Weigh value of a deal against more time with loved ones

It was 6 a.m., and people were standing in a line, four-wide, for as far as the eye could see. I was standing at the front of a department store where I worked as my manager prepared to unlock the doors. As he began to slide the key into the lock, the crowd began to push on the doors so hard he could not turn the key. As my manager used a wheelchair and was afraid he wouldn’t be able to get out of the way when the throng burst in, he handed me the keys. I yelled through the door to the crowd to back up. When the shoppers did, I unlocked the door and jumped aside to avoid being trampled.

Over the past 16 years I have worked in retail, I have observed the holiday-shopping phenomenon from the inside (and even from the outside a few times). Big store, small stores, early morning, late evening and even overnight on Thanksgiving Day — I’ve seen it all; and it is ugly.

Black Friday has become an unofficial holiday, observed by millions, that detracts from spending time with your family on the real holiday, Thanksgiving. It has become the day when people take to stores to fight over television sets and other advertised sale items. While it’s great to get a discount, these sales often are not the best deals of the season.

Statisticbrain.com estimates that 133 million people shop in store or online on the Friday after Thanksgiving each year. Many of those people are shopping for “door busters,” but in my experience these well-advertised deals aren’t worth the money. When I worked at a department store giant, many of the Black Friday “special” televisions sold would come back, and because they weren’t items the store carried regularly, they couldn’t be exchanged. Buyers had to get a refund.

“Door buster” sales are a waste of time if you end up having to return the item. And that waste looks even worse when you look at consumer research that found shoppers often can get up to 40 percent off in early December on televisions that are regularly in stock. Also, Cyber Monday is the best day for coupons on apparel, and the last week before Christmas is actually the best time for tools and repair shopping.

When you can enjoy the time with your family instead of huddling with complete strangers in pursuit of a deal you can find just as easily later in the month, the whole Black Friday holiday is a waste.