Black Friday

Why would anyone want to shop in a retail store anymore, in particular on the day after Thanksgiving? Let me offer this experience.

My daughter wanted to be dropped off to go shopping with her grandmother (the queen of day-after sales) this morning, so I did so about 7:30. After dropping her off, I went to Circuit City store to buy a gift for one of my kids. (The details are intentionally omitted because one of them may read this.)

The first thing I saw was a line of at least 50 people just trying to check out with their deals. I'm not sure how long they had already been in line, but you could sense a bit of tension as you walked by people with credit cards ready, holding the latest gaming system/DVD player/camera/stereo/etc. When I went to the department to buy the particular item I wanted, the retail associate simply nodded his head as if to say, "Dude, it's 7:30 - we've been open since 5AM. Did you really think you'd get one of the two we had on hand..." I left, not really discouraged, but wondering.

When I got to my office, I logged into the Circuit City site to see if the item I wanted was available on line. And, to my surprise, it was. Not only that, it was at the same price as the retail ad. And it was in stock. And, to put a cherry on top, there would be no shipping charges on the transaction.

In about 2 minutes, I bought the exact item I wanted, without having to worry about lines, jammed parking lots, angry customers, etc.

So help me understand - why do we have retail stores anymore? What a waste of real estate. Not only that, but if the retailers didn't have to pay associates, pay inflated lease rates, high utility bills, etc., imagine how much lower they could push the pricing. And imagine how their profits would be enhanced.

And as a side benefit - no large heat-radiating asphalt parking lots, no fuel guzzling cars to drive, no pollution, emissions, etc.

It's just a matter of time before big-box retailers selling easily researched products go the way of 8-track tapes. They just don't make sense anymore.

For me, one gift down, a few to go...and it's all going to be done on-line!