I was thinking of putting this in the employees' complaint thread but since this is about customers and violence on Black Friday thought it deserved its own thread. http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2...-customer-pepper-sprays-black-friday-shoppers 15 hurt after 'unhappy customer' pepper-sprays Black Friday shoppers Fifteen Black Friday bargain-hunters suffered minor injuries at a crowded Wal-Mart store in Los Angeles late Thursday after an angry woman used pepper spray when shoppers tried to cut in line. The incident occurred shortly after 10:20 p.m. PT (1:20 a.m. ET Friday) in the San Fernando Valley as shoppers looking for deals were let inside the store. Shawn Lenske, a Los Angeles fire department spokesman, said the injuries were due to "rapid crowd movement." NBC News reported police said no more than 15 were hurt, 10 of them for the effects of inhalation of pepper spray. Police Lt. Abel Parga said a woman used pepper spray, then left. Parga said police were looking for the woman and no arrests have been made. "It was an unhappy customer,'' he said. A witness told Los Angeles' NBC4 that the incident started as people waited in line for the new Xbox 360. The witness said a woman with two children in tow became upset with the way people were pushing in line. The witness said the woman pulled out pepper spray and sprayed the other people. NBC News quoted a police officer as saying the flare-up was triggered when a crowd rushed toward merchandise following a "big reveal" of items that had been hidden by draping. One section of the store was cleared while patients were treated and the pepper spray dissipated, Parga said. People were seen pouring out of the store, but customers were allowed back in to continue shopping. The dispute came as as stores opened their doors at midnight — a few hours earlier than they normally do on the most anticipated shopping day of the year. Herald Square in New York was bustling at 6 p.m. ET Thursday, the Associated Press reported, with shoppers looking to snag discounts at Old Navy and other stores that were open on the Thanksgiving. By 9:45 p.m. ET, more than 300 people were waiting outside a Best Buy in New York before it opened at midnight. An hour later, nearly 2,000 were in line at another Best Buy in St. Petersburg, Florida, ahead of its midnight opening. 'Spend sooner' Retailers hope the earlier openings will make Black Friday shopping more convenient for Americans who are more likely to be worried about high unemployment and the other challenges they face in the weak economy. Black Friday is important to merchants because it kicks off the holiday shopping season, a time when they can make 25 to 40 percent of their annual revenue. It's expected that shoppers will spend nearly $500 billion during the holiday shopping season, or about 3 percent more than they did last year. "It's a good move to try to get shoppers to spend sooner, before they run out of money," says Burt Flickinger, III, president of retail consultancy Strategic Resource Group. About 34 percent of consumers plan to shop on Black Friday, up from 31 percent last year, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers, and 16 percent had planned to shop on Thanksgiving Day itself. For the weekend, 152 million people are expected shop, up from 138 million last year. Update at 5:45a.m. ET: Authorities say gunfire erupted at a North Carolina mall as holiday shoppers gathered, the Associated Press reported. The Cumberland County Sheriff's Office said detectives were looking for two suspects after gunfire rang out at Cross Creek Mall in Fayetteville early Friday. No injuries were reported. The first shots were fired around 2 a.m. outside the mall near a food court entrance. Investigators say several more shots were fired after one of the suspects ran inside the mall. Update at 8:40am ET: NBC affiliate KNTV's Monte Francis reported that a Black Friday shopper was shot and critically injured by a robber in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart in San Leandro, California, early Friday. Francis reported the shopper left the store with purchases and was approached by the suspect who demanded the merchandise. The shopper was shot after refusing to comply. It is not immediately clear is the suspect is still on the loose.
While watching the Packers @ Lions game yesterday, I could only imagine that what I was seeing on tv was going to be taking place at 12 midnight all around America.
People who shop on Black Friday have mental issues anyway so this is not unexpected. If you do decide to go out today you better be prepared to throw down in order to save your $20 bucks, or whatever you're saving.
Seriously, my sanity isn't worth $50-100. I honestly believe half the people do it for bragging rights. Cyber Monday FTW
I don't know about bragging rights, but I do do it for the sense of accomplishment and the adrenaline rush it gives me. It would be so much easier if people would learn to respect rules. I can't stand line jumpers, and those that will snatch items from other people. Wal-Mart and Target do a poor job of policing people. They let the madhouse happen. You don't typically see the same chaos at Best Buy/Staples/ToysRus where they allow you in single file, and they had out tickets to the people waiting outside.
The frenzy is created, with a purpose. People ought to Occupy The Mall in a sit down strike to change that corporate created reality too.
So stupid. There is most definitely a better way to have a sale. Purposely creating shortages to get people in the stores for the sale, and creating a first-come-first-serve market is a pretty dangerous way to do business.
Not coincidentally, the rise of Black Friday-related insanity is exactly correlated with the ongoing creation of the plutocrat class throughout the 2000's and America's new fastest-growing demographic group - the near-poors! hello new middle class. Nice tax cuts W!
A couple years ago, I spontaneously decided to go the Mall of America...... without even realizing that it was Black Friday until I got on the train. It's up there with Rita as one of my worse personal moments.
I try to avoid Mall of American even when it isn't Black Friday. The closest I have been there on Black Friday was I did a run to end hunger on Thanksgiving day a few years ago. Apparently all of the concourses there add up to around 5K. (3.1 Miles).
When I had only read that much, I thought you were out on Thanksgiving day and stopped by the mall to grab some lunch because you were in the neighborhood.
