I went out this weekend to some of the stores that really should have a lot of traffic, specifically Circuit City and Best Buy. To my surprise, it really wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I usually avoid shopping this weekend if I can, but decided to at least drop by and see how bad it was. I was not going to go in if I couldn’t find parking. When I got there, it was relatively easy to find parking spaces that were pretty close to the store.
I traveled to Circuit City on Friday, and while there were a number of people in the store, it wasn’t the madhouse that I imagined it would be. I got there around 11:00, so I may have just avoided the crowd. I went to Best Buy today expecting a large crowd. Certainly there were a lot of people in the store, but again, parking was easy. I was going to buy a few things, they had a great deal of $25 each for Bio-Shock, and The Orange Box, but hesitated because I didn’t want to wait in the line. But when I looked at where the queue should have been forming, it was pretty empty of people.
That can only mean a couple of things.
- People just aren’t shopping all that much. Definitely could be the case since I believe the economy is heading in the wrong direction with housing and gas prices where they are
- People are doing more shopping online – This is true for people like myself, but I still would think people would go and look at what bargains are out there
- They are getting really good at moving people through the line.
I kind of doubt the last one. I’ll be interested what they say about the weekend and how successful it was for retailers. Early results indicate that it may have been a success but I’ll wait to see what they say about it Monday. I post about this because this could have significant impact on my trading strategy. If numbers look weak, the whole market is in for a downward spike and I want to be on the right side of the trade. Trick is getting in ahead of any announcement, which is going to be hard to do.
On Black Friday, most of the best sales are “early-bird” type things, starting at around 4 or 5am. So you missed the worst of it there. Also, the worst crowds won’t be at a specialized store, like Best Buy or Circuit City, but at the mall, where people can try to hit as many stores and therefore as many sales possible. ‘Tis my theory, anyway…
That’s a pretty good theory and pretty valid. I did have one friend today tell me that she didn’t think the Bellevue Mall was as crowded as she would have expected, but this is all just anecdotal anyway.
But yeah, no way I get up at 4:00 a.m. to be with those other shoppers, especially in Seattle, it was cold Thanksgiving night.
Joey has Bio-shock and it looks so cool that it makes me want to play video games. I might take it up. …that is, if the TV is ever free for me to play it (which is very infrequent).
I didn’t shop for two reasons: a.) I don’t usually shop on that day (who needs the stress to save a few dollars) and b.) I was working anyway.
If the TV’s never free, well, Bioshock has a PC version
I didn’t end up buying it, but now I’m rethinking it if it would convince you to play games ….
Besides the shrinking consumer power, the money people do have is probably being spent outside the retail arena. Three words: Hannah Montana tickets. I don’t know much about the show, but it’s mind-boggling the demand and cost for tickets to this children’s show. Guess this is a good reminder that the teen and children’s market should never be underestimated.
Yeah the Hannah Montana thing totally confuses me. For those that don’t know, Hannah Montana is this kid’s show that is going on concert. Tickets are very hard to come by. Some are going for as high as $20,000 (geez that’s a nice number) Instead of spending the money on the tickets for the kids, these parents should give it to me, and I could teach their kids a thing or two about money.
I was hoping Mario Galaxy would be on sale for Black Friday, but it’s too new. My wait continues…
Haven’t played it yet but it looks good. Anyone play this one yet and want to tell Liz to just go out and buy it?
I’ve played this. It’s seriously amazing. Just go out and buy it