To all my fellow Black Friday retail workers.....

[Kteacher]

....may your shift go quickly and smoothly with no threats to your physical or mental well being!

It's 1:30 a.m., and I'm leaving for work in about 20 minutes I'm done at noon, and I hope to be back in bed in my jammies by 12:30

 

[Tinker-tude]

Having been there and done that years ago, I wish you all the best! May the crowds not be too irritable, and may you get all the potty breaks you need.

 

[disneyfienddan]

I am working from 5am till 9am as a temp at the Disney Store. I love knowing i will be sharing the magic, but not ready for the crowds of people. Really wondered how my wife, who is a CM, got me into this. Gotta keep moving forward.

 

[MonkeyDishwasher]

Good luck, guys! You are stronger people than I....

 

[JodyLynC]

 

[stacy347]

I'm heading in shortly (I ended up with a mid-shift instead of 5 am) ~ so at least I don't have to be there for the mad rush. Hopefully it will fly by because I'm exhausted from yesterday. Good luck to the rest of you!

 

[happygirl]

I wish you guys the best. I know how stressful and nerve racking it can be

 

[OK!]

I worked as a seasonal employee at Bath & Body Works a few years ago, so I know how stressful and frenzied today can be. Here's hoping that you all have nice, patient crowds and plenty of stock available in the back room so no one will have to deal with a customer screaming about lack of inventory!

 

[John VN]

Good luck to all.

I got DW off at 3:20 today for her 4:00 start time. Her store did not open until 5:00 and they really did not expect too much that early from past experiences. Well, I got a phone call when she had her 9:30 lunch and WRONG!

She was the only one on a register when the doors opened and some of the people who she thought were on line outside the store for the new Best Buy next door were there for her store. Jammed right away and the stockers had to be called for registers so things disappeared from shelves until more employees showed up.

She has decided to chill out after her shift is over and to stick around to enjoy the Olive Garden lasagna and salad they have coming in for the workers.

 

[Shutterbug]

I would have to say out of all the past BF's I have shopped on, today's had the most friendliest and helpful sales clerks of all

At Home Depot the same clerk asked me 3 times if I needed help finding anything all within a 10 min time span!

Also at Sears too they were great there too which I was surprised cause I knew they were open since 4am..lol

 

[wdwgirl03]

Amen to that! Working 2-6...I hope I survive.

 

[NatashaDisneyCM]

I went into work last night for 10:30 pm, and after seeing fighting in the toys r us, I spent the last 8 hours checking people that got the sales! there was a few here or there, but I made it out ok, not sure how! but in a lot of pain!!! got home at 8:30 this morning!!

 

[java]

I was a polite shopper until I got salesgirl from HELL! She obviously was not having a good day(it was in Vera Bradley) I asked if the retired colors online were being honored in store- to which she replied "Uh Yeah don't we always" Well miss b I don't work here so I wouldn't know. Then when I asked about a particular color that I had seen retired online she said "No that one is NOT retired" I said "are you sure?" "YES I AM SURE I WORK HERE"
So I blackberried the website to double check-- checked out and mentioned to the manager that Ms. B was ill informed on the product specifics.

I then heard Ms. B say to manager "How is that my fault? Nobody told me it was the color that was being retired."
To which the manager said "Perhaps then you should reply to a customer with an I'm not sure vs. NO IT'S NOT"

So despite that black spot on an otherwise delightful shopping day- Thank you to all the retail workers that had to deal with the crowds.

 

[kafitty]

i'm a vendor for a big box hardware store with pretty flexible hours, and i'm not going neaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar work...and my boss hasn't called me yet, so that's a good sign!

(i do still have to wait tables tonight though. d'oh! )

 

[monarchsfan16]

This was my 4th Black Friday working, and today by far had the friendliest, most patient customers I have encountered. I'm scared to death of tomorrow (same sale), because no customers yelled at me today. I figure that luck will come back to bite me. I lucked out with my shift hours; we opened at 5, and I didn't have to be there until 6. We were definitely busy, but things weren't out of hand.
That being said, the shoppers were out of control when driving. The mall parking lot is normally horrific, but today won, hands down. What's scary is that everyone was in a rush, yet by that hour, they'd missed the big Sears and Best Buy deals, and everything else will be there for awhile.

 

[NatashaDisneyCM]

This was my 4th Black Friday working, and today by far had the friendliest, most patient customers I have encountered. I'm scared to death of tomorrow (same sale), because no customers yelled at me today. I figure that luck will come back to bite me. I lucked out with my shift hours; we opened at 5, and I didn't have to be there until 6. We were definitely busy, but things weren't out of hand.
That being said, the shoppers were out of control when driving. The mall parking lot is normally horrific, but today won, hands down. What's scary is that everyone was in a rush, yet by that hour, they'd missed the big Sears and Best Buy deals, and everything else will be there for awhile.

in my area, there were FIGHTS in line at the local Toys r Us!! Police were there several times,and took someone out by ambulance! Things got NUTS!!
my customers to were good, just had one or two, who thought the world was owed to them, but other then that, I just smiled and said HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

 

[Octoberbride03]

Worked 3am till 1pm. I survived and so did Target. TG I'm done till next yr.

 

[curious3069]

A big bravo to all workers today!!! Went to many many stores and never had anything but fast, friendly, professional service from everyone, from the first person we saw in the store to the cashier. I've worked the holiday seasons before and it's not fun, but today was great everywhere!

 

[Kteacher]

I just barely survivedWe opened a 1/2 hour earlier than advertised, and we were mobbed from 3:30 until I left. At one point it was so warm in the store the mgr. told me to go outside to get some fresh air because it looked like I was going to pass out. Only problem was all the smokers were right outside all the entrances since it was pouring rain, so no fresh air for me . One of my regular customers told me she was worried because I looked so pale.
I went over 6 hours without even a bathroom break. I am so glad to be home!

 

[TaraPA]

I survived! We opned at 8am (usually 10am) and there wasn't ONE person waiting. I didn't have my 1st customer come in until 8:15! It was great! Of course that 1st customer had been out since 2am & was miserable & snapped that we had nothing free to offer her with a purchase. She said she was sure her email said we were giving away free things today. I showed her the copy of the ad which clearly said $10 items with a $30 purchase & she said she was sure she was right & huffed out. That was the only bad one of the day! Had to fire a seasonal part-timer who was late for his 3rd shift (and didn't show up at all for his last one) & he had the nerve to stand & argue that he wasn't late. We pulled the time clock punches which proved him wrong & he stormed off. That was my only drama of the day. Like someone else said though, we're also usually busier tomorrow than we are today, so I might have it coming to me then....