Topic: Black Friday

Early bird shoppers queue up in the cold awaiting Black Friday bargains

By Bill Larson | November 23, 2007 |

For some Clarksville residents, Black Friday started as early as 2 p.m. Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, when they began to queue up at Best Buy. By 8 p.m., lines of bargain shoppers were forming at a number of selected stores — generally electronics stores — around the city.

Cold weather dipping below the freezing mark did not deter these hardy shoppers, many of whom spent the earlier portion of Thanksgiving Day browsing the inch-thick stack of store sale flyers in the daily paper, scoping out the biggest, best sales. Many are motivated by expected “early bird” gifts and extra discounts offered to the first group of people in the store.

Electronics — everything from Digital High Definition televisions to computers or cameras seemed to be the gift of choice, as evidenced by the stores with the earliest arrivals and longest lines. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: News | No Comments

Black Friday: Consumed by consumerism

By Christine Anne Piesyk | November 19, 2007 |

“Black Friday” has traditionally been the start of the holiday retail season, a ghastly exercise in consumerism that has reached epic proportions, taking the focus off the Thanksgiving holiday and instead thrusting the spear of hefty ads sections to be perused during the Turkey day half-time shows.

All week I have been reading about stores launching pre-Thanksgiving Day sales, and “news” stories of 4 a.m. openings and expected lines of customers, steaming coffee in hand, snaking around buildings in long lines, queued up to vie for the best of the best bargains ASAP.

Sorry, folks. I don’t buy it. Or I should say, I already bought it, back in January, when the end of season sales happened. I shopped heartily and at my leisure, picking up great deals for as much as 80% off the lowest ticket price. I keep a covered bin handy in the back of my closet for such purchases; I find, buy, fold or package carefully and store. Comes in handy for occasional birthdays, “just because” gifts, extras for the grandchildren, and of course, Christmas giving. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Business, Opinion | No Comments