msl94

The one item that I regret buying on BF was a $10 deep fryer from Walgreens. To this day, it still sits in my cabinet wrapped in plastic. I thought it was a great deal, but all it is doing is taking up valuable space.

I know I am posting this late, but I was able to purchase a Playstation 2 bundle (console, extra controller, 2 games) from KB Toys at 50% off about a week ago. It was originally stickered at $189.99; however, I was able to buy it for $95.

My wife and I began our BF adventure by driving to the Jersey Shore Premium Outlets as part of their Midnight Madness sale. Although we arrived there around 11:30pm, there were several stores that chose to open early (Izod, Tommy Hilfiger, Aeropostale, and a few others). At that time, Tommy had the longest line to check out, while Ugg had the longest line waiting to enter, as they opened exactly at midnight. When midnight hit, we were at Yankee Candle for their 6 large candles/$60 sale, and Perry Ellis for their 60-80% sale. Since there really wasn't anything else we were interested in, coupled with the fact that we had to travel to other retailers, we left the outlets and saw long lines of traffic trying to enter from the main road or the highway nearby. We went home so that we could take seperate vehicles as we both had agendas throughout the day. We did meet up at Kohl's, who advertised a 7 pc luggage set for $59.99. I then went to a mall (opened at 6am) to go to Gamestop. This is one of those malls that features both a Gamestop (10 people in line) and EB Games (I was the first in line); however, there are quite a few people that I talked to yesterday that do not know that they are the same company. I purchased the Guitar Hero Bundle pack for the Wii advertised at $129, although it seemed as if the Wii Fit was the popular item at that time. My shopping adventure concluded with a trip to Best Buy, as I wanted the Norton 360 Premier program (weekend Doorbuster). As I browsed the PC utility software section, I could not find the program anywhere on the shelf or on an endcap. I asked an employee wondering around the section and asked if he could help. He searched the computer and saw that there were some left, so he decided to ask someone up front. After a few minutes, he came back and told me there were none left. He then instructed me to find someone who worked in that area, as they would have a better idea. So I found another employee, who also verified that the store had the program in stock, as well as some other stores in the area who had the program. During this conversation, the Media Manager approached me and said that the store sold out of the program. Although I pointed out to him that two different employees informed me that there was stock on hand, he mentioned that I should check upfront at the Geek Squad desk. Out of curiosity, I asked if the producted could be ordered online (I knew that I could as I saw the employee bring up the product online and saw the $29.99 price), but he said that it was a Doorbuster and that no rainchecks would be given. Now that I am starting to get aggrevated, as I went to the Geek Squad desk and inquired about the product. The employee working there told me he also did not have it at his station, but would look in the backroom for me. After 5 minutes, he approached me to say that they did not have it. So I left this location, and drove out to another BB, which was 20 minutes away. When I got there, I was able to find the program and paid for it at checkout. In summary, we were fortunate to find the deals we wanted; however, the corporate office of BB will be notified my experience in their store. Matt

Thanks for everything!

I did not receive ads from Wal-Mart, Five Below, and Sports Authority. What is really interesting is that I received Kmart's Friday & Saturday ad in both the mail and in the newspaper.

Unfortunately, the Franklin Mills Mall in Philadelphia will open at 6am on BF.

My wife and I were talking about this topic the other night, and I mentioned to her that there are Visa gift cards available through our bank that will work just as well as a store gift card. Although they are along the lines of the Visa, Mastercard, and AMEX gift cards that you see at your grocery store's checkout line, my bank does not charge a fee for these Visa cards and can be given in any denomination.

On two different occasions this morning, The Weather Channel has changed their BF forecast for South Jersey. When I checked around 9am, it showed Cloudy Hi 50/ Low 32; however, it is now showing Showers Hi 48/Low 34. Honestly, I really don't put much stock into any of these long-range forecasts until 3-4 days beforehand.

Around here, the Gamestop locations in strip malls usually open around 7am on BF, while the enclosed shopping mall locations will open at 6am.

Hello Everyone! Over the past few days, I've visited at least 4 different Gamestop locations in my area and had a chance to speak to the store manager of each store regarding their BF specials. Unfortunately, every manager said that their corporate office will not release any sale information until Thanksgiving week. Being a former employee, this does not surprise me at all; however, the one deal that seems to be a constant during BF weekend over the past few years is Buy 2 Get 1 Free Pre-played Games and Accessories. Matt

I really thought that BB would have a BF ad that would have Doorbusters that would be worth waiting in line; however, I feel that is not the case this year. Although a few items I feel I would have no problem picking up at my leisure on BF, my time will be better spent at other locations. Therefore, I am in agreement with everyone thus far that BB's ad was not impressive.

Unfortunately, all of the Stop & Shop stores in my area closed over a year ago.

Hello Everyone! I wanted to let you all know that the Premium Outlets have announced their Midnight Madness sale ads for the entire BF weekend. You may find the outlet center near you at www.premiumoutlets.com. Matt Mod Edit: Correct link: http://www.premiumoutlets.com/sales/

We will make a list of stores and organize the ads in the order of store openings. Once that is done, my wife will place a color-coded sticky note on the page to find the item we need from that store.

Aside from wearing jeans and comfortable shoes, I usually wear a long-sleeve thermal shirt, sweatshirt, a hoodie, a jacket, gloves, and an Eddie Bauer ski cap. You might think that its entirely too many layers; however, I need to be prepared for temperatures that are 32 degrees and below.

Below is a partial listing of store hours for the Atlantic City Outlets: Opening at 5am: Eddie Bauer Polo Tommy Hilfiger Coach Liz Claiborne KB Toys Opening at 6am: Reebok Rockport Calvin Klein Ck Underwear J. Crew Banana Republic This information was furnished to me by a representative who had no idea that the KB Toys website posted their own BF hours for all of their locations.

What I find surprising is that none of the Circuit City locations in South Jersey are closing. They are opening a new location in Marlton, NJ, even though Best Buy attracts crowds that are anywhere from 5 to 7 times bigger than Circuit City on any given day.

One of the popular department stores here in the Northeast, Boscov's, has been known to hand out $5 gift cards on BF when the doors open. Unfortunately, they filed for bankruptcy earlier this year and is in the process of closing several stores. So it is anyone's guess if they will pass out gift cards this year.

I know that several of the GameStop stores will hand out some goodies to BF shoppers when the doors open. These items include t-shirts, posters, hats, and game demos; but it is all at the store manager's discretion. Aside from the doorbuster deals that would continue until noon, all of these goodies made for some great stocking stuffers.

The Target store near me also has their toy shelves stocked pretty high with backstock. From what I remember, they did this last year a few weeks before BF.

I am lucky enough to have Target located less than 5 minutes from my home. It would take me roughly 10 minutes to get to the nearest shopping mall, with stores such as Best Buy, Circuit City, Home Depot, Old Navy, Kmart, and several Gamestop stores surrounding it. If I need to go to the outlets, the closest ones would be roughly 30 minutes away.

I guess somebody has enough free time on their hands to go through the trouble of generating that kind of letter. Honestly, Big Lots isn't really considered (IMO) a top-flight venue for BF shopping. Oh well, I guess we will all act surprised when their ad does come out, then immediately recycle it.

I don't plan on shopping at Wal-Mart either on BF. It seems as if the Wal-Mart locations in my area are very disorganized and the integrity of their employees is somewhat questionable. I much rather shop at Target any day.

There are a number of things that I can think of to improve BF, although some of which are obvious. The first of which is to make sure that all sale and doorbuster items are fully stocked when the doors open. There is nothing more aggrevating than waiting in line only to find out that a certain item was in limited supply, is not available, or will be arriving later in the day. Another is to have enough staff members on duty to handle the crowds and can work under pressure at the registers. It is one thing to have employees on the floor to help customers, but it is unacceptable to deal with cashiers who have never dealt with long lines or unruly customers who are in a rush. Next, I would ask that all sale items are clearly marked in the ad so that they cannot be confused with similar items in the store. After working in the retail industry for a number of years, there is always one customer who seems to think that they should get a sale price on an item that closely resembles that of the sale item, when it really isn't the one advertised.

I can admit that several co-workers and family members raise an eyebrow when I tell them that my wife and I will be out in line on BF. From time to time, my wife will call me if I am at another store to check up on me or if she needs me to get something. But there have been a few instances where my mother or sister will call me to grab a doorbuster if they haven't sold out.