jaymacfla

I think you will be in luck this year. The chief and i have discussed this very subject.

Funny that you might mention that! Last year, I met this lady (earlier in the week)who drove by with her daughter. She was a bit dismayed that I was missing out on Thanksgiving dinner and said that she would return on thanksgiving with plates for me and my son. I thanked her and assured her that we eat thanksgiving dinner on the Saturday before, but she was a traditionalist and pushed that notion aside. On thursday afternoon, sure enough, her son showed up and gave us two heaping plates full of food. I am here to tell you that that was one of my best moments ever, and the act of kindness was a blessing in itself. The food was incredible, BTW!

Here is an interesting story that points to Best Buy's bottom line bottoming out....http://seekingalpha.com/article/262944-where-are-best-buy-s-buyers?source=feed

There are many advantages of being in the know and learning your history as well. I always love the complaining that goes on and a lot of it comes from BF veterans here and there(mostly on other forums, thankfully). I have come to understand that a lot of the complaining is just subterfuge for the event, much like a smokescreen to keep others off the target.

I remember a certain snowfall. it was flurries for a while....while it lasted!

I wonder if it is one of the last remaining original style Walmarts, where you can literally see the back and both sides of the store walls from the entrance way.

Well said.

Usually, we would get one on BF except when it was not practical due to the specs of the camera not being particularly greater than the year before. Sometimes other factors kick in like losing one to bad handling, or bad choices from the previous year.

We have an organized tear-down a few hours prior to the Ticket hand out. This has worked well every time.

So what is the store that is so empty at 5AM? Certainly not Walmart! I can see Garden Ridge, and the smaller $1 stores being empty, but even those are now attracting some foot traffic.

I knew there was a common thread between us! I used to live east of Buffalo New York, and was well aware of how cold the north is, so I understand how funny it is talking about Florida weather. I was in the Marines as well, and the year you should be referring to was 1989. In 2009 the weather dipped down into the low thirties and it was windy, with a little bit of drizzle in the morning. This is a different Florida, as our weather in the northern part is influenced by a landmass called Georgia.

Sometimes you just have to make your own traditions. You can celebrate thanksgiving on any given day of the year. Military families do it when loved ones are far away. I changed my thanksgiving dinner to the Saturday before.

There are others like me who would offer their time on ustream if anybody wants to talk about their shopping experiences, or particular subjects not covered on Jim's webcast. I am expecting a great Black Friday and the predictions should be spot on this year. For those who do not know me, I have been at the front of the line of Best Buy for years, after being a Walmart and Compusa diehard for over a decade. I am also an avid PC builder and am an Electronics Lead(contractor) with the Military by trade. I can plan on alternating times/weeks, if Jim needs a break,(not to conflict any way) so let me know on here what you think and I will respond in kind.

Be sure to feed them, and most guys will be compliant!

That would largely depend upon whether you have any PS2 games lying around in profusion. You may want to avoid the mess altogether and get a used game system if the balance of your games are of the PS2 variety. Craigslist is a money-saver in this regard, and so will yard sales in season.

Here is another guide:http://www.jessicascoupons.com/2010/08/amazon-101-guide-to-shopping-saving.html

There are more general guides on shopping like this one:http://manuals.makeuseof.com.s3.amazonaws.com/MakeUseOf.com_-_Shopping.pdf

I will stand up and cheer when the CEO of Best Buy says, "In keeping with our burning desire to make this a joyous holiday season, we are disbanding the Geek Squad immediately, realizing that we offended real geeks everywhere. We sincerely apologize for our insensitivity on this matter." Seriously though, Best Buy can help customers by eliminating the forced up-selling that was going on at various locations the last two years. Black Friday is no time for examples like the following: 10 ticketed laptops available. 5 were pre-upgraded with fluffy services and black tie help. Joe customer with ticket goes to register and finds a higher price on the unit, because in the dark outside he couldn't tell that his ticket had a slightly different look to it. An argument ensues, and in many cases the ticketed item goes back into the pool for resale. Myself and others have been fighting this battle behind the scenes, and I will tell you that you should never engage other people on their community message boards with your troubles. There are many employees and fanboys throughout the website whose only purpose in life is to frustrate you. You should demand to talk to a moderator and privately message them for help. Help will come, but it takes way too long for most people to tolerate.

There is one Walmart in the Jacksonville area where a store employee allowed the purchase of multiple laptops to a single person. The local media reported the fracas in the parking lot by saying that the angry mob followed the person out to her car after she repeatedly challenged them (in and out of the store) and showed the mob a complete and utter lack of respect for their feelings. She basically got beat up for running her mouth and bragging about getting the laptops. There is no excuse for this behavior, but it was quickly covered up after one newscast.

Bah Humbug!

Already took the screen rooms out last weekend!

I love how they made you think Walmart, but dressed like Best Buy!

One thing you can count on, is the pallet mania mess will continue. Unless they adopt a reasonable ticket system, things will never change. You either have to accept it, or someone else will be glad to take the doorbuster for you.

http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/black-friday/1261520/

Amazon is our usual place to shop while we are waiting outside of Best Buy. We clean up on Blurays. When Brick and mortar shopping for Blurays, it is often best to check the Walmarts that are more rural, since the clientele tend to not buy them as much as DVDs.