Black Friday is less than a week away. The symbolic opening of the holiday shopping season still gets a lot of air time from news reporters who count down to Friday with the same anticipation as the New Year's Eve ball drop.

But as far as shoppers go, Black Friday has lost its luster over the past years  with the advent of internet shopping and gift cards. Now Black Friday is all about how early you can get up to go shopping on the Friday after a National holiday.

I pride myself on being a pretty good shopper. That said, not even the lure of a $29 plasma television is going to get me to haul my sorry carcass out of bed at 4:00a.m. to be in front of the super mart before the doors open. For one, I rank sleep pretty highly, two, I rank my safety equally as highly.

For others though, this dark of night foray becomes a tradition. For example, my sister (a person who does her shopping in one store or online) sees no reason not to host 40 members of my family for Thanksgiving dinner then pop out of bed at 4:00 to join some friends for the annual Black Friday store assault.

They've been doing this for a few years now and they have it down to a science. Store flyers are scoured for discounts and timing. They pool shopping lists and make one master list (ie: four surfer Barbies, 12  DS cartridges). Next a schedule is made. Then the car with the largest amount of cargo space is reserved. Someone makes muffins and coffee for the group and brings them along.

In each store one of the women is designated as the line stander.That's when you get to eat your muffin and coffee- while holding the place in line.
The others are assigned items to find and bring to the front, thus no time is wasted prowling the aisles to actually "shop". 

I'm worn out just telling the story! The funny thing is, my sister buys relatively little on this trip- it is more of a fun outing with her friends. She'll be more likely to hop online on Cyber Monday. Moral of the store- discount shopping is a recreational event.

Even if your store doesn't open up early for shoppers on Black Friday you can draw them in with a little continental breakfast break and some comfy chairs. By about 9:00-10:00 the post turkey binge energy flags and customers will enjoy the serene and inspirational setting of a scrapbooking store.

In other words, you can service your customers without the paper crafting equivalent to the $29 plasma screen. Your store can be the haven on a crazy day.--Beth