yet.

On a side note, that "free market" we always hear about? What has happened with all the consolidation of stores is that they can dictate the selling price of an item. If a smaller competitor sells an item for less, they can complain to the vendor, and the vendor then pulls the line from the smaller guy, claiming it's "changing it's distribution policy" rather than the real reason -- which is/used-to-be illegal. In many cases, the MSRP is not a suggestion, it's a prerequisite.

Respectfully,

Audio Al and Radio Lady

Had a total mental meltdown when I went shopping with my sister last December. She burst into tears and just stood there sobbing at the check-out counter at Ross. I do not envy anyone who works in retail at this season.

I'll just do my shopping on line as usual: no crowds, no wasted gas, no long lines, no contagious consumer frenzy. Tomorrow there's a sofa, a new Hiaasen novel and a cup of hot chocolate with my name on them. Oh, and later this week I might hit the Habitat for Humanity and Hospice resale shops. Recycling is not only planet-friendly but saves a lot of cash.

After all those years, the last thing I want to do tomorrow is go anywhere near a store! :)

and the Christmas season was one of the worst experiences of my life.

The pre-christmas season was very busy(I had to climb over the check-out counter to go to break), but the customers were mostly nice.

The after-Christmas season was hell on earth. The customers were nasty and unpleasant. They thought we should be giving away the merchandise. They took it out on the cashiers because they had spent too much money for Christmas or something.

Thank god, I was able to move into another field.

This is my first ever post to make it to the Greatest page! Although my number of posts doesn't look like it, I have been her for 3 years, so that's a big deal to me.

I looked at my profile to verify how long I'd been a member here. It didn't seem right, but I thought it must be. Now I realize it can't be right. I remember the apartment I lived in when I first joined and I moved from that apartment in January 2002. So, I must have been here at least five years, or nearly six.

The family draws names so I only ever have to buy one gift. I buy it online, and never set foot in a store from Thanksgiving till after Christmas.

Don't fall into the trap of believing that you MUST be a consumer.

Unfortunately, my husband's family does not "get" homemade gifts. Nor do they do the drawing names thing. So I either have to buy things for them for Christmas or waste a lot of time making things they don't appreciate. Or not get them anything at all and look like a horrible scrooge. It's not a trap, it's just the way it is.

Buy each of your relatives (that are more materialistic) one ridiculously-priced tree ornament. On average, these ornaments are roughly 5.00-10.00 a pop. That way, you bought them something shiny, pricey and oh so chi-chi.

It would probably be worth it to me to spend that money to save my time for more satisfying projects!

I did that one year when I was super poor and had many adults to gift who did not appreciate homemade goods.

I know exactly what they want and I just try to find it online. It's pretty easy really.

I have no problem with it, I was just responding to the person's holier-than-thou tone in reference to "falling into the trap" of being a consumer. I don't see it as a trap and I'm not blindly spending $1000 of dollars on stuff. Just a few items for some family members. Everyone else loves and appreciates my homemade gifts. I'm a decently crafty/arty person so they turn out pretty good most of the time, but I understand some people aren't good at stuff like that and don't like to cook. So if they prefer to buy gifts for friends and family, I don't automatically look down my nose at them like they are lemmings who have "fallen into the consumerism trap."

Anyway, your suggestion is a good one for anyone who needs to buy something and doesn't know where to start. Thanks! :hi:

I make most of my gifts, too. I'm an artist and a lot of my friends really appreciate the things I make. My family is a different story.

I am the only childless one among my siblings. My brother has three kids, my sister has two. Some years ago, they decided that we should only buy gifts for the kids and not the adults, but to make it "fair" to me, they would buy me gifts since I have no kids (nor do I want kids). I can't give my artsy handmade gifts to the kids, nor can I aford to buy anything they will find very special. I'm the poor one in the family. So, I do the best I can to find some unique gifts for all five kids that I can afford and they will like. They have so much stuff that nothing seems special to them. I wrack my brain trying to come up with something good, but they seldom like the gifts. The older they get, the harder they are to please. Now I just give the teenagers iTunes gift cards, but even those are not very appreciated because they all have so much money that my $25 gift cards seem like nothing to them. Meanwhile, the parents of each group of kids buy me something, slap a tag that says from the kids on it and call it a day. The kids aren't learning anything about giving. So, the poor sibling is buying gifts for five kids who each have more money than I do, while their parents buy one collective gift for me. Usually my sister gets me something I like, but with my sister-in-law it's really hit or miss.

Then I give some handmade items to my siblings and in-laws and they look at me like I'm crazy and mumble "that's nice" and don't even thank me. How did I end up in this family?

But in the meantime, craft your items for them, along with short notes about you and them, and any thoughts you have. Save your pieces, and give them all at once at their high-school graduations. It will be a true surprise, and it will show them how you have thought about and cared for them all those years.

You can't "out stuff" them. Just be you.

I really hope that at least one of these kids will not turn out to be as materialistic as their parents. If that happens, that kid would really appreciate those things. Thanks for suggesting. In the meantime, I'll look for something gooey, slimy and disgusting or else some great percussion instruments. Actually, we have a great little shop here called Global Village that sells little items they buy from crafts people around the globe - a real fair market kind of place. I'm sure I could find some neat marracas, drums and so forth there. Ha! This will be fun!

One year my then-childless sister-in-law, who lives in another state, sent one of my kids (probably age 5 then) a really obnoxious present for Christmas. It was a foot-high metal bear that beat a very loud rat-a-tat-a-tat non-stop on a little metal drum. There was no "off" switch. After a couple of hours of drumming bear hell, my husband finally hurled it against a wall and broke it. I think my daughter was actually relieved.

my mother went out and bought him a drum. she laughed evilly when he opened it and made it clear that it was a joke on me, his mother...i thought i outsmarted her when we left and i talked him into leaving his drum at grandma's house so he could play the music for her. the next time we visited she had bought him a second drum to take home.

i think it lasted a day....

was the hit one year for my 5 year old granddaughter. I too was rather broke for several years and forced to get creative.

Of course they were the bright colored and polished rocks in a very cool velvet sack in an equally cool box. She showed momentary interest in the computer and flashy toys, but was overjoyed when she opened the rocks and played with them most of the day. The other adults just could not understand it. Her mother seemed offended and actually a little embarrassed that her daughter was more attracted to rocks than the latest Wally world toy.

This was on the Texas Coast. No native rocks only mud. She was always picking up and bringing in rocks from drive ways and parking lots. From then on I always found great specimen rocks for her, or geologic collection kits, etc. She seemed interested in science so I encouraged that.
Next year after graduation she plans on majoring in forensic science in college.

Last year I got really cool and beautiful boxes for everyone. Fairly large ones. Then put a book, a christmas ornament, A Constitution, a pair of earrings and a few other small items I had picked up over the past year in each of their "treasure boxes".

When the girls were small they enjoyed cigar boxes full of art supplies. Colors, books, stickers, scissors, markers, sketch pads, hand puppets, clay, etc.

Children and teens like small coin purses or wallets with a little cash inside. Girls like hair scrunchies, barrettes, nail polish.

I've discovered that gifts need not be expensive, but if thoughtful of the recipients interests or needs will be much more appreciated than a more expensive doo dad that might not appeal to their taste.

i now get my family the gift of a goat or chickens or bees... from Heifer International. I send a card that outlines the donation i made in their name. Did that for my well off cousins last year, and i'll be darned they actually thought it was cool!

Give it a shot.

Instead of buying gifts for our family and close family friends, we all get together and pool our funds for something from Heifer International. Last year, after much spirited discussion, we decided on a water buffalo. The discussion was much more amusing and fun than shopping/wrapping/schlepping gifts.

i'd never heard of this organization before, but it's exactly what i will gift the fam with this year. i'd been wracking my brain for a thoughtful gift and it's perfect. the materialism of the season turns me off, and heifer international turns the tables so well!

I hate to sound whiny about stuff like that, too. My sister does appreciate and even asks for art objects, but the mountains of stuff for the kids is just ridiculous, they don't even know who got them what as they tear off wrap in a greedy frenzy.

I hate to sound whiny, too, but it's just ridiculous the stuff these kids get. I hate to contribute to it.

I keep thinking about the wonderful feeling I would have as a kid when I really, really wanted something for months or maybe even years, didn't think I would be able to get it, and then finally did. I felt like the luckiest kid in the world sometimes and I got so much enjoyment from the gifts. My nieces and nephews never get to experience that. They barely have time to realize they want something before it is given to them.

wrap. They were showing me this summer. I saw things that I knew they got for Christmas or birthdays two years earlier that had never even been opened. And they asked for the stuff, it's not like it was something random that someone bought them but they didn't really want.

My husband and I just don't buy them very much. It's ridiculous.

Do the kids like to do artwork? Mine love to spend a day with my mom, a retired high school art teacher, and just paint and draw to their hearts content.

I used to buy them a lot of art supplies to encourage their creativity, but they have mostly lost interest. The youngest one is ten now and I might try that with her this year.

I think that's sad. :( Poor things who aren't encouraged to have their own art in their lives. My mom says everyone's an artist, we all just need to find our medium.

aged 1 and 3, but I've already butted headlong into the gift-giving nightmare. My nephew got so many gifts last year that after he got the one thing he wanted (it was a toy boat, the 4th gift opened,) he refused to open the remaining 20 (they live in a different town, so my sister had left many gifts at home.) My niece got a substantial birthday present - I knitted a full set of clothes (pics to be found here) so I've warned my sister that her daughter won't get much for Christmas this year (besides, she's one, she's more interested in the wrapping paper!)

In addition, I've also streamlined my own wish list. I'm 32, and I'd like to have china and silverware and stemware to use. However, there's no wedding in sight, so I've decided not to wait, picked patterns, and told everyone I'd like things in those patterns. Doesn't matter whether it's a single teaspoon or a huge serving platter - I'll be greatful, I'll use it, and it's something I really want.

Other than that, I've become a great fan of giving gifts that aren't permanent, such as coffee, tea, candles, nice paper napkins etc. We all have so many things, and most of it is just clutter.

because they never wrote or called to thank her. When her brother asked why she no longer sent gifts she told him, "They never thank me so it must not mean much to them." When I was a kid, the first chore on the day after xmas/bd's was to write thank-yous. Mom wouldn't let me do anything until every gift had been acknowledged, although I noticed she never wrote any. Call me old fashioned, but to this day I still write thank you notes -- for gifts & kindness. Today, with email, there is really no excuse.

My godfather and his wife (my aunt) always sent gifts every Christmas and birthday, and the thank you cards were mandatory.

The greedy little monsters this generation are raising don't even seem to know what those are.

...I have 3 nephews who rarely acknowledge gifts - although I will say now my older one is good at it- he is 25.

I also have 3 "step-children" (I'm only living with their dad) who also rarely acknowledge gifts - nor do I get even a card from them on my birthday- not even an email!

I too had to always write thank you cards to my relatives who sent me presents.

geez- what is wrong with parents these days?


I do tons of shopping online and also somehow got the the mailing list of really cool catalogues.

The Hunger Site - and all the others attached to it - are great places to find unique and somewhat inexpensive gifts.

I refuse to knit for them anymore. They don't appreciate it. I refuse to shop for them, since MIL loves shopping, so it takes away some of her fun. This way, they all get what they want and are happier.

Good luck with that! :P

:hi:

And I also shop online as much as possible. I hate crowds, & the only time I enjoy going to the mall is on weekday mornings when there's no one there.

Great minds is right. I just recommended your post!

rec'd yours!

I work tomorrow...well, its today now on the west coast. I work at a verizon retailer in a freakin mall. AND on top of it we got the "iPhone killer" the LG Voyager and also the LG Venus coming out tomorrow. its gonna be insane. but at least I get paid commission, I feel bad for the poor retailers who get a crappy hourly to deal with people who will absolutely DIE if they don't buy that faux fur lined coat today OR THEY JUST WON'T LIVE WITHOUT IT!!!

but Andrea is right, my advice is if anyone here also has any cellular phone purchases to make, don't do it tomorrow. do it end of the month, on the final day. cellphones are a big holiday item, families all like to get theirs together, etc etc. people will be going batshit crazy to try to make quotas and be throwing stuff away to get your business. cellphone retailers live and breathe on quotas, otherwise you have a district manager calling you up every hour screaming your head off why you haven't made it to goal for the hour. so yeah, just to add to this, if you feel the need to buy a new phone for the season, do it on the 30th.

oh, and unless you've read consumer report on a phone, never EVER take the free phone. 99% of the time its a piece of crap you'll be trying to return in 3 months but they won't be able to because those things were on holiday clearance because they're discontinued.

and reading for fun and enrichment.


I too spent many years in the trenches of food and retail. My heart and prayers go out to those working tomorrow.

I'm sure many of us here will benefit from the information you've given.

I am, for one, though, SOOOO glad I don't have to mess with this anymore.

not to shop but to watch for idiots and give them what they deserve for harassing those stuck working today. Way back when we were beyond broke I started my shopping in Jan. and hid everything to avoid the madness. A few years ago I put my foot down and told everyone that we were not giving gifts nor did we want gifts. We donate to a non-profit of our choice and ask those that used to give us gifts to do the same. They loved the idea and it has been fun getting info on what non-profit each has donated to. Letting people know wasn't required but just happened. Some small non-profits have gotten donation they wouldn't of because they sounded great when each of us heard of them. The holidays are also much more relaxed and we get to enjoy them so much more. We do still get gifts for the very young kids but I still grab things through out the year for them.

There is no freakin' way I would be caught dead near a store today!!

I was looking through the advertisements in the paper yesterday and I said to my wife, "Look at all this SHIT! That's what it is, SHIT! Nobody needs this crap..."

I absolutely hate the constant bombardment from advertisers trying to sell us this garbage.

enjoyed it.

As Andrea says, simple kindness to the clerks is the kind of thing that makes a Black Friday tolerable for us. Just a smile, please, or thank you is way more than we expect on a day like today and can really make a day.

I had a customer just explode at me, I mean shouting and pounding his fists, because I needed to change a register tape. I got frightened, but the couple behind him just calmly walked away, found a supervisor, and the hostile gentleman was escorted out of the store--just as I would have gotten to ring his sale. They came back to my register just to wih me a happy holiday. I almost cried (they'd already checked out).

A bad BF can signal a very poor year. Retailers depend on BF to help make their entire years, so the pressure's intense on everyone, from the lowly clerk to the store manager. Have a heart--it will be remembered--I even remember what that couple looked like and that was 20 years ago!

Kindness costs neither time nor money. Spread it like you spend money today--and then some.

And to my fellow Black Friday retail employees, I salute you. Been there, done that--and you will survive. I wish to you a couple of really nice customers; I always managed to find some real gems on BF and it made all the difference.

A smile and a "Thank You" is easy, free and it has a nice way of spreading itself around.

...because I work for a major airline at San Francisco International. The holidays are stressful for us as well.

Bought a 8MP digital camera for my husband on sale a couple weeks ago for 99.99. Looked at the Black Friday sales paper for that same store. The same camera is on sale for 149.99. Sure glad I didn't wait. Have never shopped on this day and will never do it. Too hectic for me.

I mostly avoid the malls altogether on Black Friday, especially in the morning if I can help it. Besides, I'm at work today so if I do venture out it'll be in the evening. That's when the craziness dies down a little bit. I already did most of my shopping early so thankfully I have but so much to get before Christmas.

Our customers were our best friends. In fact, every employee was a customer who refused to leave. We went to their weddings, sent gifts for their babies. Loaned jewelry to brides.

Christmas was hectic, no doubt about it. Make or break for small stores like ours. We eventually got it down to a system and our helpers all knew what to and where to go: floor duty for those with knowledge and experience, register duty for people who needed to sit, packing for the newbies and skilled packers.

Yeah, the compensation sucked. But we were touching and selling miracles of achievement and ingenuity. We were teaching a neighborhood how to look at glass and wood and pottery. And we were selling jewelry that made your heart ache.

We had customers come and bring us eggnog. The Japanese restaurant down the street sent sake one year. We were excited to see our customers and they were thrilled to see us, surviving another year.

Did we get some lousy customers. We did. Stuff of legend. Even had a discussion with a local mob guy on the behavior of his son. But we consider our twenty years of Hyacinth among the best times of our lives. (I remember being called over by a cop during a demonstration...she recognized me and wanted to tell me that her fiance got her engagement ring from us, and she loved it.)

Retailing isn't for the faint of heart. But it ain't all horror by a long shot.

Remember that. And think about shopping local.

Thanks

Unless they're an actor or an onion peeler. Good post K+R.

I was in retail for a while to, the place I worked was a convenience store so we were not a place where people did their Christmas shopping but I do know what it is like to work in retail and it is an extremely stressful job with crappy pay. Honestly, I don't think many Americans recognize just how much retail workers go through, it is not the simple job that people think. You have to put up with a lot of crap, you deal with hundreds of customers every day and not all of them are friendly. You also have to be on your feet for hours on end with little or no time to sit down for even a minute. Then you get your paycheck and it amounts to next to nothing.

I won't shop on Black Friday, and I hope more people stay home as well because it really is an ugly day.

Thanks for the post Andrea. K&R

Our madness was the few days before T-day, although nothing topped the first week of school. Lines so long they wrapped around the front end & down the isles. You couldn't even see the end of your line. And huge orders -- HUGE. Back then we were paid very well, with OT for shifts longer than 8 hours, time & a half on Sundays & triple time on holidays. My good union job put me through college. That's not the case anymore, though. I think grocery store checkers make around $7-9 an hour.

Retail is thankless work. Customers can be such assholes. I feel for all the clerks working during the madness season & do them the favor of shopping online.

Cashiers start at minimum wage.

The weekend before T-Day and Christmas were always the WORST. The grocery store wasn't my worst job, though. That was in the kitchen at Bob Evans restaurant. I did work retail at the mall during Christmas breaks in college, though. The worst one was Spencer's - trying to keep the little snots out of the "adult" section. Ugh!

for working this time of year. Guess that would be expecting way too much though.

I'm a real bargain hunter....only shop twice/year (if that). End of winter and end of summer sales when I can get 75% off PLUS another 30, 40, or 50% off!!! I buy many Xmas and birthday gifts (those born in the fall) after Xmas!

Of late, I have been on a Consumer Strike...I'm buying nothing for myself...well, except food and things like toothpaste.

Are you out of retail now? It's so hard on the feet!! I eventually got a doctor's note so I could wear my Reeboks to work and I stuffed them with cushioning.

I wouldn't step into a store today if I had to!

I work in the corporate headquarters of a furniture retailer. I've actually never even been in any of the stores of my company. You are so right about the feet. It got even harder when most of the locations I worked in got remodeled. They replaced linoleum aisles with ceramic tile and plush carpet with thin industrial stuff laid straight over concrete with no padding. It was extremely noticeable in the foot pain index when they made those changes.

I did two Christmases in retail jewelry; the first as a new salesperson, and the second as manager. Manager was much harder. I worked every day from the day after Thanksgiving (9AM-Midnight)through Christmas Eve. Most of those days were 9AM-9PM. Worse, the store was right in the middle of the mall, with Santa Claus just outside the front door. Santa's sound system played the same fifteen Christmas songs overandoverandoverandoverandoverandoverandover for 32 days straight. Months later my wife woke me up while talking in her sleep, saying "Thirty-two straight," repeatedly.

Working as a sales person wasn't too bad. It was six days a week, with 3 of those being twelve hour days, but sales were good, and so were commissions. The last day or so were a little rough, though. I was working a weekend overnight shift at a local radio station to supplement my income. That meant Saturday I worked 9AM-9PM, drove to the station and slept (badly) on the couch for a couple of hours, worked midnight to 8AM, drove home, showered and changed, and went back to the store at 11AM for Christmas Eve. I was doing alright until a guy came in at 2PM. When I asked if I could help him, he said he was just getting some ideas. When I said "OooooooKay," he looked at me and said "What?" I was so tired I didn't care anymore, and said, "It's 2PM on Christmas eve and you're 'Just getting ideas?' I hope you get them quick because we're closing at 5PM, if not before, and I really don't care whether you have any 'ideas' by then or not!" His jaw dropped, he stared at me, and said, "Gimme a $200 gift certificate."

I do so love the holidays!

Consumerism is killing the planet. And I find with great amuzement, just how PROGRAMMED the American consumer really is, all brought to you by corporate American to shop till you drop today!!

instead of exchanging gifts with friends.

We are very low income, so most of the family and friends will get handmade items, or cool things from the thrift store.

There are so many people on DU who are absolute haters. "Don't give anyone anything! Retailers are Satan's trophy wives! Christmas and gift-giving are like stabbing an Iraqi baby with a poisoned fork!"

From my view - from someone who works in TV, who remembers when there were lots of retailers before they were all pre-empted by Wal-Mart - shopping USED to be part of the fun of the season. Retailers, especially independent retailers, were partners in the Christmas process. They enjoyed doing Christmas stuff; much as it was a business for them, it was also helping people enjoy their holidays.

That was before corporate gluttony, and greed, and mergers, and exploitation of shoppers. I wish people would put their anger where it belongs, on megacorporations, not on the idea of gifting people or the whole concept of selling things. And that properly-directed anger deserves to be felt all year long, not just now.

especially with the US dollar becoming increasingly weak. I hope you don't interpret this call for fiscal conservatism as hateful. I really believe that we all, as a people and nation, need to adopt a "pay as we go" policy.

I don't know if "anger" serves any purpose at this time, or during this Christmas season. I am not angry, but I do realize that buying gifts on credit, or that we can't afford is stressful. We can have just as lovely a Christmas with home made, home grown, home baked, home crafted gifts.

I learned a long time ago not to spend money I didn't have. Like everyone I have a lot of credit card debt, but am paying it off bit by bit, with more-than-minimum payments as often as I can do it. And I don't use my credit card unless I have an emergency. My check card does just fine for almost everything.

That is basically self-control and self-knowledge. It's being honest with yourself about money. It has less to do with "the evil of business and Christmas" than "the stupid American public."

You can't protect people from stupidity. You can educate them. Sadly, since America's educational establishment - teachers, administrators, textbook publishers and school boards - are incompetents and cowards, they won't teach children how to live. Only parents can...but someone would have to teach THEM, and that's the rub.

But it makes more sense to teach people in JULY that they should plan for Christmas, than to complain about it now, and claim that retailers and the holiday itself is evil.

I owned a yarn shop. I finally hung it all up when I realized that reading a story to a customer's two year old made me happier than anything that had happened in my store for the better part of a month. Plus, the bottom had just dropped out of the yarn industry. I got out just in time, but the lessons continue. It's amazing to me that people continue to think they don't have to show anyone working in retail even the barest of civility.

We are doing very little shopping this year, but we will do our best to shop at local retailers when possible. I'm also buying a few things from one of my favorite businesses in New Orleans, www.saintsforsinners.com. It's a good feeling to know that if we all send just a few dollars, we'll help NOLA get back on its feet, too.

Being nice to someone else doesn't cost a cent and shows that you have humanity.

Julie

Okay, it was a hair dryer. My blow drier crapped out on me yesterday morning. I was dreading having to go to Target and buy a new one during the Black Friday madness. Then I remembered that CVS sells hair dryers, too. So, I go to CVS and it's practically empty. I didn't quite get my same model, but I got one that was close to it. I was in and out in 10 minutes. On the way home, I laughed at the people in line at Beast Buys.

Oh, and I went to the Amish Market, which was also having a very light day. But they're normally open on Fridays.

store employees. I know what a bitch of a day it is for them.
Now, with some stores opening at 4 AM, when in the hell do they
get to sleep Thursday night?

Also, my son works in retail, so I have that added understanding
for retail employees.Back in the day, I also worked in retail.

Your thread is very appreciated.

:D :-)

those are words to live by, especially about being kind to those who wait on you. The people that you see on floor, just sell the products, we don't set the prices, or how many of each item is in the store. Our job is to help you locate and maybe explain some things about the product. So please DO NOT scream at us if we are sold out, or you don't like the prices.

I'm a Sales Associate in the Electronics Dept of my store and I also run the register when the need arises. I had to be in work today at 4am and worked till 1pm, at which point after arriving home I promptly went back to bed(I was exhausted).

For me the weirdness of the holidays started about 2 weeks ago. I will say, for the most part, the people I have dealt with have been pleasant, but as the price of gas has gone up (along with everything else) the nastiness is beginning. The big item everyone wants this year is the Nintendo WII game system and I bet I field 30 calls a day asking if we have it in stock. One year later we still can not keep in stock and this holiday season it will be even harder to find.

So if you get a chance, give a kind word to the people helping you this holiday season as they are as stressed out as you, maybe more. They have to handle the customer's stress, plus their own and it can make the holidays even harder to deal with.

Happy Holidays Everyone :)

I was at OfficeMax where customers are very demanding during regular times because their business can be at stake if they don't get certain key supplies in time such as color toner for a laser printer. During the holidays printers, digital cameras, etc sell out all the time when they are on sale and people explode over that happening.

for my young (8-11) niece and nephew and they seem to appreciate it.

https://www.bestfriends.org/donate/sponsorRandom.cfm?

They get gifts too (within reason), but always send thank you notes (their Mom sees to that...).

I had to laugh at the post above about the friend who stopped giving to nieces and nephews. I have a similar story in that a friend stopped all gifts after one of tweeners exclaimed last Christmas morning "this sucks" and tossed the gift aside. She never received thank you notes for anything and decided enough was enough. I don't blame her!

How come so many will actually camp out the night before? Is it perceived huge discount or indeed a good discount on a very small number of popular items?

Why not read her post and find the answer to your question? :P

Sometimes when these people camp out, it is for an item that is in short supply, like the most popular video game. Maybe some retailers hold back their stock of hard-to-find items until that day. Usually, though, it is a misperception that they will get better deals on Black Friday. I've seen people come rushing in the doors at opening and run to buy a sweater at 20% off that had been 30% off the weekend before. I think that maybe years and years ago there were really good deals that day and it kind of grew into an urban myth. If one doesn't follow the pricing trends, and just goes on Black Friday, they may assume that the prices that day are really great, without actually knowing. I've also met a few people over the years that really thrived on the madness and made it a tradition to come and get absolutely all their shopping done that day.

Well, four back to school seasons and three full years. It is a thankless job and the stress is mind-numbing people who haven't worked at the front lines of customer service don't appreciate just how hard it is. I always thanked those people who simply wished me a nice day.

I go when no one is around and mostly online for xmas.

I've worked retail for YEARS.

You learn to put up with the asshats.

Black Friday is a walk in the park.

of loss lead... and how it works

Your best bets for discounts are... the day after chistmas... for some reason they do keep to that tradition, more or less

and if you can find the day an inventory is to be done, the day before... they will play ball since they need that crap out BEFORE inventory