Black Friday Madness in Fayetteville, NC

Black Friday was one of the biggest events in Fayetteville, NC this year.  Stores began so early, many shoppers finished Thanksgiving and went to chase their desired discounts.

Toys R Us was slated for 9pm opening after Walmart pushed their time to 10pm.  Walmart was open all day, so shoppers didn’t wait outside.  The advertised merchandise were place on pallets scattered around the store . They surrounded by shoppers who were told to wait until the scheduled time.  This process left some confused, especially when electronic deals were rolled from the back onto the floor after midnite.  32″ tv’s were $188 and distributed by the grocer aisle.  Laptops for $288 were wheeled in by shopping carts and long line in the paint section.

Best Buy was one of the most desirable retailer with an unbeatable offer of $199 for a 42″ TV.  The line stretched from the Best Buy front door to the railroad tracks and car dealership nearby.   On the other side, Target had a crowd of its own.  The line wrapped from the front door, around the building completely, and more shoppers scattered in parking lot.  This line was the most organized and safest around.  City police and target employees guided everyone.  The store only let 30 shoppers inside at a time while the next 30 awaited.  This process took so long, shoppers left to other stores to return later.

Cross Creek mall included many stores with doorbusters and many at different times.  This schedule was interrupted after a fight was reported in the food court.   Gunshots that seemed to come out of an AR-10 were heard around this area and police soon swarmed the scene.  Stores opened early despite this chaos or potential threat to shoppers.  JCPenney opened much earlier and handed out free Disney snowglobes to each visitor.  The mall remained packed even after sunrise.  Kmart opened at 5am which became the most coldest wait for cheap electronic deals.  Tablets, cameras, eReaders, and video game consoles were their biggest promotions.

Overall, there were good and bad about this day.  For the good, Target modeled a great plan to control crowds, yet risked losing customers.  There were plenty savings for frugal shoppers in hard times.   The bad, was the stores who did not have any control strategy or active management of the doorbuster rush.  Cross Creek mall highlighted the risks and dangers.  With a shooting in wee hours of the morn, it reminded many if these discounts were actually worth it.  Other locations included scuffles, arguments, and shoplifting arrests as well.  Maybe the future events will be more regulated to control concert like crowds who flock to large retailer’s promotions.  It is an issue to look at, especially with Cyber Monday approaching.  Visit FayToday for more coverage of the Holiday discounts.  Cyber Monday will be available Sunday on this site, listing the great deals from the comfort of you home.

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