How to Shop the Big Box Stores

Toys R Us, Best Buy, Circuit City, JCPenney, Kohl's, IKEA, Target

© Donna Diegel

Dick's Sporting Goods, Donna Diegel

Christmas sales ideas and tips for shopping the big stores. Christmas Tree Shop, Dick's, Wal-Mart, Home Depot. Get in line for extreme shopping!

They're called Big Box stores for a good reason. They're BIG, there's plenty of them and they attract major crowds. Every major city across the USA has its share. Retailers have geared up for what has traditionally been called the biggest shopping day of the year. Originally, Black Friday was the day after Thanksgiving, a one-day sales event that had frenzied shoppers fighting in line to buy the latest Cabbage Patch Doll. This year it runs from November 23-25, 2007, and they're now calling it "Black Friday Weekend".

Thanksgiving Day Newspaper

The Thanksgiving Day newspaper will be the biggest and heaviest paper of he year, loaded with sales flyers. Most retailers have attempted to extend Black Friday Weekend by printing out glossy ads in the local newspapers touting "4 Day Pre-Thanksgiving Sales" that run from Sunday to Wednesday. Check the fine print before you waste time standing in line. Some stores will have a limited number of the hottest toys or electronic gadgets. Rainchecks may not be issued, there may be a limit on the number you can purchase, or the store may have only four or five of the coveted iPod, X-Box360 or Elmo TMX Special Edition.

Get Ready, Get Set, Get Shopping!

Getting a jump on your holiday shopping at these stores may mean standing in long lines with thousands of other impatient shoppers pushing, shoving and jockeying into position, crowding the doors to be the first one in the store. In the wee hours of the morning, often in frigid weather and drinking hot coffee to stay warm, these shoppers are the most serious of the bunch. These huge stores want what's in your wallet and then some. Glitzy and shiny displays tell you and your child you just can't live without this new gadget or toy and will scream at you to purchase it.

Big Box Stores vs. Factory Outlets

Box store shopping is a completely different animal than factory outlet shopping. This is fast paced, cut-throat shopping at its most primal. At times, no mercy will be shown when there is only one Elmo left on the shelf. Parking can be a nightmare and road rage can happen very quickly. What starts out being a fun outing can turn ugly in the blink of an eye.

Bargain Shopping Survival Tips:

Hot items this year are digital cameras, laptops, camera phones, Wii, MP3 Players, Game Boys, Playstation, X-Box360, iPods, Flat Screen TVs, anything Hannah Montana, Transformers, and DVD Television series.

Go shopping at the Best New England Factory Outlets


The copyright of the article How to Shop the Big Box Stores in Consumer Education is owned by Donna Diegel. Permission to republish How to Shop the Big Box Stores must be granted by the author in writing.


Home Depot, Donna Diegel
Best Buy, Donna Diegel
Dick's Sporting Goods, Donna Diegel
Target, Donna Diegel
 


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