nebraskaparkfan

I had this happen a few weeks ago when my son was in desperate need for pants for his new job.

I don't mind the opening at 10 p.m. on Thursday. it's just moving further and further up. I actually do most of my shopping online. But for all those who complain about the stores (i.e. Walmart) making low income people work on Thanksgiving, I'd like to point out that this year my son has a different job than walmart. He now works at the Hard Rock Casino - and he works the 3-11 shift on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve Day and Christmas Day. While he will get paid more per hour - which will help with the student loan debt - it's ridiculous that a casino is open on Christmas Day.

Our walmart had a lot of movies left, but I had noticed that a lot of them were the same movies they had last year. Heard that comment from a lot of other people, too.

Most of the places around here do a good job with the barricades so not any real jumpers. However, my daughter and I got to Younkers at 7:56 last night (opened at 8). There was a huge line. There was a big group of us that were standing across the road in the parking lot waiting for those in line to go in and getting yelled at by them. None of us were moving up to the store so it was pretty annoying. We were just standing there waiting for the line to make its way in. However, they then opened a second set of door but the people in line kept going in the same set. I don't really think it's jumping if they were too stupid to not use both sets of doors. So most of us made our way in with no pushing or running after we were all standing there and commenting about no one in line going in the other doors.. I did notice that the group going in the second set of doors didn't stay on the main level where most of the big deals were, but walked up the escalator to the upper level for clothing. But I was very irritated at Walmart last night. they really didn't have anyone policing the movie area like they normally do so a lot of people were sticking their hands into the displays under the shrink wrap to take movies and such and then hide them in their cart. I did see one lady at 5:30 who had a whole cart full of the jeans and other things that were on BF who had everything confiscated by a WM employee. The other people next to me were discussing those who couldn't wait 30 minutes to put the stuff in their cart and we contemplated taking their pics of them doing it and putting it on facebook. They were in a public setting so no expectation of privacy and not really any different from the people of walmart sites.

The trick that was mentioned with vicks is also what social workers and others do when we have to visit a hoarder house.

Does anyone know if Scheels does black Friday sales? I have a cross country/track runner in my house and any savings on her running gear would be very helpful.

Our weather was beautiful this year with temps in the 60s on thanksgiving. I drove by best buy at 5 pm on thanksgiving night and only 2 tends and about 5 other people in line.

cricut was the one thing I was hoping for. Nothing worth standing in line for at menards.

Your online listings last year was wonderful!!!!! I think I only went to walmart to buy movies and a few other odds and ends and to menards b/c they don't do online and to Michaels. I shopped penneys (they don't carry my son's size for jeans in the store), old navy, amazon, best buy, bath and body works and several others. My son also got his xbox 360 online rather than camping at best buy and got a better deal. I had no problems with getting anything, just a glitch with best buy and when I called them, they were incredibly helpful and got my order completed for me.

one year at shopko it was below zero. the people in front of us had hot cocoa with peppermint schnapps and they were passing it around. Later that morning (i.e. about 4 a.m.) some man who appeared to be drunk was dropping off his wife at the store and yelled at the people in line who were in his way, gunned his car and attempted to drive through the crowd of people. One person had their foot driven on but refused to call the police b/c didn't want to lose their place in line. A few years ago, my then 15 year old son wanted to see the crazy people at target when the door opened. My BF was standing with us and wondered if you could go in the exit door. (her theory was that it would be a fire code violation for all the doors to be locked). She grabbed the lock mechanism and pulled - it opened - she went in -teenage son laughed and followed --pandemonium and a stampede ensued and the channel 4cameraman who had his back to the door was knocked over. the next year, there were carts around the exit door.

I wanted a soda stream machine for my son in college. I can get a better deal at walmart using his employee card than the BF ads. About all I'm going after this year is some movies and jeans from penneys that I have to order online b/c the store doesnt' carry my son's size.

I guess my area in northeast nebraska wasn't the only place without a best buy ad.

Thank you so much!!!!! My paper did not have a best buy ad (I heard that a lot of people in our area didn't get one), so without this site, I wouldn't have known what was on sale. Also, the online sales tracker is awesome. I only went to 3 stores this year - walmart, walgreens and menards - so much less stress and i got some sleep.

The Sioux City Menards finally took notice of people's complaints. Lots of security and the front area of the line has orange fencing. No line jumping was allowed so everyone got in nice and orderly (and I didn't get there til 5:25 and I was quite a ways back. There were maps for all the ad items listed by page number. When checking out, they had green tape on the floor that you followed and stood in one line and waited for an open register and they would send you up front. I was checked out and climbing into my car at the kmart parking lot (there was no parking left by the time I got there at menards) by 6:20. Wish every store would set it up like this. Some items were sold out within minutes of opening, but fortunately, I still got what I wanted.

Well it's 12:30 in my time zone and the ad is still not available in my time zone and it was supposed to be at midnight. bummer.

I lost my BF shopping buddy last year. His dad had himfor theholiday so I missed his entertainment value. My 17 yo son is going with me this year. He's 6'6" tall with really long arms and is a great help. He's so cheerful and grabs stuff off the tall shelves for everybody else. He loves to watch the crazy people at the stores that don't really do lines very good. I have friends who have asked me to go with him, but since I'm shopping for him and his sister, I prefer his company since I need his advice on the movies and such at WM b/c I can't remember what they own already.

I will say that the one good thing about being in the midwest is because of the normally frigid temps on black friday. A lot of people shop in groups so when you are in line outside, you take turns sitting in the car and warming up. I have never really seen anyone get upset wtih this practice b/c you can tell that people are cycling through the line experience every 15 min or so. I've even seen strangers offer each other "car time" and let them get back in line. It's helpful when you have health problems that keep you from standing in line for a long time in the cold.

I wouldn't try that. I once transferred money from my savings account to my checking account at 6 p.m. via the atm when I got off work and then early the next morning - before the banks opened - i wrote a check for groceries. The bank processed the check first and then the transfer. no amount of arguing or anything could change their mind about the overdraft even though i had the atm slip that showed the time of the transfer. And yes, BF is the best things for people on a tight budget esp. if you have kids. Not everyone is going out to buy high priced electronics. There are a lot of good deals on clothes, shoes, kitchen items etc etc. Most of my kids presents come from BF and since they are older it's a lot of clothing. The only jeans that I can find for my very tall son are normally close to $40. On BF they are $15. That's a big savings and he gets 5-6 pairs every year for Christmas. I've even been know to buy a few birthday presents to put away for later to save some money.

I'll start out in South Sioux City, Nebraska then cross the river into Sioux City Iowa. Now if only there was a store in North Sioux City or Dakota Dunes, South Dakota with some BF sales so I could say I shopped in 3 states on BF.

My plan is to be at walmart b/t 8:30 and 9 p.m. My son is actually working at WM as a cashier from 5-10 pm. Lucky him since hardly anyone will be checking out during those times. Since he's a minor, he can't work the insane hours. As soon as he checks out, he is joining his sister and me to get movies and video games. not much else at WM I want. So far the only other store shopping I'm probably doing is menards and shopko. Everything else tends to be on line. My son is 6'6" tall, so from experience I know that none of the stores will have his size in stock, so I get the black friday penneys prices on jeans online. Unfortunately, I can't convince my daughter to do anything other than WM. Her brother, however, is my BF shopping buddy. He has a great sense of humor and loves to laugh at some of the craziness. And with his size, he can reach over everybody to get the stuff off the top shelf, which is appreciated by the other shoppers when he keeps handing things down to them and they don't have to climb the shelves.

I wish there was. I was in a leg brace last year from mid-calf to mid-thigh. The Menards in Sioux City, Iowa was the worst. The "security" in the parking lot said that they didn't get enough money to do anything more than watch - think of a giant funnel of people pouring into 2 small doors. So even if you were in line, when the store opened, people came from everywhere and shoved those in the line out of the way. When you did get in, I was slammed against the metal railing at the entrance of the store where there is normally a small turnstill thing for people to enter. I had several large bruises from the experience. When I asked a store associate for assistance with getting an item off the shelf, they walked away. This summer I finally had my knee replaced so while I won't have the leg brace, I still need to think about what I'm doing so I don't reinjure it. Unfortunately, there are things I need at Menards b/c they actually have better deals than walmart and many of the other stores, so I might have to figure out a better game plan for shopping there. Standing in line in the Iowa cold for several hours is not an option, particularly as those in line get shoved out of the way regardless.

Gotta love the walmart in South sioux City Nebraska. Very organized. Didn't hear of anything that wasn't there. They did missplace the pallet of floor steam cleaners, but they found them about 11:50 and got them out. I was told that it was a secret that our walmart had a manual that listed all of the stuff in the other store's ads and it was very clear what they could and could not price match. Gotta love it. I forgot to get my nebraska fleece jackets, but I stopped in at 10 a.m. today and they still had some black ones for me and my daughter. Very happy. the only thing is that some stuff was already marked back up to original price and some stuff wasn't. didn't make much sense as to what prices were changed.

Went to WM at 11 to scope out where things are. Went to pajamas and asked the associate there if I could just look to see if there were any xs sizes so I wouldn't have to waste my time looking. she said no. Went by the fleece jackets in mens and asked the same question of the associate for a 2xl. she said sure as long as I didn't put it in my cart. WM had associates by every midnight item to make sure nothing was taken ahead of time. Waited by the cricut and got the 2 cartridges at midnight. then went to movies. it was crazy. they didn't bring out the movies til 11:55 b/c they have had problems with people grabbing them early and they were tired of trying to police it to make it fair to everyone. I was there while the mayhem was going on and got a bunch. An older woman in front of me was on crutches and I saw a couple people shove her out of their way to get what they wanted. Not a good scene. But overall it wasn't too bad. I was checked out of WM by 12:37 and on my way back home. Went home and tried to order the movies I didn't get at BB but never could get their website to accept the order. It kept locking up. Took a nap and got back up at 4:30 and back to Menards by 5 a.m. There were about 75-85 people in front of me, so I was hopeful for a cart (I wear a leg brace til I get knee surgery and can't carry stuff too easily). They sent out their courtesy patrol people at 5:55 who just went to the back of the parking lot to watch and did nothing to control the problems. At 6 a.m. when the doors opened, people came running from everywhere. I was in the middle of the crowd so got pushed into running with the rest b/c you couldn't escape. (and the knee doesn't like running after standing in the frigid cold for an hour). As we were shoved through the doors (quite literally) I was worried about being shoved into the metal railing inside the store. I didn't get a cart, but a sales clerk was standing on a ladder in the garbage can aisle and was handing out large garbage cans on wheels. worked for me. I got everything on my list and my mom's list. Associates were stationed all over the store and were incredibly helpful with giving people direcitons where to find the items. Amazingly, it only took about 20-25 min. to check out. The last time I did Menards on black friday, I stood in the checkout for over an hour. Went to Rue 21 and got 2 pairs of jeans for my daughter for $20 total and then to Michaels' to pick up some scrapbook cases and a couple stocking stuffers I had forgotten to get on thursday night. Then back home by 7:45 to try again to order off BB's site. I finally gave up and called BB and ordered the CDs. There is no way I could have gotten into the store and checked out in under 2 hours, so with free shipping this was the way to go.

Had a few good moments at Walmart at the cricut display. Made some new friends while we were waiting. Yep, scrapbookers are just nice people lol. A lady asked the mgr. if she could put a pink cricut expression on top so she wouldn't have to dig through the pile at midnight to get it. She explained that her friend has breast cancer and wasn't allowed out b/c of the risks of infection due to the chemo and she wanted a pink one b/c everything in her life was pink. The mgr went over and helped her put it on top (I should probably add that the manager's wife is really big into scrapbooking). My sis was waiting at TRU in Sioux Falls SD for an hour and when they were handing out coupons, she didn't get the one for the ipod she wanted. Shortly before opening, the person in front of her decided they didn't want it and gave her the ticket. While at menards, the lady in front of me in the checkout lane realized that she forgot two items on her list. I told her I would push her stuff ahead in line so she could go get it. I'm a single person so I know how hard it is to do this type of stuff by myself. Another lady was using a flatbed cart and told the elderly couple behind her to put their stuff on the back half of her cart b/c she had plenty of room. They hadn't had the good luck to get a cart or anything. While I was in Michaels on Thursday night, I was looking at an ATG gun (a $40 tape runner for scrapbooking). A lady I had been chatting with wanted to get one but realized that she had left her coupon at home. She asked me if I could pay for it and she would give me cash. I had chatted with her and a few other people while we were debating various items. Never did learn her name but I also invited her to join a monthly crop. Figured that with the cost of scrapbooking, it always helps to save a little money and she was worried that tehy would run out of these.

Just got an ipod touch 8gb refurbished on overstock for 145. free shipping. It has the same warranty as a new ipod. I have bought refubished items before without a problem as long as you buy it from a "real" retailer vs. some of the intenet sites that don't have a "name" to back them up. With those types of sites, you don't know where the item was refurbished etc. and apple will not honor the warranty.