Black Friday

Every year you see those people who camp out all night long outside of the stores. I have always said those people are crazy. There can't possibly be a deal that is good enough to sit outside in the cold with no sleep, just to run inside, fight the crowd, and maybe get the item you came to wait for in the first place.

Well I have officially become part of the crazy crew!! Last night my brother, sister-in-law, and I took part in the early morning Black Friday Ritual. CompUSA opened at midnight we decided we would run in there grab a few small things, be out by 1:00, go home and sleep till 3:30 then head to Circuit City for the items there we wanted to grab. Well our plan didn't work at CompUSA. We got what we wanted fairly quickly, however we ended up waiting in line for the next hour and a half just to check out. So needless to say we didn't get out of there until 2:00. At that point we decided to just stay up all night.

We ran home to grab our coats and then went and had breakfast at IHOP. By the time we were finished at IHOP we went on to Circuit City. We got there at about 3:30 the store opened at 5:00. There were about 100 people in front of us and at that time we came up with our strategy. Our phrase for the day became divide and conquer. Gail would go to the check out and get in line while Brian and I would run and find what we wanted. Cell phones played a key role in the success of our mission. When the doors opened we managed to get in the store get our 3 items and check out in 15 minutes time, much better then earlier in the evening.

So on to JC Penny we go. We got there and even got the free gift when we walked in. We were in and out of JC Penny by 5:45 and were on the way to Toys-R-Us. I have to say Toy-R-Us was the craziest of all the places we went. We had to wait outside for about 10 minutes because the store didn't open until 6:00. But the plan worked without a hitch. It was harder to find all of the items we wanted then it was to get checked out. We were in and out of there in 45 minutes.

The last stop of the morning was Target. The parking lot there was the worst part of Target and we didn't get exactly what we wanted. Brian had found a close parking spot however when we went to leave the traffic on the way out wasn't moving. After about 10 minutes Brain had the bright idea of going behind the store. No one was back there! So we made it out and was back at home and in bed by 8:00.

We actually beat our time from last years trip, except for the staying up all night part. It took us 5 hours to go to two stores last year. We managed 4 stores in 2 this year. I think the key to this whole Black Friday craziness is to have a small group and a plan.

Of course we were dumb enough to head back out into the crowds at 4:00 this afternoon as well. At that time stores were still packed. But we got some great deals and to tell you the truth we had a lot of fun. I would say we had a very successful Black Friday experience.

Tips for those of you who are thinking about braving the craziness next year.
1) Take at least one or two friends (you need someone to talk to while you wait)
2) Divide and Conquer (don't forget your cell phones)
3) Use the Circulars (pick what you want before you get there)
4) Have a Plan!!!
5) Be Patient and have fun