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(For those who don't know, Black Friday refers to the last Friday in
November in the US, and it is the single busiest shopping day of the
year. Traditionally, most retailers either make very poor profits, or
actually lose money, all year until that day. That is, all year long
they're "in the red," until they begin turning a profit on this day,
when they're "in the black").
Yesterday's appellation of "Black Friday" was appropriate in more ways
than one, as several deaths occurred as a result of the holiday shopping
madness in the US.
The first was a worker at a Wal-Mart in New York. As he opened the
doors at 5am, a crowd of 2,000 people stampeded into the store -
breaking down the doors and killing him in the process. And he was a
temp worker, so he didn't even have any benefits!
In the same incident, several other people were taken to the hospital,
including a pregnant woman who (it has now been confirmed) suffered a
miscarriage as a result of the trauma.
Later in the day, two people shot each other outside of a Toys R Us in
California. While management claims the dispute was unrelated to the
store, sales, or shopping in general, witnesses reported the two people
arguing inside the store earlier.
With all of this, it's no wonder the US gets a bum rap as a bunch of
nihilistic pricks. Honestly, being in such a rush that you have to
literally step on someone else just to save $30 on a toaster? Of course
the corporations do everything possible to feed the frenzy, running all
the advertising they are capable of, and getting people excited over
this particular weekend (and Friday in particular).
For myself, I've never actually gone shopping on Black Friday. Most
years I had to work (imagine that), but the one year I did have it off I
went out at 10:30am and found most stores' shelves depleted.
One of my brothers was talking about going out to buy a TV - maybe I
should call and make sure he didn't get hurt in the process.
...Ben Chambers
www.pacificwebguy.com
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Chambers wrote:
> (For those who don't know, Black Friday refers to the last Friday in
> November in the US, and it is the single busiest shopping day of the
> year. Traditionally, most retailers either make very poor profits, or
> actually lose money, all year until that day. That is, all year long
> they're "in the red," until they begin turning a profit on this day,
> when they're "in the black").
Only one day each year when they make a profit?
That sounds pretty absurd to me. Why not just not bother opening any day
except that one? That'd make 25x the profit that way! :-P
> Yesterday's appellation of "Black Friday" was appropriate in more ways
> than one, as several deaths occurred as a result of the holiday shopping
> madness in the US.
>
> The first was a worker at a Wal-Mart in New York. As he opened the
> doors at 5am, a crowd of 2,000 people stampeded into the store -
> breaking down the doors and killing him in the process. And he was a
> temp worker, so he didn't even have any benefits!
>
> In the same incident, several other people were taken to the hospital,
> including a pregnant woman who (it has now been confirmed) suffered a
> miscarriage as a result of the trauma.
...da HELL?! o_O
People stampeded over SHOPPING??!
That surely has to be the WTF of the entire month!
(Having said that, people round here do seem to become slightly crazy
whenever a new Ikea opens. I have no idea why. Still, there are no
stabbings or crushed bodies. Just lots of people camping outside all
night so they get to be first in the queue to go on. With is borderline
insanity as it is...)
--
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*
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"Chambers" <ben### [at] pacificwebguy com> wrote:
> (For those who don't know, Black Friday refers to the last Friday in
> November in the US, and it is the single busiest shopping day of the
> year. Traditionally, most retailers either make very poor profits, or
> actually lose money, all year until that day. That is, all year long
> they're "in the red," until they begin turning a profit on this day,
> when they're "in the black").
Thanks for the interesting explanation.
> Yesterday's appellation of "Black Friday" was appropriate in more ways
> than one, as several deaths occurred as a result of the holiday shopping
> madness in the US.
I saw on TV and was astounded. It's really a stampede, people begin behaving
like raging bulls!
So far I only knew of it through two movies: an old Jerry Lewis one and one
starring Schwarzenegger. I thought it was typical Hollywood exhageration...
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> -----Original Message-----
> From: Orchid XP v8 [mailto:voi### [at] devnull]
> Only one day each year when they make a profit?
No, it's the FIRST day that they make a profit. Now through Christmas
is the busiest time of the year for retail, and they make most of their
profits during this season (note that many stores actually do make a
profit during the rest of the year, but it's nothing compared to the
holidays).
> ...da HELL?! o_O
>
> People stampeded over SHOPPING??!
You should look up some of the videos from product launches for video
game consoles. Keep in mind that those are from a single product
targeting a single consumer group.
Now, imagine if every consumer group had a sale that crazy, all on the
same day...
...Ben Chambers
www.pacificwebguy.com
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Chambers wrote:
> Now, imagine if every consumer group had a sale that crazy, all on the
> same day...
Items on sale at the Valley Stream Wal-Mart included a Samsung 50-inch
Plasma HDTV for $798, a Bissel Compact Upright Vacuum for $28, a Samsung
10.2 megapixel digital camera for $69 and DVDs such as "The Incredible Hulk"
for $9.
Not that that excuses anything, but it *was* a pretty serious sale. I'm not
surprised there were so many people there, but i'm rather surprised at their
callousness.
They had a similar problem in (I think) the 70s (or early 80s?) at a Who
concert, where a dozen people or so got crushed against the doors while
waiting to get in, after which the city instituted rules against open
seating at concerts or some such. (You could probably find the details with
enough googling, but more recent events are overshadowing the obvious terms. :-)
--
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
The NFL should go international. I'd pay to
see the Detroit Lions vs the Roman Catholics.
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From: Nicolas Alvarez
Subject: Re: Black Friday - an appropriate appellation
Date: 29 Nov 2008 21:43:22
Message: <4931fdc9@news.povray.org>
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Darren New wrote:
> They had a similar problem in (I think) the 70s (or early 80s?) at a Who
> concert, where a dozen people or so got crushed against the doors while
> waiting to get in, after which the city instituted rules against open
> seating at concerts or some such. (You could probably find the details
> with enough googling, but more recent events are overshadowing the obvious
> terms. :-)
We had a similar one
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superclásico#Puerta_12_Tragedy
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Nicolas Alvarez wrote:
> We had a similar one
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superclásico#Puerta_12_Tragedy
"""
71 fans were killed in crush at gate 12. [...] Since the tragedy the gate
s
at El Monumental have been identified by letters instead of numbers.
"""
That sounds more like something Americans would do. :-)
--
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
The NFL should go international. I'd pay to
see the Detroit Lions vs the Roman Catholics.
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"Chambers" <ben### [at] pacificwebguycom> wrote in message
news:78D2A215AB4C409B810B7FECCE51E51F@HomePC...
> (For those who don't know, Black Friday refers to the last Friday in
> November in the US, and it is the single busiest shopping day of the
> year. Traditionally, most retailers either make very poor profits, or
> actually lose money, all year until that day. That is, all year long
> they're "in the red," until they begin turning a profit on this day,
> when they're "in the black").
With all due respect, that's nonsense. No retailer operates with one month
net profits and 11 months of losses (none that stays in business for more
than a year anyway). It's a myth. The deep discounts offered on Black Friday
(which still turn in handsome profits) should give you an idea of the profit
margins at other days of the year. The "explanation" about the profits was
concocted sometime after the introduction of the term, by retailers who
understandably wanted counter the original negative connotations of the
term.
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> -----Original Message-----
> From: somebody [mailto:x### [at] ycom]
> With all due respect, that's nonsense. No retailer operates with one
> month
> net profits and 11 months of losses (none that stays in business for
> more
> than a year anyway). It's a myth.
With all due respect, I'm well aware of the realities of business. I
was offering that paragraph as an explanation for my non-US friends who
might not know what "Black Friday" is.
Did you even read the rest of my post? If I'm pissed off and depressed
about rampant consumerism leading to the *deaths* of innocent people, do
you think I effing care about details like what kind of profit margin
retailers normally take in?
...Ben Chambers
www.pacificwebguy.com
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nemesis wrote:
> So far I only knew of it through two movies: an old Jerry Lewis one and one
> starring Schwarzenegger. I thought it was typical Hollywood exhageration...
Likewise...
--
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*
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"Chambers" <ben### [at] pacificwebguycom> wrote in message
news:E3215A229B3F40E9BAB2DA884CD73F02@HomePC...
> > With all due respect, that's nonsense. No retailer operates with one
> > month
> > net profits and 11 months of losses (none that stays in business for
> > more
> > than a year anyway). It's a myth.
> With all due respect, I'm well aware of the realities of business. I
> was offering that paragraph as an explanation for my non-US friends who
> might not know what "Black Friday" is.
It doesn't help to misinform them with an untrue retailer sob story.
> Did you even read the rest of my post? If I'm pissed off and depressed
> about rampant consumerism leading to the *deaths* of innocent people, do
> you think I effing care about details like what kind of profit margin
> retailers normally take in?
I don't disagree with the rest of your post. The original (and correct)
meaning of the Black Friday was just that anyway, stampedes, traffic jams,
crowds behaving like anglry cattle... etc.
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On Sat, 29 Nov 2008 22:16:35 -0000, Chambers <ben### [at] pacificwebguycom> wrote:
> (For those who don't know, Black Friday refers to the last Friday in
> November in the US, and it is the single busiest shopping day of the
> year. Traditionally, most retailers either make very poor profits, or
> actually lose money, all year until that day. That is, all year long
> they're "in the red," until they begin turning a profit on this day,
> when they're "in the black").
As Andrew mentioned it's something we only see here during big stupid
sales "£200 now £10 for first two customers only" type of thing which
happen either at the New Year Sales or at an opening event.
The footfall traffic here seems to start the week before Xmas and then
builds as everyone realises that the stores will be closed for an entire
day and get in enough food to feed an army for a week. Highly justified in
that if you don't the shelves will be as depleted as you mention when you
do want something; oh wait self-fullfilling prophecy.
Wonder what it'll be like this year with the doom & gloom?
--
Phil Cook
--
I once tried to be apathetic, but I just couldn't be bothered
http://flipc.blogspot.com
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From: Invisible
Subject: Re: Black Friday - an appropriate appellation
Date: 1 Dec 2008 07:21:56
Message: <4933d6e4@news.povray.org>
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Phil Cook v2 wrote:
> The footfall traffic here seems to start the week before Xmas and then
> builds as everyone realises that the stores will be closed for an entire
> day and get in enough food to feed an army for a week. Highly justified
> in that if you don't the shelves will be as depleted as you mention when
> you do want something; oh wait self-fullfilling prophecy.
Ah yes, ye olde "OMG, I MUST BUY ENOUGH FOOD TO LAST OUT A NUCLEAR WINTER!"
Sure, you have people coming to visit you. You need a little extra food.
But 3 trolleys? WTF??
Hint: Even 9 people aren't going to eat all that lot in 7 days. :-P
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Phil Cook v2 wrote:
...and now I'm wondering in what way Phil Cook v2 is an improvement on
the old v1 model... ;-)
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From: Nicolas Alvarez
Subject: Re: Black Friday - an appropriate appellation
Date: 1 Dec 2008 07:53:00
Message: <4933de2b@news.povray.org>
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Invisible wrote:
> Phil Cook v2 wrote:
>
> ...and now I'm wondering in what way Phil Cook v2 is an improvement on
> the old v1 model... ;-)
Why are you v8?
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On Mon, 01 Dec 2008 10:53:00 -0200, Nicolas Alvarez <nic### [at] gmailcom>
wrote:
>Invisible wrote:
>> Phil Cook v2 wrote:
>>
>> ...and now I'm wondering in what way Phil Cook v2 is an improvement on
>> the old v1 model... ;-)
>
>Why are you v8?
Because he's not firing on all cylinders :)
--
Regards
Stephen
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And lo on Mon, 01 Dec 2008 12:35:29 -0000 Invisible <voi### [at] devnull> did
spake:
> Phil Cook v2 wrote:
>
> ...and now I'm wondering in what way Phil Cook v2 is an improvement on
> the old v1 model... ;-)
More room in the boot.
--
Phil Cook
--
I once tried to be apathetic, but I just couldn't be bothered
http://flipc.blogspot.com
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Invisible wrote:
> Ah yes, ye olde "OMG, I MUST BUY ENOUGH FOOD TO LAST OUT A NUCLEAR WINTER!"
Yeah. We had a snow-storm warning when I was in NJ, and when I went to the
giant food store, with one entire row (say, 80 feet of aisle) dedicated to
bread, there was none left. Nutso.
--
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
The NFL should go international. I'd pay to
see the Detroit Lions vs the Roman Catholics.
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Darren New wrote:
> Yeah. We had a snow-storm warning when I was in NJ, and when I went to
> the giant food store, with one entire row (say, 80 feet of aisle)
> dedicated to bread, there was none left. Nutso.
Oh, that's cute.
On the other hand, our local Tesco *never* seems to have any bread left
on sale. Every single time I go there, only a couple of loaves left. Why?
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On Sun, 30 Nov 2008 00:04:00 -0800, Chambers wrote:
> With all due respect, I'm well aware of the realities of business. I
> was offering that paragraph as an explanation for my non-US friends who
> might not know what "Black Friday" is.
I also know a thing or two about retail business, and most retail
businesses, if they operated this way, would be out of business.
> Did you even read the rest of my post? If I'm pissed off and depressed
> about rampant consumerism leading to the *deaths* of innocent people, do
> you think I effing care about details like what kind of profit margin
> retailers normally take in?
I agree, though, that this is the more appalling part of the story.
However, that said, the reports I saw confirmed that the pregnant lady
did not miscarry, that this was misreported in earlier reports.
The shooting at Toys R Us was reported to be gang-related and not related
to shopping, confirmed by several eyewitnesses.
Jim
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From: Eero Ahonen
Subject: Re: Black Friday - an appropriate appellation
Date: 1 Dec 2008 12:54:48
Message: <493424e8@news.povray.org>
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Invisible wrote:
>
> Oh, that's cute.
>
> On the other hand, our local Tesco *never* seems to have any bread left
> on sale. Every single time I go there, only a couple of loaves left. Why?
They order an amount they think will last for one day. Fresh bread won't
sell on another day, so every unselled bread is a loss.
-Aero
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>> On the other hand, our local Tesco *never* seems to have any bread left
>> on sale. Every single time I go there, only a couple of loaves left. Why?
>
> They order an amount they think will last for one day. Fresh bread won't
> sell on another day, so every unselled bread is a loss.
And every customer who walks in to buy bread but can't is also a loss.
--
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*
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>> ...and now I'm wondering in what way Phil Cook v2 is an improvement on
>> the old v1 model... ;-)
>
> More room in the boot.
Ah. So you're good at carrying stuff? :-D
--
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*
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>> Why are you v8?
>
> Because he's not firing on all cylinders :)
Hmm. Cute.
--
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*
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On Mon, 01 Dec 2008 19:54:44 +0200, Eero Ahonen wrote:
> They order an amount they think will last for one day. Fresh bread won't
> sell on another day, so every unselled bread is a loss.
At least it won't sell for the same price as fresh bread on day 2. But
there are uses for stale bread (as opposed to spoiled, which nobody
should buy or sell). For example, if you want to make breadcrumbs for
breading, stale bread tends to work better (though I've had success with
very lightly toasting 'fresher' bread and then throwing it in the food
processor).
Jim
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> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jim Henderson [mailto:nos### [at] nospamcom]
> However, that said, the reports I saw confirmed that the pregnant lady
> did not miscarry, that this was misreported in earlier reports.
That's funny, the earlier reports I saw said that she didn't miscarry, and
the later reports said that she did.
<googles>
Ah, ok, it seems that reports of her miscarriage were unfounded.
...Ben Chambers
www.pacificwebguy.com
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Orchid XP v8 wrote:
>>> On the other hand, our local Tesco *never* seems to have any bread left
>>> on sale. Every single time I go there, only a couple of loaves left.
>>> Why?
>>
>> They order an amount they think will last for one day. Fresh bread won't
>> sell on another day, so every unselled bread is a loss.
>
> And every customer who walks in to buy bread but can't is also a loss.
>
Yes, but that can't be seen on the printed selling reports, 'cause the
system can't know if you would've bought bread if it was available.
Instead of that it's easy to print "bought 20 breads, sold 18".
Yes, they should learn from that kind of mistakes, but...
-Aero
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> -----Original Message-----
> From: Eero Ahonen [mailto:aer### [at] removethiszbxtnetinvalid]
> Yes, but that can't be seen on the printed selling reports, 'cause the
> system can't know if you would've bought bread if it was available.
> Instead of that it's easy to print "bought 20 breads, sold 18".
>
> Yes, they should learn from that kind of mistakes, but...
But they CAN print "Bought 20, sold 20." When they see something like
that, they usually try to buy more.
...Ben Chambers
www.pacificwebguy.com
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Chambers wrote:
>
> But they CAN print "Bought 20, sold 20." When they see something like
> that, they usually try to buy more.
Possibly depending on the time the last ones were sold. If the breads
come in bunch of 5 or 10, would it be reasonable to buy 25 or 30 to sell
21 of them. Would that one happy customer profit those 4 or 9 breads out.
And even after all the thinking estimating the future is not easy. One
could see that normal day sells 17 breads and order 20, but some days
mr. Visible comes and buys 6 of them, making total to 23.
> ...Ben Chambers
> www.pacificwebguy.com
-Aero
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And lo On Tue, 02 Dec 2008 16:10:34 -0000, Eero Ahonen
<aer### [at] removethiszbxtnetinvalid> did spake thusly:
> Chambers wrote:
>>
>> But they CAN print "Bought 20, sold 20." When they see something like
>> that, they usually try to buy more.
>
> Possibly depending on the time the last ones were sold. If the breads
> come in bunch of 5 or 10, would it be reasonable to buy 25 or 30 to sell
> 21 of them. Would that one happy customer profit those 4 or 9 breads out.
>
> And even after all the thinking estimating the future is not easy. One
> could see that normal day sells 17 breads and order 20, but some days
> mr. Visible comes and buys 6 of them, making total to 23.
The paradox is when you ask for something and they tell you there's no
demand for it.
The annoyance is when you ask for something they've obviously sold out of
and are told that they've been asked that several times already.
The super annoyance is having the previous annoyance repeated week after
week.
--
Phil Cook
--
I once tried to be apathetic, but I just couldn't be bothered
http://flipc.blogspot.com
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