Tag Black Friday

Black and White

Michael Leave a comment

Do you remember “White Sales?” I might need to address that to the over 50 crowd only. Over 60? For the under 30 crowd, no, that’s not a racial thing. Go find an old person for clarification. Well, White Sales popped into my brain just yesterday when my tablet went black. How do I know why? It just did. I gave up long ago trying to figure out my brain. It was giving me headaches. But there I was with a black screen on my tablet and White Sales on my brain. And they say it’s not a black and white world!

Fast forward to this morning when I stepped out of the shower and pulled a black bath towel off the bar and again thought, “White Sale!” But my thought didn’t stop there, oh no. It continued, “I need to start looking for a new tablet.” By now everybody either knows from experience or determined through careful inquiring and/or slapdash Googling that White Sales and tablets do not go together. Again, I’ve given up on brain figuring.

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The interesting thing about White Sales, at least the last ones I remembering patronizing, is (was?) the lack of white linens. Just now I had to get up and check my closet to see if I even have any myself. I indeed have a set of white towels and white sheets although I don’t remember the last time either was out of the linen closet. It was probably when I moved and they made the trip from one closet to another. Neither set has been in the regular rotation for, well for years. Considering I actually had to go looking for them should tell you it’s been lots of years. It probably also tells you I don’t clean out my closets as often as I should but that’s a post for a different day.

The interesting thing about my tablet is it might be as old as those white sheets. For a piece of portable electronics it’s held up remarkably well. It gets a lot of use. I’d say constant use but there are a few hours each day that I can say I don’t have it in my hand. I know I had it for several years before I moved and I moved 4 years ago. It’s so old that when I read an e-book on it I have to wet my finger to turn the page. Well maybe not, but it is quite old. It has an old operating system, limited RAM, and if it wasn’t for the Micro SD Card it would have almost no memory. But I like it. I like the size, the screen quality (when it’s not all black), the battery use, even it’s case. I know I’ll never find another one that will last however long this one has been with me. Seven years? Ten years? And I am certain one today will probably cost twice as such and last half as long.

I need a sale!

With luck I can hold out until Black Friday. Electronics are always on sale during the Black Friday Weekend. And if I can’t find one then maybe I can make it until January. After all, that’s the traditional month for White Sales.

And they say it’s not a black and white world!

 

 

Give Till It Doesn’t Hurt

Michael 6 Comments

Tomorrow is Giving Tuesday. I would hope that enough people are mature enough to be able to donate time, talent, and/or money to worthy causes without a special day to remind us to donate to worthy causes. But if you aren’t and you do, then somebody can benefit from your generosity at least once a year. (That’s the generic you, not the you who is reading this.) (Surely.)

It’s odd they would stick such an altruistic day right after the excesses of Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Small Saturday, and Cyber Monday. Then again, maybe it is the perfect day for it. Any change you have left isn’t enough to do you any good so you might as well give it away.

GTHeartIf you are a little strapped either from the holiday excess or just because you’re a little strapped, I have some giving ideas that aren’t economically painful.

Remember those homeless people you wanted to help by volunteering at the shelters with Thanksgiving dinner? They are still hungry and most of those shelters don’t have so many volunteers they can turn away an extra hand on a not so random Tuesday.

For almost every Christian sect in the world, Advent begins this weekend. Churches and chapels are decorating their spaces for Christmas this week. I never met a church with enough hands that they would turn away an extra pair not tied up at the homeless shelter serving lunch. Most of those churches can use help throughout the year also, so while you’re there ask about those needs also.

Are you still fighting leftovers? While you’re rummaging through your recipe files for yet another way to prepare a turkey casserole, pull one out for something you can make to bring to your local fire station, emergency medical service, police or sheriff department. They made a choice to give back to their communities for a lifetime. You can choose to give to them for a day. (Pick something fresh and leave the leftovers to the kids.)

Hospitals, nursing homes, health centers, schools, day cares, libraries, Meals on Wheels, senior agencies, and other assorted services want help over the entire year. Make Giving Tuesday your start date to apply to volunteer on a regular basis to a worthy cause.

And finally, if you still want to give back and really can’t spare more than about an hour, donate blood. You’ll even get a cookie when you’re done. You can give and get all at the same time!

 

 

Small is the New Large

Michael Leave a comment

A couple of years ago I uploaded a post “Large is the New Small.” This one has nothing to do with that but it was a pretty nifty concept so if you’re not busy, feel free to search for it.

Nope, today’s post is all about Small Business Saturday. Now it so happens that a couple of years ago I also posted Thank Your Local Businessman (November 27, 2014) and that too was pretty nifty. I definitely think you should go back and re-read that sometime before you plan your attack on the Christmas Specials to follow this week’s Thanksgiving Feasts. It’s a simple enough idea. Businesses with less than 20 employees make up over 89% of American businesses. Not all of them are retail but a big chunk of them are. Boutiques, hardware stores, bike shops, outdoor stores, local theaters, and jewelers are just a few places where I have bought Christmas presents over the years. And bars, restaurants, barbers, and skating rinks are some of the privately owned spots where I took refuge from the rigors of holiday shopping.

I’ll be there again this weekend and probably even before, I have a most horrible cold or I would have gone on for several hundred more words. So my discomfort is to your benefit. And to the benefit of the locally owned drug store up the road where you’ll find me this afternoon.

That’s what I think. Really. How ‘bout you?

 

 

The names change…

Michael Leave a comment

You all know that I am not fond of Black Friday. I don’t mind the crowds or the sales or the bustling hustle. I really don’t even care that stores open on Thanksgiving. For many families that is their together time. What I don’t like is that the marketers have turned the whole thing into a, a, a thing!

There is no Black Friday. It’s Black November. Those sales started 3 weeks ago. And they aren’t all that great anyway. And now we get to start Cyber Monday, which many stores are calling Cyber Week including a couple of stores that don’t have any on-line presence. Which is fine because all of the ones that do, including those who are exclusively on-line had Black Friday for all of last week and/or this month.

Last Saturday among the many e-mails that graced my in-box were more than one proclaiming that they were entering the “last days” of their Black Friday sales so be sure to order now, soon, and often because at 11:59 on Sunday night those deals will disappear. Then on Sunday I got the “sneak preview” e-mails of the Cyber Monday deals starting at 6pm that very Sunday and available only for the next five days. From the same retailers. For the same products. The same ad with a different header. I should have ordered something between 6pm and midnight to see if I would have gotten a double discount.

See, that’s why I don’t like Black Friday. It’s insulting. But I did get a good deal on some silk poinsettias.

Happy Thanksgetting.

That’s what I think. Really. How ‘bout you?

Up Next: Stoopid Tuesday

Michael Leave a comment

Only 52 shopping days until Christmas.  We could have sworn Black Friday was just a couple weeks ago.  Oh wait.  It was.  Seems around here stores have been advertising “Black Friday Prices” for their weekend sales for the past month or so.  Weekend sales, actually one day sales (with an extra preview day and sometimes an extra wrap-up day) are sweeping the country.  Everything is cheaper on Saturday.  It makes one wonder what those poor schmucks who work the weekend have to pay when they go shopping on Tuesday.

Tuesday has to be the pits, shopping wise.  We know about the weekend sales (actually one day sales on Saturday with an extra preview day on Friday and sometimes an extra wrap-up day on Sunday).  We know that on Monday there will be unadvertised specials to get rid of the “special purchases” brought in just for the more unsuccessful weekend sales.  Thursday is the day the buyers set out the stuff that will be on sale on the upcoming weekend sales and there will always be new discounts for the shopper willing to use his or her store credit card to reap those extra savings on this extra savings day.  Wednesday is the day that the grocery stores end their weekly specials so everybody is there picking up the items they said they would go back and get before the sale ended.  That leaves Tuesday as the only day that a retail store actually sells stuff at the full retail price.  Assuming that somebody actually goes shopping on Tuesday – Stoopid Tuesday.

But things will be a little bit better now that there are only 52 shopping days until Christmas.  Just in yesterday’s paper there were advertising supplements for trees, ornaments, lights, toys, and camping gear with their advertised prices good all week long.  But the ads for clothes, shoes, scarves, hats, gloves, outerwear, and underwear were noticeably missing having come out on Thursday for their usual weekend sales (actually one day sales on Saturday with an extra preview day Friday).  You can get a great deal on a crossbow this Tuesday but forget about finding any deals on a new winter coat until later in the week.

We hope you don’t have to work weekends so you too can take full advantage of the amazing “Black Friday Prices” at this week’s weekend sales (you know, the one day sales on Saturday with an extra preview day Friday) without the annoying wait for Black Friday.  But if you have to work this weekend remember, there are only 8 Stoopid Tuesday shopping days until Christmas.  That leaves you with 44 other days for the good stuff.  You’ll be fine.

Now that’s what we think. Really. How ‘bout you.

 

Black All Day Every Day, 24/7, 365

Michael Leave a comment

In general, we’re not Black Friday bashers particularly when it restricts itself to Fridays.  But those who plan these things are really taking the American public for a bunch of morons.  Perhaps we deserve it.

Last year we got to deal with Cyber Week versus the boring standard of just one old lonely Cyber Monday.  (See “Welcome to Black Cyber Month,” Nov. 30, 2012 in Holidays.)  We have to wait a week to see what they will call it now especially that most retailers have extended Black Friday specials to their on-line shops.  I guess we’re supposed to sit at our desk chairs after Thanksgiving dinner waiting for the prices to magically drop.

If you don’t want to wait until Thursday night to take advantage of the Black Friday deals you can go out Thursday morning.  Yep, most of the retailers are now having Thanksgiving specials from 7am to 4pm before closing for a couple hours (we guess so the worker bees can rush home to say a blessing, give their thanks, and swallow a few pounds of the holiday feast).  At 6pm those same stores will re-open with the Black Friday specials which if you compare ad fliers look suspiciously like the earlier sales.  The question is, why bother with the charade of closing for those couple hours.  Do you really think the American public is so dumb they will go out once in the morning for one sale and then again in the evening for a “different” sale.  Hmm.

One flyer in this week’s Sunday paper that stood out was the one touting Black Friday pricing all week long.  That even beat the one with BFS (Black Friday Specials) beginning Tuesday, not to mention the one that had special selections available Wednesday.  None of these were car dealerships which have been advertising Black Friday deals all month.

We have an idea we’d like to pass along to the CEOs of the various solicitors of own hard earned money.  How about one price all year, every year?  When you get tired of selling a particular brand you can have a clearance sale but other than that, just one price.  Last week there were the pre-Thanksgiving sales.  The week before that were the post-Halloween sales.  A couple weeks before those were the fall festival sales.  And three weeks from now will be the pre-Christmas sales.  Are those prices really all that much different?  One price per item all day, every day, 24/7, 365.

And you won’t even have to compare “thousands of prices every week” to see that your customers get the best deal or you’ll refund the difference.  Just start out with the best deal.  It worked for Saturn.  Umm, we’ll get back to you on that.

Now, that’s what we think.  Really.  How ‘bout you?

 

Welcome to Black Cyber Month

Michael 1 Comment

Here we are, a week past Thanksgiving and we’re still seeing Black Friday ads.  Forget Cyber Monday.  Since they’ve declared this to be Cyber Week we’ll see those ads until Dec. 23 when with overnight expedited far from free delivery you too can have that present under the tree on Christmas Eve.

We have nothing against Black Friday or sales in general.  We like sales.  Some of our best buys have been during sales.  Of course some of the better ones haven’t been but that’s a different post.  What we have against this shopping period is the barrage of ads that accompany the sales.  It seems everything is on sale and that’s probably why Americans are expected to spend $590 billion dollars between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  But what’s wrong with the other 333 days of the year?

Maybe people aren’t shopping so much on those other days because the selection now is so diverse; nothing can compare to it during the rest of the year.  Just this morning, He of We got an e-mail ad for laser tattoo removal (Save Over 75%!).  He has no tattoos but is considering it for a gift. 

Maybe people aren’t shopping on those days because it’s now that we see the lowest prices we’ll get on some basic items.  On Cyber Monday morning on one of the national network news shows, a consumer analyst called Cyber Monday her “socks and underwear day” because the prices are so good and with free shipping she can buy a year’s worth of these staple items for what she’d normally pay for a couple of packages at full retail. 

We have to admit that if it weren’t for the Thanksgiving to Christmas shopping period we’d not receive some of our favorite mail of the year – the holiday gift catalog.  It’s a little too early to find the most outrageous potential gift item but keep reading and we’ll soon revisit our favorites for this year like we did last (see “Buy the Way,” December 1, 2011 from LIFE).  In the running are rechargeable illuminated wrenches with stand ($79.95) and the home cellulite smoother kit ($1,500 plus shipping).

But then, what better stocking stuffers are there than socks and underwear?

Now, that’s what we think. Really. How ‘bout you?