Ghosts of Black Fridays Past

[jaymacfla]

Rebates like that are the worst. Stop playing the hold the money longer game and just give the money off right then. I will pay a little more for something so I don't have to deal with a rebate.

I still remember all of the angst against rebates as many considered them the equivalent of the Catfish Admiral saying, "It's a Trap!" Obviously after the trap had been set. It would have been nice to see how much better the secret sales made Black Friday in those years. Sadly, by 2010, there was only one or two secrets to be had. We clearly have a fondness for deals that seemed so great in the past, but then again we are product saturated and expect the prices to edge closer to zero. I was thinking that we should take a virtual tour of Best Buy and let everyone spend $1,000.00 and see how the money gets spent. You would shop the 2007 ad first, then the 2017 ad when it comes out.

[Kanyon71]

I still remember all of the angst against rebates as many considered them the equivalent of the Catfish Admiral saying, "It's a Trap!" Obviously after the trap had been set. It would have been nice to see how much better the secret sales made Black Friday in those years. Sadly, by 2010, there was only one or two secrets to be had. We clearly have a fondness for deals that seemed so great in the past, but then again we are product saturated and expect the prices to edge closer to zero. I was thinking that we should take a virtual tour of Best Buy and let everyone spend $1,000.00 and see how the money gets spent. You would shop the 2007 ad first, then the 2017 ad when it comes out.

That's a neat idea. Only problem is I'm going to blow it all and more on one thing for both of the years a BIG TV

 

I think we are getting to the point on some of these things where there isn't enough meat left on the bone for them to have a huge sale. Thinking back to my plasma I bought in I think 06 from BB. We paid $1700 for it I believe it was, just the week before it was on sale for like $2400 with a normal price of $2700, that's a huge spread there.

[jaymacfla]

That is the point exactly. Prices are so dramatically low on television sets that they can't carve out a dramatic savings event out of the carcass. The shame in all this is that we have the best prices in history and better quality to boot yet no one even bats an eye since the average consumer does not consult places such as Gottadeal where you can stay informed.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using GottaDEAL mobile app

I still talk fondly of 2006 when you could save $1,000 on a 42 inch 720p TV yet it has no relevance to today's offerings

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using GottaDEAL mobile app

The set was a Westinghouse and it was still $1,000

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using GottaDEAL mobile app

I'm sorry that was $500 savings. We saved a total of 1000 on 2 of those TVs that year

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using GottaDEAL mobile app

[MariahA]

The Sears by me is still open but all the K Marts are gone. There's still a Radio Shack 30 minutes from my house but never go there. And there's a DressBarn in a major shopping center that's always busy.

[cab0ad]

KB Toys was so fun to shop at. I miss that one!

[budgetsRsexy]

I was just thinking how much I used to love Bonton growing up. Their $10 off $10 coupons were great and it really stretched my tiny high school budget (it was essentially free money and it was easy to get multiple coupons!). I also loved the store experience. They crammed so much extra product into the aisles that it was like a maze and made my small high school stature a big advantage. I loved darting through that store snagging my nearly free presents. Now they are nowhere to be seen around here.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using GottaDEAL

[deanabrown]

It is not technically a Black Friday memory, but I remember getting the Sears catalog. My friends and I would turn right to the toy section to make our Christmas lists.

[jaymacfla]

It is not technically a Black Friday memory, but I remember getting the Sears catalog. My friends and I would turn right to the toy section to make our Christmas lists.

 

Miss KB Toys and Circuit City as well.

 

Sent from my SM-N950U using GottaDEAL mobile app

The Wishbook is making a comeback of sorts, but we have seen this before with mixed results.

[jaymacfla]

here are a few pictures of some Kmart's that just a few short years ago had an average of 10 to 20 cars in their parking lots everyday. Or at least that's how it seemed. It has been noted on various forums that both Kmart and Sears had plenty of time when they could have offered better sales but didn't. The people have spoken.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using GottaDEAL mobile app

[Kash]

here are a few pictures of some Kmart's that just a few short years ago had an average of 10 to 20 cars in their parking lots everyday. Or at least that's how it seemed. It has been noted on various forums that both Kmart and Sears had plenty of time when they could have offered better sales but didn't. The people have spoken.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using GottaDEAL mobile app

that's how our Kmart's look now too

[Kanyon71]

that's how our Kmart's look now too

Sadly that's how most of them look. No ones fault but Kmart itself. I cringed when they bought Sears, I knew with how I felt about Kmart at that point it was going to be the end of Sears also.

[MusicMama]

Best - bought my first stereo there.   My Christmas musical Mickey Mouse watch from there still runs.

Circuit City - best place to find a good deal on a GOOD laptop ever outside of CompUSA.   Best Buy just can't compete and clearly doesn't want to.

CompUSA - I really miss that store.

KBToys - home of the original Furby, cheap GameBoys (not color) and Barbies.   And really really good toy deals.  I miss those days.  You could grab a sled and drag it through the store, because you were in line forever, and just hand it back to them at the register.  Or you could just buy the sled knowing that you'd need it eventually.

Radio Shack - where my dad would go on Black Friday for the fun toys like M&M radios and little radio-controlled cars.

 

OK, now I'm just thinking that it stinks to get old.

[momlori]

:gdcensored:Loved KB Toys.  I still remember the year someone put super glue in their door locks and they could not open until a locksmith had drilled them out

[jaymacfla]

Gander Mountain this was the place you would walk in and be in awe of but couldn't afford anything and walk right back out. Even their version of a sale couldn't compete with other stores when you compared prices online

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using GottaDEAL mobile app

[Illinoismom]

I am going to show my age here, But I do miss Lionel Playworld,( pre toysrus) Zayers ( pre walmart and target), Kay's merchandise ( sames as service merchandise)   Venture, Eckard drugs,  We still have k-mart, but lost sears but can drive 20 minutes to one. Shop-co although they are still around lost ours, we lost Ganders too but gained field and stream and golf world.

Edited November 3, 2017 by Illinoismom

[kellis4321]

HHGregg. How many Black Fridays have you avoided this place because the art of the haggle was not in your blood? This was the very example of the type of store that you would visit to look at the TVs but would never purchase. This location in Regency is now being developed into one of those prosperity churches.

We still have a h h Gregg in Madison, Tn. I didn't realize it was there until the other week. I must have driven by it a few hundred times

[jaymacfla]

We still have a h h Gregg in Madison, Tn. I didn't realize it was there until the other week. I must have driven by it a few hundred times

Open and able to go inside? Take a picture for us!

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using GottaDEAL mobile app

I am going to show my age here, But I do miss Lionel Playworld,( pre toysrus) Zayers ( pre walmart and target), Kay's merchandise ( sames as service merchandise) Venture, Eckard drugs, We still have k-mart, but lost sears but can drive 20 minutes to one. Shop-co although they are still around lost ours, we lost Ganders too but gained field and stream and golf world.

I liked Zayers and even tolerated Ames department store

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using GottaDEAL mobile app

the once-mighty electronics department at Sears now a sad and distant memory.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using GottaDEAL mobile app

[starbeck96]

Gander Mountain this was the place you would walk in and be in awe of but couldn't afford anything and walk right back out. Even their version of a sale couldn't compete with other stores when you compared prices online

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using GottaDEAL mobile app

Exactly.  There was a GanderMountain that opened here 3 of 4 years ago and it closed its doors early this year.  They were just way too expensive.  Our boys did get a pair of boots fairly cheap there and we got them some fishing lures once.  Other than that, they just were not competitive enough to make it.

[cllehto]

I liked Circuit City and Comp USA. They were close, had great sales and gave Best Buy some competition.

[Kanyon71]

Open and able to go inside? Take a picture for us!

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using GottaDEAL mobile app

I liked Zayers and even tolerated Ames department store

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using GottaDEAL mobile app

the once-mighty electronics department at Sears now a sad and distant memory.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using GottaDEAL mobile app

So sad was the first place I saw an 80-Inch rear projection screen in real life when I was younger. My friend and I stood there staring at it forever while my family shopped. Also the place I bought my first Sony flat screen 38" XBR Tube TV. That thing weighed like 900lbs but man oh man did it have a nice picture for the day.