Watch Out Black Friday - New Events for Holiday Shopping Week

Have you survived the biggest boom of holiday shopping this year? Anyone who works in retail knows that this past week has been hectic. It’s what film crews would refer to as “hell week” when all the prep work has been done and it’s time to perform.

This year stores opened even earlier, some barely closed for Thanksgiving celebrations. Michael’s was open most of the day on Thursday in case you needed a last minute cornucopias. Major retailers whose savings circulars leaked online weeks ago like Wal-Mart, and Target started business at 10pm and began their door buster deals at midnight. Others hosted the traditional early opening.

Black Friday, and all the hype surrounding it, seems to have seeped out into the rest of the week. Even Cyber Monday started earlier than ever this year with deals going into effect on Thursday instead of waiting its turn in the holiday shopping line up.

I think that the rush and the push are because the economy is forcing people to revaluate their shopping priorities. This year was the 2nd Annual Shop Small Business Saturday where patrons were encouraged to make their purchases at small businesses that keep money in the local community and America. Though the name of the event says Saturday it’s an idea that resonates across the wish list.

So in the spirit of enlightening consumers, saving the economy and filling up the rest of the week with present procuring pandemonium, we should all consider adding a few more events:

Tripped-Over-It Tuesday would encourage people to go out and find gifts instead of buying them. Either drive through wealthy neighborhoods before the trash truck comes or check out the free section on Craig’s List. Everyone out there just made a bunch of major shopping purchases and now they’re ready to purge; you just need to pick it up.

Swap-Stuff Wednesday is when you can trade the old stuff you have or the new stuff you found on Tuesday for even better stuff.

Home-Made Sunday is when you can make your own presents for the people you love. Even if you’re not crafty enough to crochet a new scarf you can always make them a custom cook book or coupons for favors.

Think about other ways you can save money and still show the people in your life that you love them with a thoughtful gift. You don’t want to go through your extra holiday pay or rack up credit card bills because it was “on sale.” Keep the money in your pocket for after the holiday season has passed when your hours are lighter and your budget is tighter.


By Heather Fairchild - Heather is a multimedia developer with experience in web, film, photography and animation as well as traditional fine arts like painting and sculpting. In addition to writing for Nexxt, she is co-founder of design and promotion company. Heather’s spare time consists of making puppets, teaching Sunday School, building Legos and doing science experiments with her children.