Brittany Lawrence
Staff Writer
Thanksgiving is just around the corner, which means quickly following is the busiest and crazy shopping day of the year, Black Friday, which falls this year on Nov. 26.
Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving, when many stores have great sales to start off the Christmas shopping season. Most people have the day off as part of the Thanksgiving holiday; therefore many can participate in this renowned day of shopping.
“I work at Tilly’s and right now we are preparing for the Christmas season and for Black Friday,” Tamlyn Tarango, sophomore English major, said.
“We have to hire at least 30 people for the season and we train a lot of cashiers for Black Friday,” Tarango said. “Our promotion for Black Friday is the first 75 customers get a gift card that can range from $10 to $100.”
Black Friday dates back to the mid-1960s and has become fairly popular across the country.
In an unscientific survey of 50 students from the University of La Verne to find out if they regularly shop till they drop on Black Friday, 20 students answered ‘yes’ while 29 answered ‘no’. The last could not decide and settled with a sometimes.
Many people, including the students who answered no, do not like the big crowds and lines that come with shopping on this crazy day.
“I went to Ontario Mills last year on Black Friday when they opened at midnight,” said Spencer Kissick, a sophomore business administration major. “I went to catch some of the good sales they were having but the lines for most of the stores were crazy long so I ended up just being irritated.”
Many large shopping centers and stores open at unusually early hours to start their sales. Customers of stores such as Best Buy have been known to literally camp out in the parking lot in order to be among the first people in the door to get the best sales.
“Our store will be extending its hours from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.,” Tarango said.
Some of the local malls will also be extending their hours such as Ontario Mills which will be open from midnight to 10 p.m. – 22 hours – Friday. Montclair Plaza will be open from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Being first in line for the great sales is easier said than done.
A tip for shoppers who want the good sales would be to know what they want before they start shopping. It would also be good to scope out the stores to see what the sales are and what each store is offering. Then decide which item is the most important to get or which sale is the best.
The best item or sale would be the first line to wait in. Have a game plan for a day’s worth of shopping for the best possible outcome.
This is an important day for many shoppers, to some it is just a regular day, and to others it means a different tradition.
“I do not like to go shopping on Black Friday because I do not like the crowds in the stores,” Stephanie Alon, senior liberal studies major, said.
“I have my own traditions with my sisters instead,” Alon said, “The day after Thanksgiving we always get Starbucks and go to a movie.”
Black Friday means different activities to different people. For many it is a day of intense and hardcore shopping, but some also go just for fun simply to be at a store at an unusual hour. It is not every day that a popular store or shopping center is open at midnight.
It is a shopping tradition that every person should experience at least once.
Brittany Lawrence can be reached at brittany.lawrence@laverne.edu.
