WSU students join mob, rush 'Black Friday'

Shoppers lined up at department stores across the nation for the early-bird specials common to every "Black Friday" and Weber State University students capitalized on the deals, freebies and rebates.

At Circuit City in Riverdale, the line began Thursday at 5 p.m. with a row of tents and sleeping bags for anxious buyers. Wal-Mart was open for 24 hours, but their sales opened at 5 a.m. The parking lots were full and people camped inside the store next to their item of choice.

Marty Schroader, WSU student and former student activities adviser, was one of the first in line at the Layton ShopKo and decided to continue to capitalize on sales offered the day after Thanksgiving. The line of tenacious shoppers began just after 3 a.m. and the store opened its doors at 5 a.m. to welcome the estimated 500 to 700 people.

"This is pretty fun coming early to get the great deals," Schroader said. "The only problem is when the people in the parking lot rush the door and cut in line. I hate that!"

The day after Thanksgiving in the United States is historically one of the busiest retail shopping days of the year; however, it is not typically the day with the highest sales volume. That is usually the Saturday before Christmas or Christmas Eve. The "mob mentality" associated with Black Friday was apparent throughout the United States

In Minnesota, local news stations filmed people getting trampled at the front entrance as hundreds poured into a local Wal-Mart. Extreme measures were used in the northwest where some stores used police to control the mob. One policeman in Washington used pepper spray to stop shoppers from endangering each other.

"It's interesting to watch the change of peoples' personalities as soon as the door opens," said Justin Clarke, WSU senior who arrived in the line at Staples at 4:40 a.m. "The guy you're standing next to turns into your competition to get what you want. The first person that was in line is now probably 10 people behind because he's been mulled over."

The day can be extremely stressful and frightening, not only for employees themselves, but for the business owners in a "make or break" situation for sales during the holiday season.

Bret Haslem, ShopKo general manager and Weber State University alumnus, said despite the large amount of people who rushed the doors, surprisingly, things went smoothly.

"We were able to have an adequate supply of the products that customers wanted and have a smooth execution of our marketing strategy," Haslem said. "It's a win-win situation! I was very pleased with the way things went this morning."

Haslem said the reason ShopKo has big sales the day after Thanksgiving is because every other retailer does it. He said they have to do it to be competitive to let customers know that they can get a great product for a great value. Haslem estimated that by 9 a.m., the store had served over 2,000 customers.

"The main goal of the company is to bait the person into the store - hopefully you'll buy the items that aren't on sale. Find your deal and walk out - don't buy anything else," Clarke said. "It will be nice when it's done. I can go back home, get some hot chocolate and take a nap."

Online retailers are beginning to refer to the Monday after Thanksgiving as "Cyber Monday" in response to the overwhelming online shopping boom that typically occurs. Most of these online retailers are running sales similar to those seen on Black Friday, though they generally run through the weekend and culminate the night of Cyber Monday.

According to Wikipedia online encyclopedia, the increase in online shopping is expected to boost online holiday spending to $18 billion this season, an increase of 25 percent since 2004.

You can leave a message for reporter Chris Ripplinger by calling 626-7655.