Black Friday

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1joester2

1joester2

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Joined
Aug 4, 2008
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938
Location
Upstate, NY
I thoroughly enjoyed my BLACK Friday experience at Walmart...


I pre-purchased my items online choosing the "ship to store" option, walked past the lines waiting for the store stock to be released, handed my receipt to the clerk who in turn gave me the items everyone had to wait for, and I left.


I was home before the store stock items were released to the public waiting in those long lines.


...seems I know what end of the pool is what....and I got them at the B.F. price too.
 
1joester2 said:
I thoroughly enjoyed my BLACK Friday experience at Walmart...


I pre-purchased my items online choosing the "ship to store" option, walked past the lines waiting for the store stock to be released, handed my receipt to the clerk who in turn gave me the items everyone had to wait for, and I left.


I was home before the store stock items were released to the public waiting in those long lines.


...seems I know what end of the pool is what....and I got them at the B.F. price too.
Click to expand...



I am impressed...(& that's not a sarcastic reply..I truly mean it)
 
I prefer to do my shopping with a keyboard.  Amazon super saving free shipping is usually 2-3 days for anything I buy, and it's cheaper than in the stores.
 
Two words - Gift Cards. Buy them when the grocery stores are giving 3x or 4x points and you can end up with a nice discount on gas.

Wendy
 
I ordered all the lights and fans from the internet for the new little rental, I use Bellacor and find the sales and got them for a good price.  From Faucet.com I got a couple of items.  From Amazon, ( don't laugh, hubby was wanting a urinal for his new garage so I ordered the stuff from Amazon, I didn't realize there were so many kinds) bet he gets a laugh about that for Christmas, I have to wrap it too!!  Obviously will only be us here so ok.

Then I went to Sears and ordered all the appliances for that house too and saved about $230.  They will be delivered up there.  I do have to go buy the icemaker, dryer and stove hookups because I was not sure what to get.

That was sure easier then shopping.
 
I shopped like Ned.  Wal*Mart had $.97 cent shipping on any item (bought a case of some special oil that was shipped that way) and free shipping on all electronics.  I also did some BF shopping at Amazon who had the same prices as our local 4AM ones but no sales tax and free shipping too.  Plus I slept in.
 
Honestly we are all going to keep doing this cyber shopping till we run the brick and mortar stores out of business then wonder what happened to them.
 
I avoid Black Friday and most other busy shopping days in the stores, but I still prefer to get things locally where I can see/feel/sometimes-try them. But the trend to on-line has made it tougher and tougher to do that. The problem (for me) is exacerbated because I don't seem to buy the stuff that sells by the carload, but rather the higher end items (especially in cameras/electronics, and a few other areas), thus what I'm after is usually not carried locally, these days, even stuff that used to be common in local stores.

So I'm stuck doing a lot of stuff on-line, having to guess at how well something suits me, risking having to return it.

So your comment, Carolyn, about "keep doing this cyber shopping till we run the brick and mortar stores out of business" is already in progress, and has been for quite a few years.
 
I think eventually the B&M stores will be warehouses, and I think many will join forces so pick ups from several "stores" can be made form one place.
I also think Malls will die off due to the incredible cost the property owners rake off the stores, who only pass the cost on to us.

Maybe the malls will be the warehouses?
 
My husband and I are very very guilty of buying online.  He has the same problem of finding items he used to get in a normal hardware store.  The big box ones don't keep that stuff and the little hardware stores are gone.

I just ordered all the light fixtures for the rental online, most from Bellacor.  They have high end items and I go to the clearance or overstocks for those items and get really nice ones, same with Faucet. com.  We also use Amazon a lot.  I enjoy sitting in the comfort of the house ordering these things.

Also ordered all the appliances from Sears for it on cyber Monday, so I'm very very guilty.
 
PatrioticStabilist said:
Honestly we are all going to keep doing this cyber shopping till we run the brick and mortar stores out of business then wonder what happened to them.
Click to expand...

Well first off it is estimated only 75 % of Americans own a computer and I really doubt more that half of those people shop online. So I don't think B&M stores will be going anywhere for a while.
 
It's not just the internet that's killing the small stores but the big box and wholesale chains.  The small stores can only thrive in the smaller towns where it's not convenient to drive to a Home Depot, Costco, Walmart, or the like.  And where there used to be 2 or 3 similar, competing, stores, there is usually just one left.

Of course, the big chains also have online stores so they win either way.
 
They are few and far between, but some of the small B&M stores also go online.  However it's usually in specialized areas.  For example, I buy a lot of sailboat parts online from a few small stores.  They could not survive from local buyers only and there are no local B&M stores for me to buy these items, so works good for me too. 
 
There were conversations like this when Sam Walton was starting out and people feared that he would change the way people shopped, which he did.  But it's only because we support the new ways of convenience and price cutting.  They aren't successful unless they give shoppers something they will support. 
 
Ned said:
It's not just the internet that's killing the small stores but the big box and wholesale chains.  The small stores can only thrive in the smaller towns where it's not convenient to drive to a Home Depot, Costco, Walmart, or the like.  And where there used to be 2 or 3 similar, competing, stores, there is usually just one left.

Of course, the big chains also have online stores so they win either way.
Click to expand...

Where we used to live in So. CA, the big stores moved in and some of  the small stores closed due to fear of them.  A few stayed and specalized in items unique to the local homes and SERVICE.  That was over 20 years ago and the last time we were in So. CA, 2009, they were still there and doing as well or better than before the big stores came into the area.

Here in the Bozeman area, the ACE Hardware just opened a new store 2 years ago and kept the old store open.  The True Value, which had burned down, rebuilt a newer and bigger store and is doing well.  These stores are doing well.  We did lose another store but that was due to the real estate fisco and not due to business.  It are sorely missed.

Both Lowes and Home Depot are still here but a local home store recently expanded and is also doing well.  A member of church has another home supply store and says their business is as good as can be expected with the current economy.

Service and unique items as well as the broader line seem to be the secret for local stores to survive, emphasis on servce.
 
Brenda and I had our Mom and Pop flooring retail store- we did great- till Homey/Lowes showed up with all their fancy gimmicks. We were doomed. Closed the store, I went to work just installing and now Brenda has a great job. Maybe it was a blessing.
 
Our local ACE is also doing well, even thought a huge Lowe's opened here last year and Home Depot has been in town a number of years.  In fact, the owner of the Ace store just opened another in a nearby town about a year ago, and he has another in another town about 30 miles away.  So he's doing o.k.  Every time we go in to the local one, there are about 15-20 people shopping.  One thing we like is that it is not a big area to walk around in.  We are greeted at the door by a "sales clerk" asking if he/she can help us find something.  Sometimes we know just what we want and go right to the item.  Other times we let them direct us and help us in our choices.  I think the clue to their success is perhaps the personal service you don't get in the big box stores.  In ANY of the big boxes it is rare that we can even find anyone around the dept we're in to ask a question.  We avoid just about all of them (big boxes) when we can.  The biggest reason is the size of most of them now.  They are gigantic for our old legs, and trying to find various items without having to walk miles to find it is a big thing for us now.  So yes, we're in favor of the small B&M and shop at them when ever we can.  But we do also shop on-line, more so than we used to.

Daisy
 
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