The infamous shopping day of the year is approaching, and students are getting ready for the deals.
Plenty of students have already planned their Black Friday spots and are ready to head to the stores after eating their Thanksgiving meal.
According to the National Retail Federation, 139.4 million people visited retailers’ websites over the holiday weekend last year, and the total spending for the weekend reached a record of $59.1 billion.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are two events for which shoppers plan to hit the deals, especially on electronics.
Target is selling an iPad Air Wi-Fi 16GB for $479 plus a $100 gift card, Wal-Mart has 32” HDTVs for $98 and Best Buy is selling plenty of PlayStation 3 video games for $35.
“I became a frequent Black Friday shopper last year because of the excitement,” said accounting senior Whitney Houston. “I look for stuff that’s very expensive but is going to be really cheap. My savings are ready for Black Friday.”
Several strategic students are traveling outside Houston to avoid the long lines and packed parking lots that come with the sales in the city.
“I usually go to Kmart in East Texas,” said marketing senior Andeja Hart. “I’m really going to the best stores that have the best TV deals.”
These Black Friday shoppers don’t plan to wait long after they’ve eaten their Thanksgiving meals.
“Usually, I go right after everyone has stopped eating,” Hart said. “We’ll shop at the stores that are still open. I’ll start waiting for the stores that aren’t open around 1 to 2 a.m. It’s fun to camp out when there’s a lot of people to do it with.”
For those students who don’t like to participate in the madness and excitement of Black Friday, Cyber Monday is a great alternative.
The same stores have similar deals on their online stores the following Monday. Many stores offer free shipping, so students can catch these deals from the comforts of their homes.
“I do my research online and usually buy things off of Amazon,” said computer science sophomore Nelson Yaxon. “If I find any good deals, I’ll wait until Cyber Monday.”
