Black Friday: The Aftermath

It has been five days and a few hours since my last blog and these are my sins.

All confessional joking aside, I survived a sixth Black Friday. It was not easy. They never are. By far the worst part about Black Friday in retail is in the preparation and the stress of not knowing what to expect. For example, last year we prepared at the very last minute, got the tickets in a rush, threw all the specials on the floor and just hoped for the best. The outcome was overwhelming and our location did well more than we expected. This year, with all the years of experience, added time for preparation, and increased labor expense the dollars just weren't there. I'd like to thank the city of Cerritos for giving me the pleasure of having Westinghouse and Coby brand TVs in my overstock to try and sell through now (Fuck!).

For the past two years the hottest items on Black Friday were actually offered at some other point during the year, except now they're magnified by the hype. Take for example the Samsung TV and BluRay bundle for $999.99. There were loads better deals than this throughout 2010 but I guess nobody got their Sunday Press Telegram those weeks. We couldn't sell enough of these bundle deals. Everything was bundled. We sold bundles that had bundles attached to more bundles. Products will never be sold alone ever again on Black Friday. I wish PizzaHut would bundle in some quepapas, wings, and breadsticks on all of my future orders.

My ten hour shift was exhausting, not that I'm complaining. The day flew by and I consumed at least three regular Coca-Colas, one Sprite, one Vitamin water, and an unspecified amount of Domino's Pizza (that new seasoned crust is delicious, by the way). The day seemed like one big blur of people and shopping carts.

In the end, nobody was trampled, no cars were stolen, and no customers shouted like animals. Maybe my assessment is unfair since I didn't actually open like I did last year, but for the most part everyone behaved and got their cheap ass crap peacefully and orderly.