Many students have a love-hate relationship with shopping on Black Friday. Some of their experiences have been memorable for the good, and some for the bad.
For Toys “R” Us, the busiest time of the year is the beginning of November through Christmas Day. Normally the store is open from 10 a.m to 9 p.m., but during season, the store is open from 8 a.m. until midnight on the weekends.
Beau Winters, 21, from Zillah, Wash., works at Toys “R” Us part-time, and has already seen the holiday rush begin.
“Everyone that’s somebody will be working,” Winters said.
Winters said every cash register will be open, and every single person working will be swamped.
“There’s a ton of people, and all of them want the discounts,” Winters said.
This will be Winters’s first Black Friday experience working for Toys “R” Us, and he said he thinks the experience is going to be interesting.
Bri Hintze, 22, from Ventura Calif., has been a loyal Black Friday shopper for as long as she can remember.
“I love Black Friday, and have done Black Friday with my family every year,” Hintze said.
Her favorite Black Friday deal was a pair of boots and winter coat she got a couple years ago, and still wears today. She said the items were more than half off their original price, and she never would have purchased them if they weren’t discounted.
“It’s a great time to save money, and it doesn’t usually take all day,” Hintze said.
Hintze is spending Thanksgiving with her in-laws this year, and explained this might be the first year she attends Black Friday solo.
She is currently starting to research where she wants to go and what items she wants to purchase.
“You have to have a definite plan or else you could get lost or trampled on,” Hintze said.
Eric Heier, 25, from American Fork, doesn’t have much love for Black Friday.
“It’s a colossal waste of time,” Heier said.
Heier said that one year he waited in line for hours in the cold to get a television, and never actually got one. He said the reason he didn’t get one was because some people buy multiple items and then re-sell them to make a profit.
“If you’re willing to wait in a tent for three days and fork out $5,000, it’s worth it,” Heier said.
He also explained that one year when a brand new video game console was coming out, he had a friend that camped out and bought it for $350, but then was able to sell it for a much higher price online when nobody could buy the consoles.
Black Friday is this week, and whether it’s a love or hate relationship, the preparation has begun.
