Shopping on Black Friday

This constitutes my shopping experience on Black Friday.   I had to be at work about 6:20 am……. so I decided I’d swing by Best Buy in South St. Louis County which opened at 5 a.m..   I got up at 3:57 a.m. exactly one hour earlier than normal and left home about 4:30.  I arrived in the parking lot of Best Buy right at 5:00 a.m. … opening time.   The lot was pretty full and I parked in a fire lane against the side of the building.   As I was getting out of my car I noticed a guy pulling out of a ‘real’ parking spot (legal) so I quickly maneuvered my car into that spot.  It didn’t occur to me why he was leaving as the store opened.  Maybe he was the first one in and got his purchase quickly.

After exiting my car and walking around to the front of the building I notice a couple of police cars in front of the store near the entrance.   Then I notice a line of people extending to the far end of the building.  The Geek Sqaud members were already letting people into the store, so I didn’t think it would take long to get in.  As I headed for the rear of the line, I noticed that it turned the corner at the far side of this rather large building.  I walked on down there to the corner… and saw the line extended quite a way back down the side of the building.   It was still dark out so I couldn’t really tell how far it went.  It wasn’t long before I noticed it had passed the end of the Best Buy building and had conquered another large building that sits behind Best Buy (not sure what store it is).

It was then during this trek of mine that I notice the line curving into the parking lot… and it continued up one of the lanes in the parking lot.  I’m sure there were more than a thousand people waiting there to get a deal on some electronic treasure which the ads clearly stated, on the more popular items anyway, that there was a minimum of 4 or 5 items per store.  

I know there were many unhappy shoppers… many unfulfilled Christmas present purchases, and many restless geeks hoping to get the latest and greatest electronic gizmos to add to their collections… and all at bargain prices, no less.  So the dream of cheap giant plasma TV’s and home theater systems and $200 computer systems will have to wait for another day.  I wonder how many just whipped out the debit cards and bought what was left.

After taking these pictures I walked to my car and went in to work an hour early.  The store probably would have been empty by the time I got in there anyway.   Fortunately I wasn’t in “need” of anything in particular but did spot some bargains that I would have picked up had I gotten in. 

Now I remember why, a couple years ago, when I ventured out early on Black Friday morning, that I sad “Never again”.  It was a good reminder.