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POSTED: Thursday, Nov. 26, 2009

Shoppers prepare for the craziness of Black Friday

When Thanksgiving dinner is complete and the dishes are put away, the women in Lori Gardner's family are ready for one more intensive planning session.

While the male members of the family may roll their eyes about the craziness that comes next, Gardner said it's a family tradition for the women to retire to a different part of the house to discuss the next big event: Black Friday, the shopping day where people are willing to get up in the dead of night in the hopes of finding major deals.

"We view (Black Friday) like others view the opening day of fishing season," said Gardner with a laugh. "The fish will still be there the day after opening day, but it's the sport of it that matters."

The lure of finding a bargain has been a major event across the country for years. According to the National Retail Federation, 172 million shoppers visited stores and Web sites over the long Thanksgiving weekend last year, spending $372.52 per person.

In a recession that has consumers holding onto more of their money over the past year, retailers are hoping the door-buster deals will help put their sales numbers back into the black. Heading into the weekend, many studies were giving mixed signals about what kind of mood shoppers would be in this year.

Retailers probably don't have to worry about the diehards.

There's a lot of work - and plenty of laughter - that goes into the Thursday planning session at Gardner's house near Everson. Newspaper ads will be dissected, secret Santas will be arranged, a meeting place and time will be determined, and espresso orders will be phoned in to the Cordata Cruisin' Coffee stand.

It's become a complicated family tradition because there are now four generations involved, as well as one "adopted" friend from Canada - though family matriarch LouAnne Dennison is recovering from recent shoulder surgery and might miss the event. Still, there are a dozen family members, all women, involved in the shopping, as well as the traditional breakfast afterwards to see how they've done.

"In most cases, it's like a party where we all get a chance to laugh a lot at the absurdity of it all," said Gail Harriman, one of Lori's three sisters. They've been doing this for about 15 years.

"You just need to go there with the idea of enjoying yourself."

Many men also are diehard Black Friday shoppers. Justin Wharton, a Whatcom County resident who works at Alcoa Intalco Works, has participated in Black Friday for the past five years. He teams up with his wife, Debbie, to buy gifts for their three sons, ages 7, 10 and 11.

They also meet up with relatives from Canada, who arrive in Friday's early morning hours. It turns into a family gathering, so he usually doesn't get any sleep that night, deciding to play through and catch up on sleep later.

Wharton believes that attitude makes a difference at this kind of event.

"Yes, there are a lot of rude people," Wharton said, "but you just have to take it with a grain of salt and not let it ruin your experience."

CHANGES THIS YEAR

Partly because of the trampling death of a Wal-Mart worker in New York during last year's Black Friday, retailers are putting more crowd control measures in place.

At the Bellingham Wal-Mart, the store will be open all night, with the sales starting at 5 a.m. Customers can line up at different sections inside the store before the sale starts.

For example, Blu-ray players can be purchased in the apparel section in the northeast part of the store. A map of the Bellingham store and where products will be sold during the door-buster sale can be downloaded from walmart.com.

The National Retail Federation also has created a comprehensive list of guidelines to handle crowd control, including having dress rehearsals to train staff and having enough employees to handle the rush.

Promotions and giveaways also are part of the Black Friday tradition, whether it's the snow globes at JC Penney or the Holiday Mistle-Totes that Bellis Fair will give away this year. Gift cards based on purchase totals also are a popular give-away item.

For Gardner, the giveaways are exciting at the time, but not a big part of the reason she does it.

"All of the freebies usually end up on eBay or at next year's garage sale," Gardner said.

Black Friday is no longer just for the early risers, it's also for shoppers who would rather have a less frenetic experience. Downtown Bellingham Merchants have a "Shop Where Your Heart is" program where shoppers collect passport stamps for prizes. Details about the program are at downtownbellingham.com.

Fairhaven has an evening program called the Holiday Walk About, with businesses offering a variety of events to go along with sales. Some will show off art, offer wine tastings and host a variety of live music. For details, click the events link at Fairhaven.com.

ADVICE FOR SHOPPERS

There are plenty of strategies to go along with getting the right items on Black Friday. Here are a few pieces of advice from Wharton, Gardner and Harriman:

• Don't bother with shopping carts unless you really need one. "Shopping carts will just slow you down," Gardner said.

• Walkie-talkies and cell phones come in handy when there's more than one doing the shopping.

• Dress for comfort and assume that it'll be cold, windy and wet while standing in line.

• Read the fine print in the ads before Black Friday. "There are a lot of exclusions and you also want to make sure you have the right product that's on sale," Gardner said.

• For breakfast, go with protein-rich foods like eggs to maintain energy levels longer.

• Even if you plan ahead, it's almost guaranteed that at least one item will be sold out, so don't be disappointed if you can't cross everything off the shopping list.

BLACK FRIDAY OPENINGS

Here is a list of special openings for stores Friday, Nov. 27:

3:45 a.m.: JC Penney.

4 a.m.: Sears, Kohl's, Old Navy (Bellis Fair main doors will open at 4 a.m. to allow access to Old Navy; the other non-anchor mall tenants are scheduled to open at 6 a.m.).

5 a.m.: Wal-Mart (store open all night, but Black Friday sale starts at 5 a.m.), Target, Fred Meyer, Best Buy, Macy's, DeWaard & Bode.

6 a.m.: Bellis Fair non-anchor tenants, Michaels, Home Depot, Lowe's, Kmart, JoAnn Fabrics, Office Depot.

7 a.m.: OfficeMax, Ace Hardware.

8 a.m.: Yeager's Sporting Goods.

9 a.m.: Swell.

9:30 a.m.: The Paperdoll, SpookShop Party & Costume.