Variable Markup » black friday

Shopping is done!

Michael Julson — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 05:21:45 +0000

Yesterday I completed my national civic duty to the economy and to the retail industry by finishing up my shopping for the holidays and spending twice the amount I budgeted. It started at 4am on black Friday and finished up yesterday at Circuit City for a few last minute stocking stuffers.

My wife was able to score a Wii for the kids on the first try at EB Games by waiting in line before they opened yesterday. Getting there a couple hours early, she was still third in line. I received txt messages every 20 minutes with updates on how it was going. When she completed payment and I received the call, she sounded like she picked 5 numbers in the Florida lottery. It really makes me wonder if they would have sold as many Wii’s if they were available in every store.

Well, I’ve done my part. Let’s hope that UPS and Fedex do theirs in getting the last online orders delivered by Monday.

Now I’ve got to go grocery shopping for Christmas Eve dinner.

Some Retailers Decide to Release Black Friday Ads Early

Michael Julson — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 01:28:32 +0000

Along with Walmart putting their secret sales online early this year, other retailers are deciding to release their ads earlier than Thanksgiving. According to an article on ToledoBlade.com, Best Buy will release their ad on Wednesday before Thanksgiving and Meijer has already released their ad including a 37 inch LCD TV for $500. After a quick look at the Meijer site, I couldn’t find the ads. A few links found on black friday sites resulted in a page not found. It looks like they changed their mind after publishing the ad.

I think getting the ads out earlier is an interesting way for smaller retailers to compete with the big box stores. If the retailer isn’t going to be able to get the ad coverage, they might as well get their ads out now, build community mindshare and traffic to their site. They can always leave some exclusives for later in the week.

Secret Black Friday Walmart Site Found

Michael Julson — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 01:00:07 +0000

A Secret Black Friday Walmart site was found showing some products at steeper than normal discount with “Secret In-Store Specials”. It appears they are trying to start the holiday savings early with this site. It will be interesting to see if this applies pressure to others to follow suit.

The site makes extensive use of Flash.

Update from NY Times