Black Friday involves strategy, braveness some husbands don’t have

Most people receiving the paper today (Friday, Nov. 26) who planned on shopping during the busiest shopping day of the year, commonly known as Black Friday, have probably already done so, since some stores open as early as 3 a.m. to take advantage of all the eager shoppers searching for great deals.


I’m not amongst this group, because I have a brave wife, Jenny, who does this for me. While she’s battling crowds, lines, lack of parking spaces and other people who may grab the last item of something on sale, I’m at home, with our 5-year-old son, Braden, who is oblivious to the fact a good number of the items under the tree on Christmas for him were purchased with her blood, sweat and tears this morning.

I told Jenny we’d set up our fake tree, the 15-year-old one that once belonged to my parents that we’ve been threatening to throw away for years but which always seems to survive another holiday season. I hate the tree with a passion, because putting it together takes out nearly all the fun of the holidays before they even begin, but I’d rather be doing that than taking on the shopping crowds.

Before Braden came along, she towed me along with her. Getting up at 3 a.m. to stand outside a store in nearly subzero temperatures in hopes of getting an inexpensive television was, at the time, a painful moment I said I never wanted to relive, although looking back on it I’ve since come to the conclusion it’s one of those “story” moments I’ll fondly remember forever, and one I hope to tell Braden and his children some day.

Braden was the main reason I was allowed to stay home on Black Friday. Another big factor was the emergence of a friend of Jenny’s who took her with her, schooling my wife in the art of Black Friday shopping.

This friend told Jenny she needs to know what specific items she wants from each store, and those items should be retrieved as quickly as possible when the store opens and then checked out just as quickly in order to get to the next store. They start at Kohl’s at 3 a.m., go to Target at 4 a.m., head to Walmart at 5 a.m. and then end the main spree at Menard’s at 6 a.m. They then spend the rest of the morning going back to some of those stores and hitting up other stores such as Best Buy and Michael’s while the big sales are still effective, getting items that were not on their immediate must-have lists.

This strategy has worked fairly well over the years, as Jenny has always come home with the items she’s wanted. And numerous other items.

Having learned from the master, Jenny has ventured out on her own the last several years. This year, she’s aiming to purchase a Nintendo DSlite from Walmart for $89 ($40 off the regular price), an area rug from Target for $20 ($20 off the regular price) and a slew of other items we spent listing based on the ad “leaks” available to view on blackfriday.com.

We spent Sunday night strategizing by making a list of the people we need to purchase gifts for, and then picking items we thought would best suit those people. If all goes well, our Christmas shopping may be 95-percent complete before I even wake up Friday.

I’m even giving Jenny a mission. I’m sending some money and a list with her to purchase some $10 Playstation 3 games, just for me. I don’t expect her to get everything on my list, but even if she gets just one or two it will seem like a good holiday season for me, even after Braden and I tackle the stupid tree.