When I was first exposed to the phenomenon of Black Friday, I was seventeen years old working in the video game department of my local electronics retailer worried for my life. We had three brand new gaming consoles launch that year, about 450 game titles to remember, and we knew we were going to sell out about 4 hours before the store even opened. There was a line of excited patrons wrapped around our store and bleeding into our employee parking lot. Some had even been camped out since Tuesday of that week, tents and all.
(Photo Courtesy of Krazy Coupon Lady)
I clocked on around 4 pm on Thanksgiving and worked 15 hours straight that holiday (from Thursday into Friday). I followed that day with at least two more 10-hour shifts in order to meet the staffing demands of our chaotic sale. My blue polo shirt and blonde hair were a blur as I smiled and met customer demands. This kind of craziness, the special kind of retail happiness that makes the rest of the world cringe, began to become second nature. It quickly became fun.
Three years later, I’m three weeks from graduating from college and yet back again on the sales floor this Friday for another all out Black Friday blitz.
While my department has changed and my sales skills further developed, Black Friday brings a special kind of magic to the team at my store. We come together like a playoff bound football team, complete with cheers, motivational speeches, and the occaisional 100 yard dash across our parking lot and back to check our sanity. These are the nights that we spend hours changing price tags and reorganizing product, sometimes till 5 or 6 in the morning. This is when I text my manager and ask her to remind me of her favorite Starbucks drink and how many extra shots of espresso will get her through her day. It takes a village to put on the spectacle that so many have learned to associate with people getting trampled over cheap televisions. Black Friday is so much more than that for us, and we are happy to report that we’ve never had an injury.
(Photo Courtesy of HDWallpaper.com)
When Black Friday started creeping into Turkey Day, our general manager plans for us to have a traditional Thanksgiving meal, together, at our store. We turn on football and crack open enough Red Bull for a squadron of fighter pilots but we spend the time in between our shifts enjoying each other’s company. It doesn’t matter if you are classified as seasonal, a cashier, or even the best home theater sales associate in the market…we eat, laugh, and unwind together. This reflects in our customer experiences. There isn’t a single employee on the floor that doesn’t smile and try to help many Christmas dreams come true, even if we may be stiffling a yawn or looking a little more tired than usual.
We are here to help you find the perfect headphones for your brother and that GPS for your dad. We want to activate a brand new iPhone or Samsung for you and make sure you have just the right case to protect from those “oops” moments. As you rush around, looking for a head start on your holiday or just for a great night of awesome sales with your girls, know that not a single one of us is wishing we were somewhere else. Our teammates are our family and we will ensure each other’s success and your bounty. Our goals are set to be crushed, your holiday is set to be won.
Black Friday is our Super Bowl.
(Photo Courtesy of CNN Money)