Archived Black friday

[ncc1701]

Anyone have any interesting inside info on Black Friday 2012?
Are we opening at midnight again?
Last year I found out on the web, NOT from my Target store, that we were opening at midnight!
Us sales floor peons are usually the last to be told about anything important... 🙂

 

[StaticSun]

I'll start thinking about BF after Halloween...

 

[Mr Quickart]

The only thing I have seen was while I was poking around the message boards. It had an ominous line in it. "Holiday hours will be announced during a conference call at a later date." I assume this is to prevent a situation similar to last year with their last minute change.

 

[insiteful1]

Store level is starting to question a Thanksgiving opening. The test in Denver last year is making everyone very leery. A couple of my ETL's that have been with the company for a loooooooooooooooong time and have far reaching tentacles are both getting that same feeling. There are going to be some big electronics releases this year and spot would love to be on that train.

 

[Retail Girl]

Please, no....my family is all in another state, and that will be the only time I get to see them between now and Christmas...

 

[GlobalJ]

No. Just no. I'm already going to be traveling for the holiday and am not looking forward to having to leave early to work Black Friday (if I can get a closing shift it wouldn't be as bad, but thats not my point) We do have family and friends we would like to spend time with you know, its not all about money

 

[targetHL]

Opening on Thanksgiving will pose a problem in some states. In my state we legally couldn't open at midnight last year, because that would require workers to get to the building before midnight (on thanksgiving), which would result in Target getting finned. So instead, we had to open at 1am

 

[Softlines Owns My Soul]

Seriously what is the point of this. Lol at, "work life balance." I think they meant to say, "work is life"

 

[insiteful1]

We will see what happens, but do NOT anticipate anything later than a midnight opening......

 

[STLinMaking]

My guess is that we will all know more after the national sales meeting in two weeks!

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

My bet is to be open on thanksgiving. It was tested in Denver area stores. I am not too execited about it.

 

[Lane13]

Anyone have any interesting inside info on Black Friday 2012?
Are we opening at midnight again?
Last year I found out on the web, NOT from my Target store, that we were opening at midnight!
Us sales floor peons are usually the last to be told about anything important... 🙂

Get the Black Friday app--says Target will open @ midnight.

 

[Guest Attendant]

Seriously what is the point of this. Lol at, "work life balance." I think they meant to say, "work is life"

Working in retail on the holidays..... you should know this by now..

Opening on Thanksgiving will pose a problem in some states. In my state we legally couldn't open at midnight last year, because that would require workers to get to the building before midnight (on thanksgiving), which would result in Target getting finned. So instead, we had to open at 1am

What kind of BS law is that? Let me guess hospitals must close after dark?

No. Just no. I'm already going to be traveling for the holiday and am not looking forward to having to leave early to work Black Friday (if I can get a closing shift it wouldn't be as bad, but thats not my point) We do have family and friends we would like to spend time with you know, its not all about money

Please, no....my family is all in another state, and that will be the only time I get to see them between now and Christmas...

To John and Retailgirl, all due respect this is part of working retail during the holidays. If family is that important then you shouldn't have applied at a retail store knowing at the end of the year you'll be busy as **** working. Even if Target did a 5 or 6am opening you still have to work and miss time with them - even if you work mid or closing as I'm sure they won't come for dinner and leave right afterward. (whats the point of spending time then if you are only there for a few hours?)

I might see things differently. Now this isn't aimed at anyone here personnaly but I just don't get why people talk about how family is soooooooooooo important and yet somehow Thanksgiving and Christmas seems to be the only time you get to see them. Is there some law I don't know about that states this? Yes,we have busy lives but growing up there were times I saw my aunt or cousins in the middle of summer. Guess planing is something some people don't know how to do. Its better to ask for time off in July then to ask for it at the end of November.

Regardless of the time stores open, people still shop - despite some being angry of an early opening -

 

[dek067]

Working in retail on the holidays..... you should know this by now..



What kind of BS law is that? Let me guess hospitals must close after dark?





To John and Retailgirl, all due respect this is part of working retail during the holidays. If family is that important then you shouldn't have applied at a retail store knowing at the end of the year you'll be busy as **** working. Even if Target did a 5 or 6am opening you still have to work and miss time with them - even if you work mid or closing as I'm sure they won't come for dinner and leave right afterward. (whats the point of spending time then if you are only there for a few hours?)

I might see things differently. Now this isn't aimed at anyone here personnaly but I just don't get why people talk about how family is soooooooooooo important and yet somehow Thanksgiving and Christmas seems to be the only time you get to see them. Is there some law I don't know about that states this? Yes,we have busy lives but growing up there were times I saw my aunt or cousins in the middle of summer. Guess planing is something some people don't know how to do. Its better to ask for time off in July then to ask for it at the end of November.

Regardless of the time stores open, people still shop - despite some being angry of an early opening -

i think they should ask for volunteers since you would get holiday pay. a lot of people would like to come in for a little extra $$$. guest attendant, wanna volunteer in my spot? :excited:

ill be working 4-12 that morning on turkey day and coming back in at midnight on bf if we open the same as last year.

 

[Bucky]

I understand arguments for both sides. At my store last year, our STL said she would do her best not to make anyone work if it interfered with a family gathering. She herself was pretty upset about the whole 12am thing. I personally didn't mind working at midnight. Others worked that evening. I only know of one person who had an absolute difficulty with her schedule. She talked with our STL and they worked it out. I am posotive that if I went to her and said i couldn't work until the evening, she would let me.

Everybody's store isn't like this. I get that.

To Guest Attendant: You are right in a lot of aspects in your message. We are in retail to sell things. But I have to disagree on at least this point. Thanksgiving, for my family, is when people gather from far away to see each other. If I didn't see them at Thanksgiving, I would not see them for years at a time because I can't afford to travel to see each one individually. And yes, we could do it some other time, say on Arbor Day. But until recently, it was a given that people did not work on Thanksgiving.

You don't see the erosion of this family time as just a little sad and unnecessary? After all, aren't we open 362 other days?

But then again, I guess if i don't like it I can quit.

 

[calimero]

Why not simply be open 24hr a day ,year around and screw any family life ,because ,afterall we work retail!
How about not opening until 8 am on black friday ? why open early that day?
I simply do not get it ! You can shop between 8 am and 10 pm isn't that enough?
FYI : I didn't grow up in the US ,so thanksgiving is still an odd holiday for me,and black friday even odder!

 

[GlobalJ]

Why not simply be open 24hr a day ,year around and screw any family life ,because ,afterall we work retail!
How about not opening until 8 am on black friday ? why open early that day?
I simply do not get it ! You can shop between 8 am and 10 pm isn't that enough?
FYI : I didn't grow up in the US ,so thanksgiving is still an odd holiday for me,and black friday even odder!

I agree. I hope you become accustomed to Thanksgiving, its a good holiday, now Black Friday? I can go on a rant about that day. Cyber Monday is better anyways, I dont have to get out of bed to shop that day

 

[greatteam]

My question is if we ARE open on Thanksgiving...how are we supposed to set up for Black Friday? Run around after closing and hope that we finish on time? Ohhh boy.

 

[NOP]

To John and Retailgirl, all due respect this is part of working retail during the holidays. If family is that important then you shouldn't have applied at a retail store knowing at the end of the year you'll be busy as **** working. Even if Target did a 5 or 6am opening you still have to work and miss time with them - even if you work mid or closing as I'm sure they won't come for dinner and leave right afterward. (whats the point of spending time then if you are only there for a few hours?)

I might see things differently. Now this isn't aimed at anyone here personnaly but I just don't get why people talk about how family is soooooooooooo important and yet somehow Thanksgiving and Christmas seems to be the only time you get to see them. Is there some law I don't know about that states this? Yes,we have busy lives but growing up there were times I saw my aunt or cousins in the middle of summer. Guess planing is something some people don't know how to do.

THIS. My family plans our gatherings around my work schedule. We actually do Thanksgiving on a different weekend in November, so that Thanksgiving day I actually recover to go back into work. Course, I tend to work the super-long shift on Wednesday, doing the setup and prep for Black Friday, so they are used to me pulling 20+ hour shifts on Wednesday into Thursday morning. The summer also tends to be vacation time, so we do more stuff during the summer.

 

[insiteful1]

My question is if we ARE open on Thanksgiving...how are we supposed to set up for Black Friday? Run around after closing and hope that we finish on time? Ohhh boy.

Thanksgiving would be Black Friday......

 

[filmer88]

As Lewis black said in one of his bits "Thanksgiving doesn't seem to be celebrated, we go straight from halloween to Christmas. In the olden days, or at least when I was a child, Thanksgiving was a time for family to get together and pass out from either overeating or drinking. However, nobody woke us up at midnight and said let's go shopping. Black Friday is all a day about you buying sh*t, and if you don't buy sh*t well my God, then the whole economy just might not make it til' Christmas". I honestly believe that black Friday is a ridiculous "holiday" because to me there is nothing holly about it. Yes great deals, thats all good, but to agree with another user, Cyber Monday is much better due to things you can get at a better price and all from the comfort of home. Now will I be working on black Friday? the answer is undecided due to I am not sure if call centers or at least mine is open on that day or has adjusted hours. And if you think guests are bad in person, I encountered this one person that was just beyond all logic on the phone, but again that is one the phone, i can hear ya' but don't have to see ya' lol

 

[GlobalJ]

If I'm a "bad" employee because I rather spend time with family and friends than dealing with Pathetic psychopathic guests than so be it.

 

[TargetTeam]

I love Lewis Black! Today the convo of black friday came up and people were saying we better not get another midnight sale! It was so stupid! I said yep couldn't agree more it was so dead on the floor after midnight!

 

[Retail Girl]

To John and Retailgirl, all due respect this is part of working retail during the holidays. If family is that important then you shouldn't have applied at a retail store knowing at the end of the year you'll be busy as **** working. Even if Target did a 5 or 6am opening you still have to work and miss time with them - even if you work mid or closing as I'm sure they won't come for dinner and leave right afterward. (whats the point of spending time then if you are only there for a few hours?)

I might see things differently. Now this isn't aimed at anyone here personnaly but I just don't get why people talk about how family is soooooooooooo important and yet somehow Thanksgiving and Christmas seems to be the only time you get to see them. Is there some law I don't know about that states this? Yes,we have busy lives but growing up there were times I saw my aunt or cousins in the middle of summer. Guess planing is something some people don't know how to do. Its better to ask for time off in July then to ask for it at the end of November.

Regardless of the time stores open, people still shop - despite some being angry of an early opening -

This confuses me. I was saying "please no" to being open on Thanksgiving. The midnight opening doesn't excite me, but if I have to drive back early, so be it. The reason I don't see my family during the school year is quite simple: graduate school in a very demanding program, an internship and a job make it impossible. If I have to work at midnight on black Friday, I can still go home for a couple of days (I don't have availability on Wednesdays). If I had to work on Thanksgiving, then I can't go home.

I've had this discussion before on here, and again, I ask that since you don't know my situation, that you refrain from judging me. I know you don't care if I spend the holidays alone. But I do. I spend enough of my life alone, I just don't need that extra punch in the gut. I'm sorry if that isn't good enough for you.

 

[pfreshdude]

I dont know wtf is people's obsession with black friday. You go ahead and stand in line for that "great deal"(risk getting stabbed, and trampled)that will pretty much always be out unless you make a mad dash, pushing and sprinting down the aisle to get 1 of 3 of those items. Most of the "deals" you can find in the following MONTH of sales at the same or better prices. If you buy online Amazon always has great deals, and during holidays crushes the hell out of retail deals. I always watch the news on thanksgiving and just laugh at how pathetic people are lined up outside like a clothing store for god sakes at like 7pm to get the greatest deals. Last year it was a downpour around here and there were still people camped outside stores. I always find it funny hearing about guests *****ing about us not having one of the hot low stock items, like we are going to have 1000 TVS for everyone to buy at 1/2 off.

As far as target is concerned. I hope they arent dumb enough to be open on thanksgiving. First, I would imagine scheduling would be a pain in the ass for it and black friday. We would what, be open til 5. Than be open from 12-11pm. Last year we had to hire people JUST FOR black friday and that was about it, literally. They worked like 2 weeks here. Second I doubt anyone wants to work, eat, work, pass out. Third, if people cant prepare and get stuff the day before or earlier than that is on them for procrastinating. I understand that sometimes there is that last minute item, but is it really worth being open for that, how many people are really going to come into a target on thanksgiving other than to maybe get food items. I just dont see it as a smart business decision as full grocery stores are allready open, why would you even bother going to target unless it was absolutely way closer.

As far as black friday itself. I didnt open but I was told after that initial rush it was super dead. SO DEAD, that we were able to zone the entire salesfloor and do all reshop, and they sent people home. It was fairly busy throughout the day but ya after that initial rush it didnt pick up til about 9 and we easily missed sales by over 100k. Also, if target was smart they would stagger it to start at 3-4. That way people can go to the other midnight stores and by the time they are done head on over to target. All every chain is doing by starting at 12 is dividing how much business they get and probably losing money.