I’m typing this from Caffe del Doge on University Ave in Palo Alto a little before 9 a.m. and I’ve already been awake for 5+ hours on this ultimate American holiday. This is atypical for me but yesterday during tofurkey dinner the Big Guy mentioned he was going to Microcenter to try and grab a 37″ LCD HD TV for $500 (after rebate, natch). He wouldn’t mind the company if I wanted to go along, especially since our 4Runner was a better transport than his Corolla.
So I picked him up at 4:00 a.m. When we arrived he counted off the line as we strolled from the door to the end; only approximately 650 folks in front of us but a salesperson had assured him Wednesday they had plenty of stock waiting. I’d somehow gotten the notion the doors were opening at 5, incorrect, it was 6, but they opened 30 minutes early, a good thing since I wasn’t quite dressed warmly enough for the pre-dawn chill.
Once the line started flowing, and at a decent clip, my spirits picked up (and the Starbucks coffee helped). After moving about halfway to the door we stopped for awhile and I started hearing chatter. The TVs and $199 laptops, the two big draws, were going fast and you needed a coupon store staff were handing out up front to buy either.
I walked up to investigate and found out this was true and that all the coupons were gone–not that any staffers were going to walk back and inform the out of luck crowd. No one wants to give bad news and I can’t blame the low pay employees who’d gotten up even earlier than me for not wanting to deal with potentially angry customers, though it would have been nice.
Stores are finding it difficult to rise above the noise level now that this day has its own name and budding personal traditions. Target for instance hired goofball David Blaine to perform a stomach churning stunt but that alone, the managers realized, wouldn’t be enough so they topped it off with $500 shopping sprees for 100 local poor children if Blaine was able to complete his stunt by opening time this morning. He did, so nice for the kids, but how he handled being spun eight times a minute in a gyroscope is beyond me.
Now I’m waiting for the Apple Store to open in a few minutes. Ear buds for me and a Nano sport jacket for TS1 to be bought. She’s already left on the train to San Francisco for her own indulgences. Happy Black Friday to you all!
P.S. I did get Shure E2C ear buds at 20% off and the armband as well.
BillSaysThis 