Holiday Shopping - Guerrilla Style
It was a chilly 37° and the sun wouldn’t rise for another two hours. The 10 mph wind out of the northwest made it feel like just below freezing.
But there were bargains to be had. Serious bargains. Big enough to cause even the most of rational of people to stand outside for hours, braving the cold and wind, all in the hopes of scooping up a few choice Black Friday holiday bargains.
Something in the Thanksgiving day edition of the Washington Post caught my eye. It wasn’t the latest news story out of the Middle East, nor another claim of triangulation from one of the presidential candidate’s camps; it was that my newspaper had more pages of color supplements and advertising than of actual news. Significantly more pages.
And yet what surprised me the most, was the large number of stores that were opening at 5 a.m. this morning. But the ad that intrigued me the most, was the 11-page Best Buy advertisement, notably a phrase in small disclaimer-sized font on page one stating that employees would pass out coupons to people in line that would be good for their doorbuster specials “starting at 3 a.m.” Three a.m.? That’s three a.m?…in the morning? People are in line to shop before 3 a.m.? This has to be a parallel universe I never knew existed.
While the savings on some of the featured items could surely entice most typical holiday shoppers, I became more curious to see how many people would actually brave the darkness and cold to try to save some money.
Some of the bargains offered claimed savings of $50, $150, $300 and more. One offer, for a new Sony laptop claimed $578.97 in savings, more than half the total cost. But what would have concerned me the most, was a small disclaimer below each item — “minimum x per store.” While lower-cost items such as cameras and mp3 players mentioned quantities of 15, 20 or more per store, that Sony laptop being offered at more than 50% savings, guaranteed that only three might be on hand.
So to curb my curiosity to see how many people might actually show up — not to save some money, but in hopes of saving some money, I set my alarm for 4:40, giving me enough time to get dressed and take a quick drive over to my local Best Buy.
I needed to see if these pre-sunrise, limited quantities on hand, limit one per customer, no rain checks available, not valid on any previous purchase, we might be sold out of the item special sales actually worked.
When I got within a couple blocks of my nearby Best Buy, ten minutes before opening time, the first thing that surprised me was the large amount of traffic heading towards the mall. Traffic more typical of a busy Saturday afternoon.
The parking lot, used by customers of Best Buy, a half a dozen restaurants, and about another dozen smaller retailers was full. Completely full. That’s something I’d never seen before, even during previous pre-holiday weekends. Cars were overflowing into adjacent parking lots normally used by Target and Wal-Mart shoppers.
As I got closer to the store (4:58 a.m.), I was shocked to see not dozens, not hundreds, but a line of people 4-6 abreast, stretching for close to two blocks. I estimated that there were at least 2,500 people in line, all hoping to score that special holiday bargain.
Some were wrapped in blankets, others were clearly not dressed appropriately for the chilly pre-dawn morning.
I pulled up in front of the front door at 4:59 a.m., just has a loud 30-second countdown started. “Three…two…one…” and an employee cracked open the door just wide enough to stick his head out and yell “Shut Up…SHUT UP!!!!” And then proceeded to provide the uber early-birds with some instructions on how the shopping process would work.
It was obvious that they wouldn’t be able to get all the people waiting into the store in one mad rush, so people at the end of the line might have to wait another two hours or more before discovering if the bargain that they waited so patiently for, was even still available.
By 5:10, I was comfortably snuggled back in my bed…with dreams of shopping online dancing in my head.
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3 Comments
That’s an impressive picture and I admire your dedication. Generally, nothing in the world can get me up that early unless I’m still awake from the night before.
Honestly, a huge discount on a cool GPS unit I was wanting was my initial motivaion, but I suspected that my chances were minimal on scoring the unit. Especially since a line started forming at 9:00 p.m. the night before (a full 8 hours prior to the store’s opening). I rethought trying to shop and decided it might be a fun photo op.
[...] at Toys “R” Us — a full 45 minutes before opening. And two days AFTER that alternative universe shopping experience called 5:00 a.m. Black Friday [...]