Black Friday at Best Buy

Black Friday at Best Buy
Jasmine Allen
12.07.09

At 6:40 a.m. outside of Best Buy in Virginia Beach, Dwan Thomas of Washington, D.C. excitedly declared, “We’re about to hit Wal-Mart, Target, Old Navy, and probably Khol’s.”
With a smile on her face and a basket full of electronics and gadgets, Thomas appeared to be excited about what the rest of the day had in store for her and her friends.
A few items out of many that she purchased were a TV, printer, and a Bluetooth.
Like many other local shoppers, Thomas was taking advantage of the early discounts, deals, and marked down prices that only arrive once every year.
This special day was Black Friday, the largest shopping day of the year where certain stores around the country provide sales on some of their best items and open at the earliest hours in the morning.
Dated as the Friday after Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday attracts many holiday shoppers.
With lines of people waiting for stores to open the morning of Black Friday, desperate shoppers do not mind spending their Thanksgiving night sleeping in their vehicle or camping outside the doors of the store.
One store that usually has customers in anticipation every year is Best Buy.
With various choices of electronics and entertainment such as laptops, cameras, movies, and video games, Best Buy provides many different gadgets and home appliances.
Thomas wanted her first stop to be Best Buy because to others like her, it seems like technology heaven.
This Best Buy store location had cops monitoring enter and exit doors to ensure the smooth flow of non-stop traffic.
While couples, groups of friends and families rushed in and out of the store’s automatic doors, employees greeted nicely and asked if they needed assistance with anything.
Teenagers and young children rushed over to the game section while most of the adults gazed over the flat screen televisions and lap tops.
Every employee was occupied with a customer explaining an item and the great deal they could receive from buying it.
Camcorders were marked down as low as $70 and washer and dryers at $200. The customers seemed to be unable to resist the bargains.
First time Black Friday shopper, Neal Miller, described what he experienced within the 30 minutes that he was in Best Buy.
“I just stopped by because I was curious how crowded it would be and everything….there was a line for some of the special lap top deals that people are still waiting for,” he said.
Thomas also described her experience with Best Buy’s quick customer service despite the ambush of people that were entering in and out.
“We just walked right in,” Thomas explained. “Got what we needed. Got right in line, like soon as I got to the thing they were like okay go to number nine and I was paying for my stuff.”
Manager Chris Jennison reassured that great service is what they want customers like Thomas and Miller to experience first, especially during a shopping day like Black Friday.
“There are a lot of customers… There’s a nice traffic… I think we kind of got it organized to a point where we’re organizing chaos,” said Jennison.
Thomas enjoyed the one hour she spent in Best Buy, but despite the nice customer service, the Black Friday sales didn’t quite meet up to her expectations.
“The sales weren’t as good as they usually are,” she said with a sigh. “Thinking about the past Black Fridays I’ve been out, they weren’t as good as I wanted them to be.”
Miller informed that the sales could perhaps be an asset to store retailers.
“I think it helps retailers too by getting people in the door. Everybody is out for a bargain and retailers are looking to provide good service,” said Miller.
Jennison stated that Black Friday, “Helps us by allowing customers to come and see what we can offer. People don’t normally come and shop in the store…and to see what Best Buy is all about…the level of service we can offer them opposed to some of our competitors.”
Jennison believes that Black Friday can help their store’s revenue as well.
When asked where the store’s ranking stood compared to some of it’s other competitors, Jennison smiled with a nod and said, “This one, as far as revenue wise is the top on the east coast.”
Other available sites on “Black Friday at Best Buy” :
Link to the Black Friday 2009 Advertisement Web Site: http://bfads.net/
http://bfads.net/Best-Buy
Link to the Best Buy Web Site: http://www.bestbuy.com/
Link to a Best Buy Live Blog: http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/11/27/black-friday-live-blog-whats-your-doorbuster-of-choice/

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