Please don’t act this way for the occasion of Black Friday, everyone, and if you’re somewhere where a fracas like this breaks out, cut outta there. It’s dangerous, and reading reports/seeing videos of horrible incidents like this (and much, much worse) have become a very unwelcome holiday tradition in recent years. source
» Too many deals? Best Buy, which has become shorthand for “company that throws all its chips in on Black Friday,” lost its bet on this year’s Black Friday, as its third-quarter results (which include the waffle-iron-rioting-day) showed major weaknesses, as discounts got people into the stores but failed to get them to actually work as loss-leaders. ”They were more promotional and that doesn’t bode well for the holiday season, which is going to be very, very intense,” noted Barclays Capital analyst Alan Rifkin.
» Don’t mess with our passion for shopping. After such a turnout for Black Friday, shoppers were ready for online deals on Monday. So were websites touting fake merchandise — from sports jerseys to DVDs to accessories. This was a part of the investigation called “Operation In Our Sites,” which has seized 350 such counterfeit sites since 2010.
» A big win for retail, but for humanity … eh. The heavy spending this year came with a number of downsides, most notably in the form of a series of customers-acting-crazy moments. We covered a few of these over the weekend, including an overzealous pepper sprayer and a riot over $2 waffle irons. Sure, the economy needs a serious kick in the pants, but we hope we can get said kick in the pants while being nice to our fellow human beings. Fortunately, tomorrow is Cyber Monday, where the problems with physical shopping don’t exist. Unless you know a way to shut off your neighbor’s internet. In which case you’re evil and we don’t like you anymore.
The woman is not currently in custody, but could face battery charges, the LAPD said Saturday morning. The incident was one of many disturbing ones yesterday. Also on the list: A shooting in a failed robbery attempt and a near-riot over $2 waffle irons.
In more awful Black Friday news: That stain on the ground in front of this San Leandro, Calif. Wal-Mart is in fact blood. Yes, a guy was shot during a robbery attempt, and is currently in critical but stable condition. Yikes. (Photo by Dean C. Smith/KGO)
Forget the pepper spray over Xboxes. This is a near-riot over $2 waffle-makers.
Enjoy your Black Friday shopping, everyone!
It only figures that this already existed pre-incident.
I heard screaming and I heard yelling. Moments later, my throat stung. I was coughing really bad and watering up.Porter Ranch, Los Angeles, California Wal-Mart customer Matthew Lopez • Describing what happened after another customer, who authorities say was “competitive shopping,” pepper sprayed 20 people (including children!) in an attempt to beat everyone else at getting stuff. Considering, you know, this incident and this incident, the usage of pepper spray seems incredibly ironic. Authorities are looking for the person who sprayed her fellow shoppers in efforts to buy a new Xbox 360 or something similar. Humanity sucks sometimes. source (via • follow)
Occupy Best Buy: Today in co-opting a movement to get the cheapest crap possible on Black Friday. The site prominently claims that “this website is not affiliated with Best Buy.” But we wouldn’t be surprised if it actually was. (thanks Buzzfeed)
Was Obama an inexperienced politician when he said he’d repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t tell”? Well, he ran a better campaign than this dude back in 2008. (Thought we’d forget that, didn’t you?) Anyway, John McCain was on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday trying to explain how the current gays in the military policy makes sense, in a way that’s giving Candy Crowley some real meat to chew upon. Meanwhile, large chunks of Americans think the policy should be repealed. And that includes this guy’s wife.
» How it compares: It’s roughly the same increase in sales as last year, but then again, retail stores have been offering sales for weeks before Black Friday, which may have cannibalized the overall effect of the day. On the plus side, at least that collapsed Salvation Army building in Colorado didn’t fall on anyone.