So, did you participate in the madness?

[webseitler]

Did you go out for Black Friday specials?! Are you sleeping it off now? LOL!

When I was in high school, I thought it was so much fun to get dropped off at the mall on BF. Now, I won't touch BF with a ten-foot pole, thank-you-very-much. LOL! I'm also kinda ticked off at companies (like Toys 'R Us!) that are opening at ridiculous times, like 5 p.m. on THANKSGIVING! I don't want to support that sort of madness. 5 a.m. on Friday was one thing. 5 p.m. on Thursday is just wrong. I feel terrible for the families of employees that lose their holiday time over one shopping day! Sigh...

But I digress.

Did you go out and score a deal?

[Beebo]

No! I can't stand crowds.

[Txcorey]

I went to Walmart around 11am today to try to get the Disney Infinity game, but they were already sold out. I don't do the Thanksgiving Day shopping or really early Friday stuff. I don't like crowds but I figured it was worth it to go see if they had any left. Had to get lights for my tree anyway. My pre lit tree lights have gone out! Blah. I hate putting lights on the tree!

[fifilur]

I'm not in the US, so no
Our big sale day here in Sweden is Boxing day, but I never go. I really hate the crowds and stress, and I do my shopping online instead.

[webseitler]

Originally Posted by Txcorey

Had to get lights for my tree anyway. My pre lit tree lights have gone out! Blah. I hate putting lights on the tree!

Oh, no! That's, like, the best part of having an artificial tree! LOL! We're hosting a party at our house today or I'd be getting our tree up today, too. It's that time! w00t!

[nesser1981]

The hubby and I went. We only went to Target, Kohls, JcPenny's & Michaels. Target we waited in line for 45 minutes, but we didn't go for anything special, I got pj's for me and the kids, a new purse and wallet.

Penny's we waited 10 minutes in line, Kohls the line was crazy, but hubby got something at the jewelry counter and he only waited maybe 15 minutes and paid for everything up there.

We had a great time, got home around 1:30 am.

[MamaBee]

Never... I loathe crowds... I did all my shopping on the web...

[adi&co.]

we didn't go last night, but we just got a kindle from bestbuy and have to go pick it up. Our son's kindle was stolen from us the day before we moved this year so i'm glad we're able to replace it. It's used for therapy reasons, so he needs it!

[Rubia Padilha]

I'm SO curious to go to one of the black friday madness you have! hahah One day I will! hahahah

[pewtertm]

I hate dealing with the crazy crowds, especially if I don't have much money to spend! We did just about all of our shopping online, and didn't need anything, so I skipped it today.

[DawnMarch]

I didn't but my mom and sis went to Walmart last night to get flat screens for $100. They waited in line for 2.5 hours, but they did finally get them.

[taracotta7]

I just can't. I am always wishing I was better in crowds like that so I can take advantage of some of those deal. I just have a very low tolerance for stupid and rude. It wouldn't be pretty if I was out there. I would be a headline you read about and I would just rather not go down that road.

[jaylensmom]

Unfortunately I'm at work so I couldn't go...There were people camping out for a week at a Best Buy about 30 minutes from where I live...Now that is beyond CRAZY to me.

[Milmomma]

I work retail so I've been working it. I just took a short nap and now I go back in to work again.

[Lindsay]

We did Target last night, needed to replace a TV so we waited outside for 1.5 hours and were in and out of the store within 13 minutes with the new TV and all of the stocking stuffer DVDs. We did Game Stop at 6 a.m. for the XBox 360 (the big gift for the year) and swung by Best Buy next door to grab Breaking Bad for $10/season. Now we just have to wait until Christmas to watch it. Knock on wood, we've never had a bad experience with Black Friday and DH and I make a tradition every year.

[Misty Cato]

Nope, I avoid crowds. I took Baby Girl ice skating and now we are home lunching on leftovers and watching college rivalry football.

[breakingbrie]

I didn't go this year. Nothing really jumped out at me that had a great sale and I had to have. When the girls were younger, it was fun to go out with SIL and make a night of it, scoring great deals on the big toys. I did run out a bit ago to grab some cute tumblers for the girls - wanted to grab them before they ran out. It was still a madhouse! lol.

Some years it's been fun, some crazy. The craziest thing I ever saw was the woman who punched the Toys R Us manager because she wasn't in line early enough to get a voucher for a big ticket item, but she stole one off the pallet inside anyways, so when there was one customer left with a voucher and no rocking horse, they went through the line to see who had it. When they tried to take it away from her she just flipped out. lol, she threw her cart upside down then 'tripped' over it and tried to tell everyone that the manager pushed her. Then she sat on the box and wouldn't let them take it. When he called for help getting her out of there, she punched him, and tried to run off with the box. *smh* over a toy. I like when everyone is happy and nice. Makes the whole trip easier.

[nesser1981]

I would not ever go to Walmart of Toys R Us, those are my spots I avoid at all cost.

[NeverendingJen]

We didn't go for the madness, but browsed HL and Target this afternoon.

[lauren grier]

no.. never have. i'd have a major panic attack dealing with the crowds. online for me please.

[Txcorey]

Originally Posted by webseitler

Oh, no! That's, like, the best part of having an artificial tree! LOL! We're hosting a party at our house today or I'd be getting our tree up today, too. It's that time! w00t!

Tell me about it. I seriously considered going to buy a new one. If I hadn't already fluffed it, I probably would have. lol

[carriesmom]

Nope. I worked this year. I don't want to support this opening on Thursday nonsense like Nicole. It just strikes me as wrong. I did cruise online. I got disney infinity, Big Bang theory season 6, and two scooters for good deals. I am almost done with shopping.

[Stacey42]

I thought about trying Game Stop for the xbox deal but couldn't quite bring myself to get up early enough. And it was bitter cold last night, so I waited and ordered a different deal from Amazon. Not as good, but much warmer. If we'd been at my folks in FL I would have gone to Game Stop. There wasn't anything else that caught my interest.

[rach3975]

I usually love BF, but we were traveling today. With Hanukkah so early this year, I wouldn't have waited until BF to shop anyway. I refuse to participate in the Thursday store openings, too.

[lovely1m]

I did. I went to Wal-Mart and Ulta last night. Frankly, the Thursday openings worked better for me and I was quite happy. First, I work, an evening opening is when I am not at work. Second, I am normally home alone holidays anyway since I work, this makes me feel better. Third, it's bitter cold up here and evenings are normally warmer than middle of the night. Many, many people work Thanksgiving and not all are necessary (my job is, I get it), I don't see the backlash for the people working football games or gas stations or restaurants, etc.

[elseepe]

First time ever, my daughter convinced me to go to the doorbuster event at Target last night. It was busy, a little crazy, but actually not so bad. We weren't after any electronics deals, but we were in and out in under an hour. Today, I've just been browsing and shopping digi sales.

[SeattleSheri]

I went to Sports Authority to pick up a pair of skis. I was in and out in 15 minutes

[glumirk]

I did by proxy. Lol! My friend messaged me last night about a sale on quilting flannel at Joann's, and since she was going anyway she was able to pick it up for me at 75% off so I can finally finish DS's quilt.

[KristinCB]

online i am!

[BrattyMeg]

Ran to walmart around 830 last night or so not looking for anything really and was in and out in 10 mins. Then we went to the outlets around 11pm last night (they opened at 10) and besides the traffic to get in and park it was pretty seamless..it was crowded but wasn't bad at all. Didn't buy anything except shoes for the boy child. Got home a little after 3am and crashed. Hit Target later today and wasn't bad. Honestly probably the least crowded Black Friday I've ever seen.

[YepBrook]

We don't do Black Friday... ever! My DH hates shopping and I am the type who likes to browse and *think* about things forever before buying, so the hustle and rush of it doesn't appeal to me.

BUT

We had a date night planned tonight, and went out for sushi. So we decided to just stop by Toys R Us real quick and see if there was anything worth grabbing. And there was. A $130 Star Wars lego set that Ben would love (in his wildest dreams) for only $80. Which by the way is still PAINFUL for me to spend on freaking Legos. So we bought it, but we are keeping the receipt for sure because I already have buyers remorse even though it was a good deal. I would rather buy him 2 $40 sets. But I'm weird like that. It just feels better.

[rachaelsscraps]

I went to Walmart for the 30% off all Lego's sale.. bought a few sets for my son, and ended up buying myself a DSLR bundle! LOL

[lovely1m]

Originally Posted by YepBrook

We had a date night planned tonight, and went out for sushi. So we decided to just stop by Toys R Us real quick and see if there was anything worth grabbing. And there was. A $130 Star Wars lego set that Ben would love (in his wildest dreams) for only $80. Which by the way is still PAINFUL for me to spend on freaking Legos. So we bought it, but we are keeping the receipt for sure because I already have buyers remorse even though it was a good deal. I would rather buy him 2 $40 sets. But I'm weird like that. It just feels better.

Lego Star Wars Republic Gunship? That's what I got for the same deal.

[d2vasquez]

We went to Walmart for the Iphone deal and spent 5 hours there just waiting since their computer system went down to activate the phones. Finally when the store manager realized people were going to get really upset, they took everyone's name down and told them they would call them back when it is up......so now we wait and hope they follow through. Very frustrating cuz we wanted to go other places but didn't get a chance.

[YepBrook]

Originally Posted by lovely1m

Lego Star Wars Republic Gunship? That's what I got for the same deal.

Yes! That's the one.

[origami]

I went to bed at a reasonable hour last night and then slept late this morning. Eventually, we did go to Half Price books, where we sold off the video games that the kids aren't playing anymore. I had a coupon and bought a couple books, so I guess I sort of participated in Black Friday, maybe, but not really. It wasn't even particularly busy there. However, I am busy trying to decide what to get from SSD this weekend. I would rather support Robyn and all the women who are part of this amazing small business here.

At least, I don't think that SSD is located in some skyscraper office building with Robyn as Mr. Scrooge CEO and all the designers working madly at their desktops like Bob Cratchit......

[Tracyfish]

My husband thought we would just "run into Bealls" here at 8:00 when they opened. He had no idea the madness that comes with BF. He was shocked at the line outside. It was actually pretty funny and we got to stand in line with some very friendly people so it turned into a fun experience.

[luckyme]

I didn't plan on going, but then we went to the "little mall" to pick up some mitts for my daughter (she lost hers). Fortunately it wasn't too crazy. I found a few deals -- a hockey jersery for my son at 30% off and ornaments at 40% off. The line-up to see Santa was small so we did that too. Kids were thrilled. I also picked up some Lightroom presets at 50% off online at home. Good stuff!

[kristalund]

nope. but i shopped here

[Lelly]

When people talk about BF, I get a little jealous as I'm from the UK and we don't really do that here. Despite the fact I can barely handle the busyness and ignorance from people on a regular day at the shops as it is! Ha

[Darcy Baldwin]

I bought one present on Amazon, and went out to eat. That's the extend of any Black Friday-ness I participated in!

I worked in retail for far too many years and experienced Black Friday from the other side. It forever changed how I felt about this particular weekend, so I don't imbibe

[scrapsuzy]

I have loved shopping on Black Friday for the past 12 years. Loved it. The past 3 years, I've even done a bit on Thanksgiving Day itself. I love the crowds and the craziness (to a point).

This year I shopped Kohl's before BF, and got as-good-as-or-better than BF deals. On Thursday & Friday, I shopped online at Walmart, Target, Best Buy, and Amazon, and got what I wanted from them, on sale. There wasn't any real reason left for me to go out on BF, and so I didn't.

I missed it. But I did enjoy the rest & relaxation I had instead. And I shopped SSD, of course!

[webseitler]

I needed to buy myself a new bra, so I headed to the mall and not only was it not crowded, I still got the Black Friday deal. I was pleasantly surprised.

[bexy]

i tried to do two online stores - Khol's and Macy's since we're not in the states right now. i wanted to have them shipped to my in-laws and we'll just get our stuff when we get there in May. well, that WAS the plan, but both of those sites couldn't 'process your request" and "please call on monday and we'll help you then'. yeah, well by then the stuff i want will be sold out and not on sale any more. i'm pretty irritated since it took awhile of my time and now i get nothing for it!!!