Police Provide Recommendations for Stores to Implement Following Black Friday Death
Several news outlets here, here and here are reporting that the Nassau County police has issued a set of recommendations for stores to follow when they hold big sales to prevent incidents like last year's Black Friday death. The Nassau County police say they will provide support whenever it is needed but that the overall responsibility lies with the stores. The police said, "the responsibility for the security and control of these sales events rests with the store. Store administrators should never market a sales event without having a plan, and the proper resources to manage it."
The recommendations come after a temporary Walmart employee Jdimytai Damour was trampled and killed by a large crowd of 2,000 shoppers at a Walmart store early in the morning on Black Friday, December 1st.
Here's a list of some of the recommendations from the police report:
Setting up barricades and/or rope lines to manage crowds ahead of the sale
Handing out wristbands or numbered tickets to shoppers
Positioning store employees in the parking lot and giving them radios so they can share information.
Stores should have shoppers enter the stores in smaller groups
Retailers should provide shoppers with maps showing where to find the hottest sale items.
Patrons should be kept out once the store reaches maximum occupancy.
Phone police if crowds get unruly
Police also said stores should plan whom to call in a medical emergency but they should also have defibrillators on hand and train staffers in how to use them.
Those all sound like great ideas. We will see if any of them are implemented by Walmart and other retailers on Black Friday next year. We would also like to see retailers stop using the word "door busters" - no need to suggest shoppers break down the doors to get to the sales.
The family of Jdimytai Damour, the worker who was trampled to death on Black Friday, is suing
Wal-Mart, the security company and the owner of the property for wrongful death. The lawsuit alleges that the store ads "created an atmosphere of competition and anxiety" that led to "crowd craze."
The lawsuit claims that besides failing to provide adequate security for a pre-dawn crowd estimated at 2,000, Wal-Mart "engaged in specific marketing and advertising techniques to specifically attract a large crowd and create an environment of frenzy and mayhem and was otherwise careless, reckless and negligent."
Wal-Mart issued a statement saying it would cooperate with local law enforcement officials to develop stronger safety measures for the future.
"We consider Mr. Damour part of the Wal-Mart family, and are saddened by his death," the statement said. "We have been in communication with members of his family to do what we can to help them through this difficult time. Our associates know that when incidents like this occur, we take care of our own."
*****
The 6-foot-5, 270-pound man died of asphyxiation after being crushed early Friday morning by the crowd, which broke down the electronic doors in frantic pursuit of bargains. At least four other people were treated at hospitals, including a woman who was eight months pregnant.
The entire incident is horrifying. We think that this case is going to lead to changes in how retailers advertise and monitor future Black Friday sales. Best Buy, for example, hands out tickets beforehand to make sure this kind of thing doesn't happen. This should become standard practice, in our opinion.
Cyber Monday: Retailers Ready With Coupons, Discounts and Free Shipping
Black Friday has come and gone but the virtual version of Black Friday - known as Cyber Monday - is tomorrow, December 1st, 2008. Cyber Monday is when online retailers offer coupons, discounts and free shipping offers. It's a good day for consumers who can get some holiday shopping done and save some money at the same time. There will continue to be deals throughout December but they generally aren't quite as good as the offers you can find on Cyber Monday. Here are some Cyber Monday highlights.
The National Retail Federation says nearly 84% of all online retailers will have some kind of Cyber Monday offer. That means you should be able to simply check your favorite retailer's website on Monday and see what they have. You could also subscribe to the retailer's newsletter or follow them on Twitter to make sure you catch any coupons and deals.
Black Friday traffic was up 10% over last year according to Nielsen Online but Black Friday online sales were up just 1% from the year before. Still the traffic increase could be a positive sign that people are ready to shop online tomorrow.
Circuit City and Best Buy have already kicked off their Cyber Monday sales. They aren't alone as some retailers have been running deals from Black Friday through Cyber Monday. Other retailers will have special offerings for Cyber Monday only that will be announced tomorrow.
Regina Lewis, AOL's Consumer Advisor, talked about some of the deals available tomorrow on the Today Show. Regina says Best Buy will be offering iPods and that Amazon will have a one-day watch sale. Regina Lewis also talked to Fox News in this video. She also talks about dynamic pricing.
CNN has a video report that says 73 million workers will be shopping for online deals from
work this year. Most workers search for deals during the lunch hour - at least that's when they say they do the shopping.
The New York Daily News published a feature listing
100 budget-friendly Cyber Monday sites.
Mashable has posted a list of 11 resources that help you find Cyber Monday deals.
The Huffington Post blogs the emergence of a Green Tuesday trend. The idea - said to be spearheaded by Ideal Bite - involves offering discounted green products to shoppers on on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving.
The L.A. Times reports that Cyber Monday makes up about 7% of total retail sales in a video report.
Kmart and Sears have sent out press releases - see here and here -- announcing special Cyber Monday coupons offering $5 off $25. The coupons are "ILOVESEARS" and "ILOVEKMART" - it should be obvious which coupon is for which store.
Be sure you are shopping safely - see resources here, here and here. A couple years ago Jon Stewart joked on the Daily Show that Cyber Monday is followed by Identity Theft Tuesday.
Holiday Shopping Deja Vu: Wii Hot as Ever but Shortages Expected
In the photograph above Santa Claus tries out the latest games for the Wii on Black Friday at the Stoneridge Mall in Pleasanton, California. Nintendo is setting up these Wii stations at over 25 malls across the country this holiday.
The push from Nintendo is going to help make a hot product even hotter. Just like last year the Wii is a must-have item. CNET reports that the Wii topped Black Friday searches on both eBay and PriceGrabber. Over 3,000 Wii game consoles were sold on eBay on Black Friday.
The Wii game console was the most searched-for product on eBay, followed by the Wii Fit companion product. Consumers snatched up 3,171 Wiis over eBay, at an average selling price of $349, followed by the Wii Fit, with 1,059 sold at an average selling price of $140.
eBay shows over 11,000 results if you search for a Wii console.
Here were top ten Black Friday searches on PriceGrabber, a shopping comparison website. The list shows the Wii in the top spot and in the 5th spot with the Wii Fit.
Nintendo Wii console
Ugg Australia "classic short" boot
Sony BDP-S350 1080p Blu-ray disc player
Samsung LN52A650 52" LCD TV
Nintendo Wii Fit
Panasonic TH-42PX80U 42" plasma TV
Sennheiser HD 555 headphones
Canon EOS Rebel XSi Black SLR digital camera kit
Acer Aspire One AOA110-1295 notebook PC
Canon PowerShot A590 IS black digital camera
So far there seem to be plenty of Wiis but GameStop's CEO David Carlson has warned he expects to run of out Wiis before the end of the shopping season - see here, here, here and here. This is very similar to what happened with the Wii in 2006 and 2007.
Black Friday sales were up 3% from last year's totals. Shoppers were lured in with deep discounts and of course the infamous "Door Busters."
Sales on the day after Thanksgiving rose to $10.6 billion, according to preliminary figures released Saturday by ShopperTrak RCT Corp., a Chicago-based research firm that tracks sales at more than 50,000 retail outlets.
Last year, shoppers spent about $10.3 billion on the day after Thanksgiving, dubbed Black Friday because it was historically the sales-packed day when retailers would become profitable for the year.
While it isn't a predictor of overall holiday season sales, Black Friday is an important barometer of people's willingness to spend during the holidays. Last year, it was the biggest sales generator of the season.
But experts caution that this year's sales growth may be hard to sustain for the remainder of the holiday shopping season, which has 27 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas instead of the 32 last year.
Still, the sales boost was surprising in light of data showing shoppers are scaling back on discretionary spending because of a recession fueled by uncertainty related to turmoil in the world's financial and credit markets.
We think the term "Door Busters" should be retired in light of the tragic death of the 34 year old Walmart worker who was trampled by crowds desperate to get inside the store to find a good deal.
Police are looking into the death of 34-year-old Jdimytai Damour of Jamaica, Queens who was pushed to the ground and trampled when a sea of two thousand shoppers stormed a Long Island Walmart as its doors opened at 5 a.m. on Black Friday. Gothamist reports that police say the crowd in the Long Island Walmart was out of control. Detective Lieutenant Michael Fleming says the crowd "overran him and kept running into the store. They pushed right over his body." Gothamist also quotes a couple of shoppers who were at the Walmart. One of the shoppers said the Black Friday shoppers even stepped on police who were trying to help Damour.
Shopper Nakea Augustine, who took photographs of the mass of people, said, "Nobody was trying to help him. They were rushing in the store, rushing, rushing, rushing." A cop said that cops performing CPR on Damour were also stepped on by shoppers. Another shopper said that Wal-Mart employees' pleas to shoppers were ignored, "When they were saying [shoppers] had to leave, that an employee got killed, people were yelling, 'I've been on line since Friday morning!' They kept shopping."
A New York Timesarticle contains a brief statement from Walmart about the incident.
A Wal-Mart spokesman, Dan Folgleman, called it a "tragic situation," and said the victim had been hired from a temporary staffing agency and assigned to maintenance work. Wal-Mart, in a statement issued at its headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., said: "The safety and security of our customers and associates is our top priority. Our thoughts and prayers are with them and their families at this tragic time."
Bruce Both - who represents Local 1500 of the United Food and Commercial Workers - calls Wal-Mart irresponsible.
"Where were the safety barriers?" said Bruce Both, the union president. "Where was security? How did store management not see dangerous numbers of customers barreling down on the store in such an unsafe manner? This is not just tragic; it rises to a level of blatant irresponsibility by Wal-Mart."
The Associated Press reports that charges are possible and police are reviewing surveillance tapes. Police say it may hard to single out those who were responsible. Police also say there was not enough security at that the store.
The Walmart in Long Island has reopened to shoppers but this Black Friday incident needs to be investigated to help make sure that this kind of needless tragedy isn't repeated again this holiday season or again next year. Gizmodo says, "It's sad and despicable, and it's equally the fault of the dehumanized shoppers and the WalMart store it happened at." Newsday article cites psychologists who say these kinds of stampedes are fueled by "fear and greed."
Black Friday arrived very early this morning for many shoppers. A lot of people were at stores early this morning to try and get the doorbuster deals before stores were either out-of-stock or the doorbuster offer expired. Many retailers have online sales and deals today. Check the website of your favorite stores and they are likely to be offering some kind of sale or coupon. After Black Friday the shopping deals will transition to the Internet for Cyber Monday when online retailers offer great deals and people shop from home or work. Here are some highlights of today's big shopping day.
The Apple Store's Black Friday deals were not as big as analysts had expected but people holding out for a MacBook or iPod Touch are probably still happy to have the savings. Barron's Tech Trader Daily blog quotes analysts who had been expecting larger Apple Store Black Friday discounts. Apple also always has the option to offer more deals in December.
You always hope no one is hurt during these intense early morning adventures on Black Friday to get the best deals. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case this year. A worker at a Walmart in Long Island was crushed and killed when shoppers stampeded the store. Walmart needs to implement some crowd control methods so this doesn't happen again.
Walmart's website went down early on Black Friday but has been functioning fine since then. Sears.com has also been down some today.
Here's a liveblog of a successful VAIO laptop acquisition at Best Buy. It took the buyer about 2.5 hours from start to finish.
Nike released DJ Clark Kent's "Black Friday" Nike Air Force 1 sneakers today.
Richard Simmons fired up employees at Macy's to get them ready for Black Friday.
A few YouTube videos show the big crowds at Walmart stores early this morning for those who missed it. See here and here. Another video shows a battle for an Xbox 360 package at Walmart.
Amazon.com's Black Friday toy deals today include 50% off Eyeclops Bionic Eye and $100 off Kota the Triceratops.
Here's a video of Richard Simmons getting Macy's employees fired up for Black Friday. He always brings lots of fun, excitement and energy everywhere he goes. Richard also shared OceanSpray's Cranergy energy drink with Macy's employees. (via Sun Suntinel)
Walmart's website had an outage around 6:10 a.m. eastern time this morning. They have been down for at least fifteen to twenty minutes. The message on the website says scheluded maintenance but Black Friday isn't the time for a retailer to be scheduling maintenance. They must have been overwhelmed by Black Friday shoppers flocking to the website or they having an ill-timed glitch. We have also seen Sak's Fifth Avenue and Circuit City experiencing some downtime at the start of the holiday shopping season.
The Apple Store has posted its highly anticipated Black Friday deals. Apple has discounted mid-range iMacs and MacBooks. They have discounted the iPod touch by $21. iPods are also $21 cheaper and iPod nanos are $11 off. There are also discounts on Apple accessories including speakers, headphones, bags and cases.
Overall the discounts are not as steep as some analysts had been expecting. Macrumors says, "This also means that analysts were once again wrong after predicting discounts up to 15% from Apple this year. Those looking for more significant Mac discounts will have better luck at 3rd party retailers." VentureBeat says it is notable what Apple has not been discounted - MacBook Pros and iPhones.
After a few hours of downtime to prepare for the big Black Friday sale, Apple's online store has just come back to life. While you can find savings on iMacs, MacBooks, iPod touches, iPod classics, iPod nanos and the Apple TV, it's just as noteworthy what isn't getting discounted: MacBook Pros and iPhones.
Gizmodo writes that the Apple Store has also added some good discounts on third-party products such as the Sanyo Xacti VPC-E2 waterproof camcorder.
Courtney Friel has a Black Friday "Power Ranking" for the Fox Business Network. They ranked their top five Black Friday deals in the video here on FoxBusiness.com. Here's their top five.
Walmart for its big electronics deals including the $798 50-inch Samsung TV. CNN mentions the Samsung TV deal as well.
KBToys for its discounts on Fischer Price and Leapfrog toys.
eDressme.com which has big discounts on evening gowns. They also have a $99 dress deal starting Friday - see here.
Saks Fifth Avenue: Saks is offering no interest, no payments for $2,000 worth of purchases. Chicago Tribune also confirms this deal and says it runs until December 11th. You have to put $2,000 on one receipt to get the no interest and no payments for 12 months. Saks also has discounts online.
Laptop Magazine Discusses Four Black Friday Notebook Deals
Laptop Magazine discusses four notebooks they think are good Black Friday deals at Best Buy in this article and in the video below. Three of the four are available for under $500.
HP Pavilion dv4-1114nr - Price: $499 (Normally $749)
Sony VAIO VGN- FW245J/HC: Price: $899 (Normally $1189)
Laptop Magazine says they are all available at the above prices if you are willing to get up early on Friday morning and get to Best Buy. And by early Friday morning they mean before Best Buy's doors open at 5 a.m. Laptop Magazine says, "Most Best Buy locations will open their doors at 5 A.M., which means you'll probably need to get there earlier, but at least Best Buy will offer tickets for those standing in line to ensure you get the gear you want."
Black Friday is now just one day away! Many retailers have already kicked off some online sales. The big sales at the brick-and-mortar stores will begin very early Friday morning for many stores. Some are even opening at midnight.
The latest Apple Store Black Friday news is that investment firm Kaufman Bros says there could be discounts of up to 15% on some products in the Apple Store. However, the actual deals are not yet known. The Apple Stores are also said to be offering price matching of competitor deals as we mentioned in our previous Black Friday update.
Linens N' Things online sale at LNT.com is the deal not to miss if they have any items you want. They are offering 40% to 70% off doorbusters from now until 11-30-08 plus an additional 10% off your final order.
Retailers are already offering some great deals online. Amazon.com, Best Buy, Jos A. Bank, Kmart, Toysrus.com and Walmart are just a few of many retailers that have already updated their websites with deals that might make it tempting to shop from home before Black Friday even begins. Online retailers will be continuing to offer new deals through the weekend and on Cyber Monday, December 1st.
Many retailers now have their circulars online. You can find links to a few dozen of them here or just go to the retailer's website and look for the link to the Weekly Ads. You can also find many of the circulars at Shop Local.
I4U notes that there is no Black Friday Deal on Elmo Live available. Elmo is being sold for about $60 at Amazon and Wal-Mart.
Amazon's Holiday Customer Review Team consists of six Amazon customers who write lots of reviews. Amazon.com even flew them out to Amazon headquarters in Seattle.
The New York Times offers a shopper's briefing on tech gadgets in this
article.
CrunchGear highlights some of the best gadget deals. Overall they like Walmart's deals the best and Best Buy's deals the least.
Slate lists six bargains to avoid on Black Friday. Slate doesn't like blu-ray players or digital picture frames.
Geeky rap: Seagate's viral hip-hop video tries to get you in the mood to buy drives. "1.5 terabytes, stack the memory to the sky"
Boy Genius compares the Mac deals from Best Buy and Macmall in this post.
Some retailers are sponsoring virtual gifts that Facebook users can share with each other on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
The Hopes and Fears of a Best Buy Manager: TechFlash interviewed Best Buy manager Danny Boggs as Black Friday nears to see how he is holding up. Black Friday has a lot of people in retail working
long hours and getting up really early.
Gamertell reports that eCost will be offering one Wii each hour for US$99 starting at 8:00 a.m. (EST), Friday.
A Free Lance Star editorial argues that it may be saner to just avoid the stores and malls on Black Friday.
Momformation also says skip the Black Friday crowds and shop online on Cyber Monday instead.
Circuit City's website has already been overhwelmed by shoppers.
To Live and Buy in LA - the L.A. Times offers some Black Friday shopping strategies in this article.
Black Friday is Pink Friday at Tiger Direct and CompUSA. It's part of a charitable effort to raise money for Susan G. Komen For the Cure.
Nintendo has released two new colorful Nintendo DS Lite bundles for Black Friday.
The Mario Red Nintendo DS bundle is going to be the hottest of the two.
There are also many great deals going on right now. Here are a few highlights:
Limited Too is offering 25% off thru December 10th
Wrapables, which has some unique gift items and holiday decorations, has already started its Black Friday sale.
Babystyle is offering a Black Friday discount of 30% off.
PetSmart is offering $10 off orders of $40 or more until 12-2-08.
FAO Schwarz is offering 20% off or free shipping. You Choose whether you want the 20% off or the free shipping.
Macys.com is offering free shipping sitewide with $99 purchase until 11-30-08.
Mikasa is offering 10% off + free shipping on orders of $75 or more from today until December 1st.
Many more coupons and deals can be found here on shoppersshop.com.
You can find our previous Black Friday entries filed under our Black Friday tag and you can also follow our Black Friday updates on Twitter here.
Black Friday is just a little over two days away! Here are some more Black Friday deals and news highlights to help you prepare.
Apple is said to be offering price matching on Black Friday. Blogs are reporting that the Apple Store will match the prices of other authorized retailers. We still don't know what specific deals they will be offering for their Black Friday sales. They have posted some of the extended holiday store hours. You
can find the hours by visiting Apple's store list and then clicking on the store near you. This will take you to that store's webpage.
On the individual store page click where it says "see extended holiday hours" and it will show you the store's holiday hours. ifoAppleStore says a few of the Apple Stores are opening as early as 3 a.m. on Black Friday.
Some people are already waiting in line! Yes, this is ridiculously early to be camped out in front of Best Buy. A Tamba Bay Onlinearticle says five people are already camping out in front of the
Lakeland Best Buy in Florida. The photograph shows a tent.
Freebies4Mom.com has a helpful post called Holiday Shopping Safely. The post lists things you can do to be prepared and to shop safely. Unfortunately, not everyone is at the malls or stores to shop on Black Friday so you do have to keep an eye out for trouble.
USA Today reports that consumers can find good deals beyond Black Friday.
This is especially true this year as retailers are likely to have inventory left they need to sell in December. The article cites a Consumer Reports survey
that says 25% of consumers are planning to shop on Black Friday.
Kotaku reports that Hhgregg is making the move into video games on Black Friday. They will begin selling video game bundles November 28th.
ThinkGeek.com is currently offering $5 off purchases $25 or $10 off purchases $50 or more.
Wired's Epicenter provides some shopping secrets including information about
finding Black Friday ads and coupon codes.
Consumer Reports Electronics blog explains how "special" derivative TVs - which are made specifically for big promotion events like Black Friday - differ from the standard models. Consumers Reports says, "Because the derivative sets are lower-priced, they typically have lower specs and lack some features found on standard models."
PC World has a great tip for those looking to buy a PlayStation 3. PC World says sign up for Sony's new Visa card before 12-31-08 and you get $150 credit on the card with a PlayStation 3 purchase.
Kotaku says Red Octane has several amazing deals on older Guitar Hero products in its pre-Thanksgiving sale.
GPS Deals: PCmag.com has some good advice for finding the best Black Friday GPS deals at different price levels - the lowest priced GPS models on Black Friday are going for $79.99. Consumer Reports is also blogging about the Best GPS navigation deals for Black Friday 2008.
The L.A. Times offers some shopping tips and strategies. One tip is to
avoid crowded stores for a lesser-crowded one. Maybe one of the other Staples or Best Buy stores in your area is less crowded. This works best if you live in area
that has several of the same retailers stores relatively close by.
Yahoo's Tech blog has posted a Black Friday guide that includes some tips and a close look at some of the tech deals.
Here is a list of the Top 10 retailer mistakes on Black Friday. The mistakes are all pretty bad but running out of the door-buster merchandise is probably the worst. If people show up for your special deals super early in the morning they don't expect you to run out in an hour or two. Don't make your customers get out of bed early for nothing.
Punch Jump says Target will offer a free $60 gift card with the purchase of an Xbox 360 Pro on Black Friday.
PCmag.com has a list of what they say are the top ten Black Friday websites .
One of the websites they list is Black Friday Gear. This site has a handy shop by category option. For example,
on this page you can browse the HD TV Black Friday deals.
Trouble waking up? Have the retailer give you a wake-up call: JCPenny will wake you up at 3 am on Black Friday if you want them to.
There are also many deals going on right now. ShoppersShop.com lists some fashion deals that are going on now.
Other current deals include free shipping and 15-20% off event at Macy's that ends 11-26-08. eBags.com is
offering 20% off until December 1st. Walter Drake is offering 25% off until December 1st.
WildTies.com is offering 20% off until 12-25-08 with coupon code: Save20
Spencer Gifts is offering 10% off your order until 12-1-08 with coupon code SHAF10 at its online store, SpencersOnline.com.
You can find our previous Black Friday entries filed under our Black Friday tag. You can also follow our Black Friday updates on Twitter here.
Black Friday is Pink Friday at Tiger Direct and CompUSA
Electronics retailers TigerDirect.com and CompUSA are turning pink on Black Friday. The retailers are changing Black Friday to "Pink Friday" in a cooperative effort for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure fight against breast cancer. Tiger Direct turned pink in 2007 as well.
The Pink Friday drive starts on Black Friday, November 28th, and runs through December 31, 2008. All products and items sold on TigerDirect.com and CompUSA.com will be shipped in specially designed pink boxes and the pink ribbon will be promoted on all catalogs, newspaper ads, web banner ads, store signs and incorporated into the TigerDirect.com/CompUSA logo.
TigerDirect.com and CompUSA will be running discounts and special deals on Pink Friday. TigerDirect and CompUSA will donate a minimum of $100,000 to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure and customers will have the opportunity to donate $1, $5, $10 or $20 to their purchase as a donation in their name. TigerDirect and CompUSA expect to donate more than a quarter million dollars from total sales and donations.
You can be notified of Pink Friday deals by subscribing on the Pink Friday website at pinkfriday.org. Here's a video about Pink Friday.
Several news outlets 
Black Friday has come and gone but the virtual version of Black Friday - known as Cyber Monday - is tomorrow, December 1st, 2008. Cyber Monday is when online retailers offer coupons, discounts and free shipping offers. It's a good day for consumers who can get some holiday shopping done and save some money at the same time. There will continue to be deals throughout December but they generally aren't quite as good as the offers you can find on Cyber Monday. Here are some Cyber Monday highlights.
Black Friday arrived very early this morning for many shoppers. A lot of people were at stores early this morning to try and get the doorbuster deals before stores were either out-of-stock or the doorbuster offer expired. Many retailers have online sales and deals today. Check the website of your favorite stores and they are likely to be offering some kind of sale or coupon. After Black Friday the shopping deals will transition to the Internet for Cyber Monday when online retailers offer great deals and people shop from home or work. Here are some highlights of today's big shopping day.
Courtney Friel has a Black Friday "Power Ranking" for the Fox Business Network. They ranked their top five Black Friday deals in the video 
Electronics retailers TigerDirect.com and CompUSA are turning pink on Black Friday. The retailers are changing Black Friday to "Pink Friday" in a cooperative effort for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure fight against breast cancer. Tiger Direct 