The clock strikes midnight, the doors open at Kohl’s and hundreds of shoppers fill the store in minutes, all yelling and screaming with excitement for the low cost items on sale. At times, shoppers actually push and shove to get a prime spot near the discounted items.
“We were at Kohl’s at 10:30 p.m., and my friend and I were very close to the door. People were trying to create another line to get in front of those of us who had been there for over an hour. I knew what I wanted to get Braden and my sister-in-law, so my friend went for the toy and I went for the knives,” said senior English teacher Karla Sprague. “Since I’ve had a child, I’ve been out for the sales every year. It’s crazy fun and saves me a lot of money.”
Black Friday is the day following Thanksgiving and marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season. On this day, stores open at midnight or in the early morning hours, so the shoppers can get a jump on some select sale items. Black Friday is the busiest shopping day of the year.
“We were at Walmart by 9 p.m. for the 10 p.m. sales, at Kohl’s by 10:30 p.m. for the midnight sale, and then we made a quick stop at Target,” Mrs. Sprague said. “The checkout line wrapped all the way around the building, so we left. It was 2 a.m. by the time I crawled into bed.”
Kohl’s is not the only store open for Black Friday. Many stores participate in this type marketing effort, like Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Toys-R-Us, and many others. While customers were thrilled with the low prices and great deals, the store workers that were dealing with thrones of people were not always so thrilled.
“It’s one thing to fight the crowd to get the one item you want,” Mrs. Sprague said. “It’s a whole other ballgame to actually deal with customers and control the crowd. I just grab what I want and get out. There’s no way I would want to work that night.”
The store employees often prepare for this day weeks and months in advance, ordering mass amounts of items to sell at discounted prices. Wal-Mart alone made approximately $10 million per hour during the mad rush of this opening sale.
“Every loss prevention specialist was on-hand, and the police was there guarding the doors in case something happened,” said senior Josh Carroll. Carroll, a lingerie assistant, has worked two Black Fridays during his tenure at Walmart in Springdale.
The large numbers of people seeking the same items certainly can create challenges.
“There were so many people, it was hard dealing with everyone at once and every shopper was in a hurry, so if you were not helping them right away they would get frustrated,” said junior Mary Elizabeth Shirley, who works at Aeropostale.
It was the shopper’s choice if they wanted to wake up early and deal with the insane crowds at the stores, but what about the workers behind the cashier stand?
Many workers sign up for Black Friday, but others just had to deal with the hours they would be working during this very unique sale.
“They scheduled me two weeks in advance to work a shift on Black Friday. I had no choice unless I asked off, but the more hours, the bigger the pay check, so I can’t really complain,” said junior Marissa Peterson, who works at JCPenneys.
Although many workers have to handle the madness of Black Friday and endure harsh hours, they were also adding more hours and cash to the pay checks. Regardless of the extra pay and excitement of the biggest shopping day of the year, some workers are glad to see Black Friday come and go.
“I would rather run with the bulls than open the doors for Black Friday,” said Carroll.
