Sarah Maddox
Reporter
Every year, the Friday after Thanksgiving is when retailers open up stores with special sales and promotions for holiday shopping. The term “Black Friday” has been used because retail stores usually have enough sales this Friday to place them “in the black”, or having more profits than losses.
The superstore Target had doorbuster deals for as low as $5 and $10, starting at 9 p.m. Thanksgiving night. At 5 a.m. on Friday morning, Wal-Mart opened their doors with great deals on everything from electronics to jewelry. Deals like these attract people looking to save some money on holiday gifts. In fact, a record 59.1 billion was spent shopping this Thanksgiving weekend according to learnvest.com.
Sophomore Emma Patch experienced the Wal-Mart bargains early Friday morning. “The place was absolutely crazy, packed with people,” she said. “There were all these lines. People were lining up for the big products like laptops, televisions, and game consoles.” The craziness that Emma described is not uncommon for Wal-Mart on Black Friday. In 2008, an employee of Wal-Mart was trampled to death by shoppers trying to get the early deals.
Junior Jon Andersson also went shopping at Wal-Mart last friday, but unfortunately it was an unsuccessful trip. “I didn’t buy anything because it was too busy and I didn’t want to wait in the lines,” he said.
Unlike Jon, freshman Jennifer Daley did not have trouble accessing the sales she wanted. She woke up at 5 a.m. and was at the mall by 6 a.m. “All of the doorbusters were available until noon,” she said. “ Almost everything was 50 percent off.”
After Black Friday ended, the shopping certainly did not end. On Cyber Monday, online retailers offered special deals similar to those found on Black Friday.
The National Retail Federation stated that an estimated 51.8% of U.S. consumers did their shopping online this year, a 5% increase from 2011.
Along with her Black Friday shopping experience, Emma checked out what deals she could find online. “I found some amazing sales, but some of the sites crashed while I was on them because too many people were online at once,” she said.
Sophomore Katie Harshbarger also shopped on Cyber Monday. “I got some really good deals. At one store, everything was 50% off with free shipping.” Plenty of other stores reeled in customers with free shipping as well this Cyber Monday.
Whether people shopped on Black Friday or Cyber Monday this holiday season, they certainly were able to find some great deals that are only available once a year.
Sophomore Billy Carrabino weighed in on the shopping experience. “It’s not worth it to actually shop on Black Friday because all of the deals are online now,” he said. “There’s no point in going to the stores and dealing with the crowds. But shopping on Cyber Monday is definitely completely worth it.”
