All revved up and ready to go blitzkrieg shop
Posted on Thursday, November 27, 2008
ROGERS Wal-Mart calls it Blitz Day, while Best Buy prefers Green Friday, but most of us know the day after Thanksgiving as Black Friday.
Sure, the day technically gets its name because it is the day when retailers finally cross into the black and begin to make a little money as shoppers flock to the stores, desperately hoping to get a good bargain. But to shoppers, Black Friday means a little more. Friday marks the starting line for the frantic holiday shopping season. It means there are a mere 27 shopping days left until Christmas. Twentyseven days to find the perfect gift for everyone on your list; 27 days to work out all the Christmas details, trim up the tree, light the house; and 27 days to spread some Christmas cheer.
In short, Friday means a day of blitzkrieg shopping, waking up earlier than anyone ever intended, getting to the stores before the good stuff is gone and, in some cases, getting downright cutthroat to get the best deals in town all to make sure that everyone unwraps a smile on Christmas morning after Santa Claus has made his yearly trip around the globe.
This year, getting the best presents means a trip to the electronics store in most cases, but to get the best deals, shoppers are going to have to get up early for the 5 a. m. opening times for most stores.
I have heard a lot of customers come in and tell me that they are going to start camping out at the store Wednesday night. They are not even worried about Thanksgiving. With the way the economy is, people are bargaining, and they are willing to get up to get the deals, said Dusty Rose, store manager for Best Buy in Rogers.
The top items shoppers will be hunting for Friday morning include iPods, the iPhone 3 G and computers.
The iPods are a big one this year, obviously, because they are so popular. The one everyone wants is the iPod Touch. People are also wanting notebook computers, Playstation 3 and X-Boxes. All of them are very popular for Christmas presents, Rose said.
This years best games for the gaming consoles ? Call of Duty 5: World at War and Rock Band 2, he said.
The crown jewel of Christmas presents this year will be the Nintendo Wii and the Wii Fit, according to Rose, who said that people have been looking for them for a long time.
When we put them out, they are gone. We cannot keep them. They come in randomly, and as soon as they get here, they are gone, Rose said.
The Nintendo Wii is a video-game system that has been widely praised for getting players off the couch with the systems virtual bowling, baseball, tennis and boxing games, just to name a few. The Wii Fit, a game for the Nintendo Wii designed to help those who play lead a more active lifestyle through exercise, is probably this years hottest buy, Rose said.
The Wii Fit uses a combination of yoga, strength training, aerobics and balance games to help users have fun while losing weight.
Rose was unsure if Best Buy would have either the Wii Fit or the Nintendo Wii for Friday morning, saying only that if they had the popular games, they would not have them for very long.
For the smaller kids (and their parents ), one of the most popular toys this year has been the Elf on the Shelf, said Steve Melody, owner of Melodys Choices in Rogers.
One item that we have that has been extremely popular is the Elf on the Shelf. With it, you get a box and a little elf and a book. The idea is that the elf watches the child throughout the day and reports back to Santa on whether or not the child has been good, Melody said.
The kids like the elf, and what the parents get out of it is a really well-behaved child, he said.
I get a lot of e-mails from customers who have bought it saying this is the greatest thing since sliced bread, Melody said.
The classic toys are also a big hit this year, according to Melody, who recommends Thomas the Tank Engine, a wooden railroad system.
It is one of those toys you cannot break. It is powered by imagination, so kids do not outgrow it, and you can add onto it every year, Melody said.
Keeping with the Tickle Me Elmo ghost of Christmas past, the Elmo Live will be a musthave for youngsters this year. Elmo Live promises to be the most interactive Elmo yet, as he sings, cracks jokes, tells stories and plays games with the tots whom he belongs to.
Televisions are also a hotticket item this year, and with the digital switch looming in February, Black Friday may be one of the best times to buy a new high-definition television.
The bigger the TV, the better, Rose advises, but only if the wife will let you.
Other big-kid toys set to be the presents to get this year include Blu-Ray DVD players ($ 128 at Wal-Mart ), Blu-Ray DVDs ($ 13 and up at Best Buy ), GPS devices such as the Garmin Nuvi ($ 190 at Best Buy ) and digital cameras such as the Nikon Cool Pix P 60 (with a photo printer at Office Max for $ 119 ).
FEEDBACK:
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online
