Black Friday Shopping is shopping done the day after Thanksgiving. However, this year some stores, such as Best Buy, Boston Store, Kohl’s, Target, and Walmart, opened on Thanksgiving. On Black Friday, more local stores opened their doors for another day of shopping. And, the shopping isn’t over yet…there are 23 shopping days left and people participate in Small Shop Saturday, Cyber Monday and Giving Tuesday.

A Black Friday survey was sent out to both the Students and Staff of South High School, in which 41.6% planned on opting out of “the crazy deals” and 58.4% are planned on going Black Friday shopping. A majority of South High shoppers stated that they planned on going to Walmart to get their shopping started. An advantage of shopping at Walmart is you do not have to sit outside in the cold to wait until time the store opens. Walmart is a 24-hour retail corporation, so they stayed open on Thanksgiving, allowing customers to come inside and wait, unlike other stores, except customers were unable to touch/grab anything with a “Black Friday Deal” until 6:00 p.m. (the time Walmart’s Black Friday shopping started) came around.

Some students and staff, as mentioned before, do go Black Friday Shopping. Social Worker Carla Vorpahl is one that visited Walmart as well as Best Buy, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Kohl’s, and various “mall-type” smaller shops.

“I love getting up early and scoring the great deals!  It is fun to visit with people and hear what they are trying to purchase and for whom.  I also love hearing Christmas Carols for the first time in the stores!” Who would not want to get up early and save on your Christmas list, while visiting with others and seeing who and what they are shopping for?

Some students do not have a choice to go Black Friday Shopping due to work, Senior Merjema Ganija, an employee at Best Buy, shared,

“My favorite part about Black Friday is the rush of people coming into the store. We typically stand by the doorway and welcome the customers with warm smiles and applause.”

Some people chose not to stay in the area for Black Friday, and Freshman Emily Resch was one of them.

“I went to Bayshore mall in Milwaukee with my older brother, and we have a system. Since I’m so small, we always grab walkie talkies and [my brother] just sends me into a crowd to see what the deal is.” Action plans seem to make things go smoother, and it seems like having walkie talkies is one way to do so.

A few people people enjoy just an extra long weekend from school off. Freshman Ian Oplatek stated,

“[I enjoy] the day off from school.” Many students and even some staff enjoy an extra long weekend off of school. Thanksgiving break allows us the four day weekend to that.

When so many stores in the area are open so early, many of our students and staff will take up the deals. Some will choose not to, some may have to work, and some may just enjoy the extra long weekend off of school.

Some people also tend to participate in the “Cyber Monday” activities which means shopping online. In a survey sent out to both the staff and the students of South High School, 36.1% go Cyber Monday shopping, and 63.9% do not go Cyber Monday shopping. The majority of Freshmen, Sophomores, Seniors, and staff who answered the survey do not participate in the online deals. However, participation in Cyber Monday shopping is split for the Junior class.

Cyber Monday is yet another way to save money for the holidays, excepts it is made easier for you. Cyber Monday is simply shopping online in the comfort of your home, while you are at work, or wherever you may be, it just has to be done on Monday. Why go into the crazy crowd if you do not want to and do not have to, when you can do it straight from your smart phone? However you choose to find deals, there are many to be found in the week following Thanksgiving.