Black Friday in a Small Town
For once, Black Friday was on a payday this year. Not that I ran out in a big rush with a fist full of money for Christmas shopping; groceries take priority. I did however venture out for one item for Christmas that was on sale, a play kitchen for 30.00. The rest of my shopping consisted of some good food deals I found.
In the past however, I avoided the Black Friday crowds. It sounded too scary with the cart run-overs, pushing and shoving, and who in their right mind would show up at 3:00 a.m. at Walmart for the Black Friday sales in North-cold-as-all-get-out-Platte, Nebraska? (You know I love you, for those friends that really do that) I just couldn't bring myself to that. So, I stayed around our small town of 5500 people. I ventured out at 7:30.
This is what I came up on in the Alco parking lot, assuming it would be swarming with people that early. Two cars. Mine made three. I drove over to Pamida for their canned food sale (12 cans for 5.88!) and there were a few more cars and a few more people. No waiting at the registers either! Then I drove all through town to the grocery store. It was dead. All the downtown stores were closed, hardly any cars were milling about. The grocery store had maybe four customers in the whole store.
Hmm...Black Friday shopping isn't so bad.
I have one short funny story to share with you that happened last year, just to give you a good chuckle. Last year I was in Alco again. You can see the other side of the store from the other side of the store, so we're not talking a big store here. For those of you don't know what Alco is, its a general store (same as Pamida), just on a smaller scale than Walmart. I was browsing through the end of the aisle sales when a woman and her mother blew into the store. They were ready! Radios on, check. Carts, check. Hair standing on end, check. Elbows cocked, check. Scary wild eyed look, check. Then in a loud voice they announced their plan. "Mom, you go that way and look for the sweaters. I'll get back to the toys!" And they raced off. I looked around myself. How many other people were racing around the store, frantically clearing off shelves? Um...there was the elderly lady down the aisle from me looking at candy. Then there was a person milling around in the clothes rack. Two checkers were at the registers. There might have been someone back in hardware. Then I hear the radios, "MOM! Did you find the sweaters? I got the toys!" Then I could hear the squeaky wheels race down the aisle as she met up with her mom.
This was actually happening in Alco? There were like, 6 people in the whole store. It was the best scene I've ever seen in a store. I still laugh about it. Maybe it was the wide-eyed look I saw on everyone else's face as they looked around themselves to see what they were missing, or what the big hurry was. Maybe it was the excitement these ladies had that would have been so well served in a bigger store, in a larger city, that here, became a comedic scene. Either way, whenever Black Friday is mentioned, I can't think about the day without remembering this episode.
Now that the official Christmas Season has begun, I'm looking forward to the shopping, baking and singing. I love Christmas! Its my favorite holiday. Having had my outing today, I'll be putting up my tree and decorating the house today. Hope you all have a safe and enjoyable weekend!
In the past however, I avoided the Black Friday crowds. It sounded too scary with the cart run-overs, pushing and shoving, and who in their right mind would show up at 3:00 a.m. at Walmart for the Black Friday sales in North-cold-as-all-get-out-Platte, Nebraska? (You know I love you, for those friends that really do that) I just couldn't bring myself to that. So, I stayed around our small town of 5500 people. I ventured out at 7:30.
This is what I came up on in the Alco parking lot, assuming it would be swarming with people that early. Two cars. Mine made three. I drove over to Pamida for their canned food sale (12 cans for 5.88!) and there were a few more cars and a few more people. No waiting at the registers either! Then I drove all through town to the grocery store. It was dead. All the downtown stores were closed, hardly any cars were milling about. The grocery store had maybe four customers in the whole store.
Hmm...Black Friday shopping isn't so bad.
I have one short funny story to share with you that happened last year, just to give you a good chuckle. Last year I was in Alco again. You can see the other side of the store from the other side of the store, so we're not talking a big store here. For those of you don't know what Alco is, its a general store (same as Pamida), just on a smaller scale than Walmart. I was browsing through the end of the aisle sales when a woman and her mother blew into the store. They were ready! Radios on, check. Carts, check. Hair standing on end, check. Elbows cocked, check. Scary wild eyed look, check. Then in a loud voice they announced their plan. "Mom, you go that way and look for the sweaters. I'll get back to the toys!" And they raced off. I looked around myself. How many other people were racing around the store, frantically clearing off shelves? Um...there was the elderly lady down the aisle from me looking at candy. Then there was a person milling around in the clothes rack. Two checkers were at the registers. There might have been someone back in hardware. Then I hear the radios, "MOM! Did you find the sweaters? I got the toys!" Then I could hear the squeaky wheels race down the aisle as she met up with her mom.
This was actually happening in Alco? There were like, 6 people in the whole store. It was the best scene I've ever seen in a store. I still laugh about it. Maybe it was the wide-eyed look I saw on everyone else's face as they looked around themselves to see what they were missing, or what the big hurry was. Maybe it was the excitement these ladies had that would have been so well served in a bigger store, in a larger city, that here, became a comedic scene. Either way, whenever Black Friday is mentioned, I can't think about the day without remembering this episode.
Now that the official Christmas Season has begun, I'm looking forward to the shopping, baking and singing. I love Christmas! Its my favorite holiday. Having had my outing today, I'll be putting up my tree and decorating the house today. Hope you all have a safe and enjoyable weekend!
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Makes you wonder if they were just playing, huh?
I was downtown about 9:30 and it was quite busy. Of course Radio Shack was the only that had BF sales, and they were out of what I wanted. :(
The worst thing is that the Lampstand is closed all weekend. While I was downtown, I saw several groups of people walk up and try to open the door. On gal said they'd come all the way from Big Springs to have coffee with their family. Bummer...