Extraordinary Observations

I don't have a crazy video this year, as it seems the Black Friday crowds have been behaving a bit less like animals this year than historically (see my posts from 2008, 2007, and 2006 if you're interested in that) but I still have a few comments. Take this article from my local paper that I woke up to this morning:

As it neared 5 a.m. this morning, a line of 100 or more Best Buy shoppers wrapped around the store at Steelyard Commons. Several people had camped out overnight, including Ronnie Bolanos of Cleveland. He said he came out last year, and ended up being too late to take advantage of deals on a limited quantity of items. He wasn't going to let that happen again: This year he showed up at 7 a.m. on Thanksgiving, meaning he spent almost 24 hours outside the store.

It's more than just waiting patiently for 24 hours... it's spending an entire holiday at a big-box shopping plaza. It's spending it out in the cold and in the rain and the snow.

The popularity of these "door-buster" promotions is one thing, but stores seem to open earlier and earlier every year. On a typical day, most of these stores probably open at 9 or 10 in the morning. On Black Friday, some open at 6 or 7 in the morning; some open in the middle of the night; I've heard that a few shopping malls open at midnight. The question is, when will they start the door-busters on Thanksgiving at 9pm? or 6pm? When will the promotions start occurring the day before Thanksgiving, rather than the day after?