Speaker 1: Folks, it is Friday, November twenty eighth, It is Black Friday.
Speaker 1: And did you get out in this mess today? Did
Speaker 1: you get out and get a good deal today? And
Speaker 1: how did it go for you? Because for us it
Speaker 1: was pretty dark and depressing. And with that, welcome to
Speaker 1: this episode of Amy TJ.
Speaker 2: Robes.
Speaker 1: We went out, we were in a good mood. We
Speaker 1: were looking forward to this. Of course, in a word,
Speaker 1: or maybe a couple words, how would you describe the atmosphere,
Speaker 1: the mood of this official kickoff to the Christmas shopping season.
Speaker 2: Intense chaos?
Speaker 1: Okay, yeah, it was intense. Chaos is one thing. There
Speaker 1: was an intensity to today that took me by surprise
Speaker 1: and made me want to leave the place.
Speaker 2: Here's the deal.
Speaker 3: We love Black Friday shopping, Yes, we love outlet malls. Yeah,
Speaker 3: and we have combined the too. But today we took
Speaker 3: on the juggernaut. We took on probably one of the biggest,
Speaker 3: most well known outlet malls in the country and one
Speaker 3: that we've gone to countless times over the years, even together,
Speaker 3: but we've never gone to that particular outlet mall on
Speaker 3: this particular day.
Speaker 1: So you're saying are bad, So you think you think
Speaker 1: we made a bad call today.
Speaker 3: Well, I think we took something we loved at a
Speaker 3: time we loved doing it and put them together and
Speaker 3: didn't recognize that it could be a potential disaster.
Speaker 1: Okay, we're talking about different things. Okay, a couple of
Speaker 1: different things. I can deal with some traffic, sitting waiting,
Speaker 1: long lines, crowds. I felt a mood to today that
Speaker 1: I found no joy in anybody so us for them
Speaker 1: all overwhelmingly there was no joy. I didn't under I
Speaker 1: was really perpleased. I mentioned it to you all the
Speaker 1: entire time we were there. What is what is today's different?
Speaker 3: So we went to Woodbury Commons in harrim And, New York,
Speaker 3: and it is.
Speaker 2: It's incredible.
Speaker 3: Yes, the stores they have, the quality of the products
Speaker 3: they have, and the pricing they're giving it to us
Speaker 3: for was all remarkable. You know where I found the joy, baby,
Speaker 3: I know what you're saying. I'm listening in the folks
Speaker 3: who were working. Really every cashier that we went up
Speaker 3: to was actually really kind, really sweet. And I will
Speaker 3: say we chose stores mainly that didn't have the roping
Speaker 3: and like people weren't waiting forever to get into. We
Speaker 3: chose places that weren't as like the high end have
Speaker 3: to go into stores that had lines. So maybe the
Speaker 3: people who were working at the stores we went into
Speaker 3: were a little bit less irritated because they weren't as overwhelmed.
Speaker 1: You found joy in the people that were working there
Speaker 1: and those who were only maybe five people you came
Speaker 1: in contact with the rest of the time.
Speaker 4: I do.
Speaker 1: For whatever reason, it wasn't just amount of crowds. I've
Speaker 1: been around crowds, and I've been in basketball and games
Speaker 1: and in arenas. There are crowds that people can still
Speaker 1: be upbeat and you can feel a particular mood. The
Speaker 1: mood amongst everybody was one not of joy, of giving,
Speaker 1: of the season of fun. Even it was a mission
Speaker 1: and intensity. You get out of my way, I will
Speaker 1: run over you to get where I got to get.
Speaker 1: There was a disregard for everything and everybody around that
Speaker 1: shopper today in a way that I've found troubling. I've
Speaker 1: been out. You know, I love going on Black Friday
Speaker 1: and I love going on Christmas Eve. See the chaos
Speaker 1: it felt like mean today?
Speaker 2: You know what?
Speaker 3: So it's so funny you were use the word mission.
Speaker 3: That is exactly what I was going to say. People
Speaker 3: were on a mission. And some people might have been
Speaker 3: on a mission to check off their Christmas list, okay,
Speaker 3: but I think we saw a lot of this. People
Speaker 3: were on a mission to buy up all the product,
Speaker 3: almost as a as a business, to then go home
Speaker 3: and resell it at a higher price. People brought suitcases,
Speaker 3: like not just like a carry on luggage, but like
Speaker 3: multiple suitcases that you would pack and check into your
Speaker 3: airport because you were going on a month long vacation suitcase.
Speaker 2: Okay, they had two of how many of that? Did
Speaker 2: you see?
Speaker 3: You cut all these crowds and you have all these
Speaker 3: people carrying massive suitcases, and they are buying with intensity
Speaker 3: and just a veracity. They're not buying gifts for themselves.
Speaker 3: They're not thinking about cousin, you know, Stella. No, they
Speaker 3: were buying in volume for the biggest discounts.
Speaker 2: They were going.
Speaker 3: Mostly to the higher end stores, and you know they're
Speaker 3: going back home and putting this stuff up on eBay.
Speaker 2: That's the stuff that bothers me.
Speaker 3: I offer being a businessman or woman and living in
Speaker 3: this capitalistic consumerism fine and profiting off of it as
Speaker 3: your side hustle, But you take away the purpose and
Speaker 3: the fun of this holiday when you're sitting there elbowing
Speaker 3: people so you can get your business march ready to go.
Speaker 1: Okay, that didn't cross my mind in the midst of it.
Speaker 1: Saw fine, but that didn't cross my mind. But if
Speaker 1: that's what they're doing, that's what they're doing. They have
Speaker 1: the right to do that. Everybody has the right to
Speaker 1: do everything they were doing at that place today. The
Speaker 1: thing is, it makes me not want to be there
Speaker 1: during the holiday season. I know, it just didn't feel good.
Speaker 3: We love Woodberry Commons and we love Black Friday shopping,
Speaker 3: so we go all the way up to do all that,
Speaker 3: and then we came back to the city so much
Speaker 3: it's rare that you would say that it was so
Speaker 3: much calmer.
Speaker 2: Oh, it was so much more pleasant.
Speaker 3: And you looked at me when we came back to
Speaker 3: the city and we went to a mall nearby and
Speaker 3: it was about I don't know, twenty percent of the
Speaker 3: crowds that were at Woodbury Commons, and he looked at
Speaker 3: me and he said, yeah, this is more my speed.
Speaker 4: It was when do.
Speaker 1: You ever go some When I was like, wow, I
Speaker 1: cannot wait to get back to New York City, so
Speaker 1: that was where people are friendly.
Speaker 2: Yes, actually that was the truth.
Speaker 3: So on the drive out, I was like, oh, it's
Speaker 3: so nice to get out of the city. I was
Speaker 3: looking at the mountains because I have to say, if
Speaker 3: you've never been to Woodbury Commons, it's in It's in Harriman,
Speaker 3: New York. It's near a gorgeous town called New Paul's,
Speaker 3: New York. And the scenery, I mean, this is a
Speaker 3: it's actually a really really beautifully architecturally well done outlet mall,
Speaker 3: outdoor mall, and it set and nestled around these gorgeous
Speaker 3: mountains to Shawn Mountains, which are the foothills of the Catskills.
Speaker 3: It's just gorgeous, and so it's kind of it's just
Speaker 3: a really pleasant thing to do. I've never been there
Speaker 3: and felt more stressed being there getting back into the
Speaker 3: city and feeling like my shoulders relaxed and I felt
Speaker 3: like I could breathe again when I got back to
Speaker 3: the city.
Speaker 2: But that actually is what happened.
Speaker 4: It was a relief.
Speaker 2: That's so funny.
Speaker 4: And we can tell me it's Brookville Place right the
Speaker 4: place we go to. I think by now it's.
Speaker 2: The gorgeous mall.
Speaker 4: We talk about it enough.
Speaker 1: We live in this part of the city, so this
Speaker 1: is right up the road from us. But it was
Speaker 1: a different scene and it was a different tone. I
Speaker 1: just didn't expect it today. But I don't know what
Speaker 1: the rest of you all did today. But this is
Speaker 1: how our day started. Now, we got the girls in
Speaker 1: the house with us. The mall opens at six am.
Speaker 1: It's about a one hour drive from us with light traffic.
Speaker 1: So we tell them yesterday that we're going to leave
Speaker 1: at seven am. Now, the reaction from a nineteen and.
Speaker 2: A twenty three year old wasn't great. They were like, what, what? Why?
Speaker 2: Why do we have to leave at seven That's what
Speaker 2: they asked.
Speaker 1: Okay, so we we yes, fine, we're paying for this stuff.
Speaker 1: You're gonna get your butts in the car at seven am,
Speaker 1: and they did, yeah, yeah, there's no problems. So we
Speaker 1: take off and as soon as we get in the car,
Speaker 1: it showed it's going to be a one hour drive.
Speaker 1: It didn't take too long before that changed to a
Speaker 1: one hour and thirty minute drive, and then a one
Speaker 1: hour and forty minute drive. But here's a thing. The
Speaker 1: added time was only robes. What with like in the
Speaker 1: two miles around the mall.
Speaker 3: We actually didn't get into the heavy traffic until point
Speaker 3: eight miles from Woodbury Commons, so we actually sped no
Speaker 3: traffic amazing all.
Speaker 2: The way through. If you guys are familiar.
Speaker 3: Seventeen eighty seven, just sail it up to Woodbury Commons
Speaker 3: and then when you we had to take an exit
Speaker 3: early to try to avoid the off ramp which apparently
Speaker 3: was way backed up, so we were going even in
Speaker 3: the back way around to get to Woodbury Comments.
Speaker 2: And we get to zero.
Speaker 3: Point eight miles from Woodbury Comments. I kept saying we
Speaker 3: should walk, we should walk. It was crazy traffic with
Speaker 3: massive highways coming in, so it wasn't possible to do so.
Speaker 3: But yes, we spent what thirty minutes creeping point eight miles.
Speaker 4: Looking at them all.
Speaker 1: Essentially we could see it for thirty minutes and couldn't
Speaker 1: get to it. So this is how it started. So
Speaker 1: we get out and get going. Soon as we get there,
Speaker 1: of course, somebody has to pee and somebody needs to
Speaker 1: get something to eat.
Speaker 4: Yeah, so typical.
Speaker 1: It doesn't matter what age the kids get, it's the
Speaker 1: same scenario as if we were they were two years old,
Speaker 1: when they were ten years old.
Speaker 4: It's always the twenty three year.
Speaker 2: Old told me she was hungry at least four times, right.
Speaker 3: I was like, yeah, I heard you the first three
Speaker 3: times you said that.
Speaker 1: So we get here and we get going. Now, you
Speaker 1: and I have done a lot of Outlin mall shopping.
Speaker 1: Today is the first time I think we had an
Speaker 1: extended period of splitting. Yes, we had to split because
Speaker 1: you had girls and you know, I had girls shopping.
Speaker 1: We didn't have all day to be there, so.
Speaker 3: No, we knew that the crowds were gonna get even worse.
Speaker 3: So we were like, we have limited time, and You're like, babe,
Speaker 3: I gotta go my way. You gotta go your way
Speaker 3: because and that Actually I didn't like that very much.
Speaker 3: I actually really enjoy shopping with you, and I was
Speaker 3: sad to not be next to you.
Speaker 4: Oh same, Oh.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you forgot to say that, But no, no problem,
Speaker 2: I get it. I totally believe you.
Speaker 1: And also were bouncing around there today. And it's an
Speaker 1: outland mall, so it's outdoor walking. It's freezing today.
Speaker 4: Oh my god, so was it not?
Speaker 3: So the window I didn't even tell you fully, the
Speaker 3: wind was up there. It was like twenty two. It
Speaker 3: was and it felt twenty and it was twenty two.
Speaker 3: I knew if I told you ahead of time, you
Speaker 3: might cancel the trip.
Speaker 1: I kept that to myself, Okay, So I there just
Speaker 1: didn't find and it was worse once we bought a
Speaker 1: couple of things.
Speaker 4: I was carrying bags. You just couldn't move for the
Speaker 4: most part.
Speaker 1: But it was I had and you're right, I did
Speaker 1: have positive interactions with several people at several stores. Been
Speaker 1: out of republic. Love y'all, Reese, y'all the best, Justin
Speaker 1: and Crewe in there, Camilla, y'all are fantastic, right they were.
Speaker 2: They were amazing and so kind.
Speaker 1: Ye love them, appreciate all of them. But I did
Speaker 1: all day find, like you said, a mission, Like there
Speaker 1: was an intense mission that people were on. It wasn't
Speaker 1: about I don't even know if it was saving money.
Speaker 1: It felt like it was more like you said, about
Speaker 1: making money, or it was it more.
Speaker 2: About what it was for me.
Speaker 1: It was just an intensity to the day. And I know,
Speaker 1: I mean, we saw lines at some stores that didn't
Speaker 1: make sense.
Speaker 3: At north Face Uggs, I mean, I know, yes, okay,
Speaker 3: those are fun gifts, but it was the lines were
Speaker 3: not anything that. I don't think a reasonable person would
Speaker 3: be willing to wait in twenty two degree weather.
Speaker 2: And see here's for like an extended period of time.
Speaker 1: And see here's the other thing I thought about there,
Speaker 1: what if we are? What does this tell us anything
Speaker 1: about where we are that you have to do this
Speaker 1: in order to save any dime you can to get
Speaker 1: anything of quality. Perhaps because this is where we are,
Speaker 1: the uncertainty that we always have, and right we just
Speaker 1: went through a shut down. Is this now you have
Speaker 1: to be willing to do these types of sacrifices to
Speaker 1: save whatever buck you can. I don't know if that
Speaker 1: was a reflection, but today wasn't about the joy of
Speaker 1: the holiday season at.
Speaker 3: All, at least not until we got I felt the
Speaker 3: joy moral. When we got back to the city we
Speaker 3: saw an old friend.
Speaker 2: It actually was a lot.
Speaker 3: We were like, wait, maybe we should never have even
Speaker 3: uh an old friend.
Speaker 2: We saw an old friend when.
Speaker 3: We got back to the city in Brookfield Place and
Speaker 3: Jay Crew. See the thing is oh yes, sorry, sorry,
Speaker 3: I tried to go to Jay Crew. It would very
Speaker 3: commons And it's funny. We actually all found stuff. We
Speaker 3: all had clothing that you were considering something. Ava had
Speaker 3: several items. Annalyse finally said, I scored. I found this
Speaker 3: thing with the line was so I was like, you
Speaker 3: know what, let's see if it moves quickly, I'll give
Speaker 3: it a beat. Anna and I went to go stand
Speaker 3: in it. Five minutes later, we had not moved once.
Speaker 3: We were coiled around the store, and I thought, you
Speaker 3: know what sad to say, but we are.
Speaker 2: We can't, we can't wait in this line any longer.
Speaker 3: And we just had to put the stuff back and leave,
Speaker 3: come all the way back to the city and find
Speaker 3: that the J Crew here actually had the same sale.
Speaker 2: Yes, fifty percent off. Actually it was a great sale.
Speaker 3: Lovely, lovely time in Ja Crew and we actually, yes,
Speaker 3: we got to see an old friend.
Speaker 1: It all worked out. That was my That was the
Speaker 1: standard in every store. I look at the line first,
Speaker 1: at the register, and I say, is there anything in
Speaker 1: this store that line?
Speaker 4: Yes? And usually no.
Speaker 1: And I know that in just one three hundred and
Speaker 1: sixty degree turn. All right, folks, now Black Friday. We've
Speaker 1: been calling it the Black Friday. It spawned Cyber Monday
Speaker 1: and all kinds.
Speaker 2: Of Giving Tuesday.
Speaker 4: And isn't there a small business Saturday.
Speaker 1: And yes, all this so you think you know what
Speaker 1: black Friday is and where it came from, right when
Speaker 1: businesses go into the black That ain't actually the story.
Speaker 1: Stay here, we'll tell you the true origins of a
Speaker 1: black Friday. All right, folks, we continue here on this
Speaker 1: Black Friday, which was one of the most memorable we're
Speaker 1: going to have, but one I would like to forget.
Speaker 3: You know what's funny I was reading today CNBC basically, well,
Speaker 3: they wrote this story and they definitely were not where
Speaker 3: we were at Wouldbury Commons because they said, well, black
Speaker 3: Friday has long been defined by massive crowds, rock bottom prices,
Speaker 3: rabid concerers, biting and scratching and clawing their way to
Speaker 3: the best deals of the seasons. But they're saying this
Speaker 3: now today foot traffic is flat, online shopping is up,
Speaker 3: and consumers are weary. That is not what we saw
Speaker 3: at Woodbury Comments today. We saw exactly what they said
Speaker 3: black Friday used to be. We saw if that's the
Speaker 3: olden days back man, everybody should just go straight to
Speaker 3: Woodbury Commons because that description is exactly what we saw today.
Speaker 1: But they're suggesting that more so in a lot of
Speaker 1: places that not as many people are going in Curs
Speaker 1: Store anymore now.
Speaker 3: So we will say last year, we actually and this
Speaker 3: is where we were kind of taken aback this year.
Speaker 3: Last year we ended up renting a house out east
Speaker 3: on Long Island because we didn't have a place where
Speaker 3: everybody could gather, and so we knew that there was
Speaker 3: It was the Tanger Outlets.
Speaker 2: Somewhere I don't forgot somewhere.
Speaker 3: It was somewhere in West Hampton and somewhere in the
Speaker 3: southern part of the Hampton's and we went last year
Speaker 3: and there were crowds, but we were surprised at how
Speaker 3: we were expecting a more robust turnout and it was tame.
Speaker 3: So then we were just fooled into thinking we would
Speaker 3: have the same experience going too and that was just
Speaker 3: so foolish of us.
Speaker 2: And you know what, lesson learned. I don't think we
Speaker 2: will repeat ever what we did this year.
Speaker 3: We'll drive further to the Tanger Outlets to avoid what
Speaker 3: we experienced.
Speaker 2: But yeah, that was like almost I actually had.
Speaker 3: The scene from Thanksgiving in my head because people were like,
Speaker 3: we left at around eleven forty five am and things
Speaker 3: were getting so bad. This is a large outdoor mall
Speaker 3: with a large, wide pedet you could not get through
Speaker 3: if you were holding backs without like getting hit.
Speaker 2: It was it. My daughters were both like, I'm having
Speaker 2: social anxiety right now. I said, I actually am too.
Speaker 1: And let's the reserve space this. There are folks that
Speaker 1: could be listening, say yeah, it's just y'all's first time
Speaker 1: going on Black Friday. It's like this every single year.
Speaker 1: Nothing has changed.
Speaker 2: We've been in other places, I just never and we love.
Speaker 3: I've been going to Woodberry Commons for like twenty years,
Speaker 3: but this was the wildest experience I've had.
Speaker 1: They might tell you it's like this every single year,
Speaker 1: nothing new, So it was nothing new this year in
Speaker 1: a different mood with Nope, this is just what happens
Speaker 1: there every year. The thing black Friday, we I think
Speaker 1: most people would tell that story right. The reason they
Speaker 1: call it black Friday is it's the day that retailers
Speaker 1: go into the black.
Speaker 3: Ava asked me what Black Friday was, and I gave
Speaker 3: her that exact definition because I thought I.
Speaker 4: Was right, Well, you are.
Speaker 1: Based on what retailers have been telling us for the
Speaker 1: past fifty plus years. Wow, but that is not where
Speaker 1: the story came from. I did not know this, of
Speaker 1: course at all, but this goes back to the nineteen fifties.
Speaker 1: It had nothing to do with shopping and getting into
Speaker 1: the Red and Black anything else. Philadelphia are good friends
Speaker 1: in Philadelphia. The annual Army Navy game that would take
Speaker 1: place in Philly the day after on the weekend of Thanksgiving.
Speaker 1: It would draw so many people into the city from
Speaker 1: the suburbs, so they would come in to do their shopping,
Speaker 1: they would come in to see the game. It created
Speaker 1: a riotous atmosphere for police. They hated, hated having to
Speaker 1: work the day after Thanksgiving. They started calling it their
Speaker 1: black Friday.
Speaker 2: Okay, I've never heard that story ever in my.
Speaker 1: Mind, neither have I. So it wasn't just so. Yes,
Speaker 1: it involved some shoplifting because people were taking advantage of
Speaker 1: the people coming in to do the shopping, but so
Speaker 1: much much of the I guess the riot this atmosphere
Speaker 1: had to do with people just coming in to kick
Speaker 1: it and have a good time at the game. But
Speaker 1: police hated it. They kept being called black Friday, Black Friday,
Speaker 1: Black Friday. So then retailers in the nineteen sixties and
Speaker 1: the night Oh excuse me, nineteen eighties, they tried to
Speaker 1: move forward and try to we got to take this
Speaker 1: negative connotation off of it. So how can we do that?
Speaker 1: They started pumping the story that you gave Ava that
Speaker 1: this is when we're trying to get into the black.
Speaker 3: Because we've been in the red up until now, we
Speaker 3: haven't been able to be profitable. But now when people
Speaker 3: start spending for the holidays, we finally get in the black.
Speaker 3: So that day represents, yes, the day that retailers and
Speaker 3: small business owners actually start turning a benefit and they're
Speaker 3: in the black.
Speaker 4: There you go, Wow, who knew I more? You know? Right?
Speaker 3: And that is that's that actually blows my mind because
Speaker 3: I think about for the last thirty years covering Black
Speaker 3: Friday as a journalist, and I have sold that story
Speaker 3: to every single community I've ever served, and I've told
Speaker 3: them the Black Friday story that apparently was all b Yes.
Speaker 1: Because obviously retailers make money at points other points of
Speaker 1: the year, and traditionally, Chris no excuse me, the Saturday
Speaker 1: before Christmas is often a bigger retail day than Black Friday.
Speaker 1: And that makes sense the Saturday before Christmas day, yes.
Speaker 2: Because we all procrastinates.
Speaker 4: So that's your last chance to get out. But yes,
Speaker 4: that's often a bigger day makes sense there, It is.
Speaker 2: The more you know, the more you know.
Speaker 1: All well, I hope you all had a good one
Speaker 1: wherever you might be, and please spread as much joy
Speaker 1: and cheer and again, are bad if we just our
Speaker 1: first experience with Woodberry Commons and we didn't know, maybe
Speaker 1: it's like this.
Speaker 3: I prefer Woodberry Commons on a Tuesday around ten am,
Speaker 3: on a day not in the month of November or December.
Speaker 3: So we'll see you soon Woodbury, but never again on
Speaker 3: Black Friday. And with that everyone, thank you for joining us.
Speaker 3: I made me robot alongside DJ Holmes. We'll talk to
Speaker 3: you soon.