This year I will be sitting out Black Friday.

The Black Friday 2007 bargain frenzy kicked off just after midnight as throngs of shoppers shrugged off Thanksgiving Day fatigue to grab early bird sales on flatscreen TVs, clothes, jewelry and toys.

Electronics - especially high-definition plasma and LCD TVs, GPS navigation devices, Apple's iPhone and MP3 players - were expected to be among the most sought-after items.

At 4:45 a.m. ET, more than 150 people waited outside both a Circuit City and a Best Buy in New York for the 5 a.m. opening.

Many retailers offered "doorbuster deals," which are special sales offered only for the first few hours on Black Friday. Some chains, including Kohl's and J.C. Penney , opened at 4 a.m. nationwide.

Over the last couple of years, I've gone out to get new televisions and a DVD player, as well as a few other items. That was when Wal-Mart was putting its specials on at midnight, rather than waiting to start at 0500. But the reality is that the only attractive things I saw in the ads were unneeded (I don't need a flat-screen television or a new computer monitor) or not sufficiently important to go out for (do I REALLY want to fight the crowds for a $10 1GB flash drive?) to tempt me out. And it isn't about money or the economy. It is just about priorities.

Posted by: Greg at 02:59 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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