So, What's All the Hype?

OK, so today is Black Friday. I decided to participate, on a limited basis. I don't get up at 4:00 am for anything. My Black Friday shopping started at 9:oo am, a much more reasonable hour, if you ask me. I went shopping with my mom, we needed each other for moral support, and there is strength in numbers! Our first stop was Wal*Mart. There were a few items pictured in their ad that I was interested in taking a look at. When we got to the store the crowd was not bad. Wal*Mart's answer to the shopping madness was to put all of their "Door Busters" in cardboard display boxes in and around all of the main aisles. What a mess!!! When we did finally manage to find a few of the items that we were interested in, the quality was poor. So, we ended up with a few DVD's, and a couple of stocking stuffer's.

Our next stop was Toys 'R' Us. The store was packed. There were two lines, each reaching far back in the store that you had to get in just to then, get in a register line. No Thank You!!! We took a quick look around the store, it was such a mess that even if they did have something that we were interested in, we would never have been able to locate it. Total spent at Toys 'R' Us...$0.

Our next stop was a mall that is close to Toys 'R' Us. It was not too busy, but all that I came away with were some clothing items for my girls, from a store that did not even have a Black Friday ad, Children's Place. They do however send me coupons in the mail, so I am a loyal customer.

Finally, we decided to go to my favorite store...Target! Target was busy, but not excessive. They still had lots of items in stock. They actually had everything that I went there for. So, thanks to Target our shopping trip was not a total loss. I came away with two or three items for each of my kids and a few incidentals that I needed. Thank you Target!

My take on Black Friday is this...it is mainly for people who just love to shop in chaos, and are willing to buy anything that they think is a good deal. If you have specific gift ideas in mind, Black Friday may not be for you.

My lesson for next year...get up at 7:30 am, eat a little breakfast and go straight to Target!