Carpe Dealem (Seize the Deal)

This past Black Friday, I and my niece Heather, her husband Kelly, my brother and sister in law Lloyd and Cindy, Lyndy and Terri participated in a Kelly McGugan family tradition. We seized the deal - carpe dealem. The object of the adventure is to strategically attack various stores on Black Friday morning in order to obtain more than our share of door-buster deals on Christmas gifts. It starts on Thanksgiving day by studiously reviewing all Black Friday circulars in the daily paper. Each participant notes the store, opening time and deal they are interested in. These facts are then used to plan out the routes and timing of the shopping "commando raid".

Many of you might think this does not sound like Frank, and you are right. My main objective on all prior Black Fridays was to avoid all malls, department stores and other merchants at any costs. When I lived close to Oak Park Mall I wouldn't leave the house on Black Friday. But this year was different. With Kelly and Heather in town for the holiday, I offered Kelly a way to continue his family tradition here in Kansas City with a group of carpe dealem rookies. To my amazement, he accepted the challenge.

On Friday, November 27th at 3:45 AM we began our big adventure. Kelly, Lloyd, Heather and I set out in the first vehicle, while Cindy, Terri and Lyndy followed up a few minutes later in a second. We began our commercial assault at the local Super Walmart where a few deals were collected. From there we proceeded to the Legends shopping center, Target, Best Buy, Kohls, and Lowes, while the second vehicle started at Sears, and then hit Pennys, Target, Home Depot, Jo Anns, and a few other stores I have forgotten.

The crowds were dense and the lines were long, but in the end we emerged victorious. Personally, Terri and I saved over $1,000 over retail price on our purchases. Most of the savings came from purchase of an elliptical trainer ($400 off), a compressor with 2 nail guns ($200 off), 16 serving flatware set ($105 off) and a GPS ($100 off). The other participants also experienced deals of at least 50% off retail price.

By 8:00 AM, group 1 had purchased everything on their list. Group 2 completed their assignments by 9:00. We spent the rest of the day watching football and napping.

The consensus of the rookies that participated was that we found the experience interesting, but are not eager to do it again next year. We will see if a year passing reinvigorates the desire, or stiffens the resolve to sleep in. Either way, carpe dealem can be summarized as all "for the glory of the deal". My niece Heather writes a blog and along with her version of the events, she has included a video summary complete with interviews from the participants.