A few days ago I posted about my Pink Friday shopping experience.  Earlier that day I had set out to do my Black Friday Shopping for one particular item that as of today I discovered ended up chipping and rusting after one wash!

A week prior to Black Friday I had posted on my Facebook profile and Twitter that I was already in the process of planning out my Black Friday map.  People thought I was crazy leaving comments like: “Denise, you are crazy. Do your shopping on line and enjoy your day-after food coma,” “@Niecee good luck with that :)” and of course “@Niecee wah? who said anything about 4:30am?” in reply to my tweet to: “@daNanner maybe not 3am…probably 4:30am. Depending if @Agentjon wakes up with me to split up the locations.”  No, he did not wake up at 4:30am and neither did I because somehow he convinced me that I would be ok to go a little later to Kohls, the first store on my stop that was opening at 4am.

I headed over at 6am to pick up a 14 piece Cuisinart knife set that was on an Early Bird Special (regular priced $200 knocked down to $89.99 and with a $50 mail-in-rebate, final price of $39.99).  While most people were making their way over to Wal-Mart, Circuit City, and Best Buy to get their flat screen TVs, I went to Kohls to fight out the competition with soccer moms!

As I pulled up to the parking lot, there were soccer mom vans everywhere and had to park towards the back.  Already kicking myself for not having gotten to Kohls at 4am like I planned, I ran up the escalator to the home goods section already anticipating the sets would be gone. I got to the shelves and sure enough they were gone. I searched the aisles up and down and was about to give up at this point. As I went back down the escalator I overheard a woman going up saying, “Hurry I have to find the knife sets!” I stood downstairs for a bit contemplating what to do. Suddenly the woman came down the escalator with a knife set, not the one I was looking for, but definitely one that wasn’t there before.  I ran up the escalator looked around the aisle and magically the knife set I was looking for sat there saying to me, “Hurry! Grab me before the people surrounding you grab it first!” I grabbed the set and there were the moms staring at me waiting for me to drop the set at the chance for them to pick it right up.  I quickly ran down the escalator and found basket to throw it in and claim it as mine!  Black Friday shopping = SUCCESS!

Until today! On my way home @Agentjon called me to tell me that our knives that we had only used once were chipping, rusting, and tarnishing.  I was really upset the whole drive home. All the hard work that I put in that morning was gone! Well, now it looks like I’m going to have to return the set and look for a set that won’t tarnish my shopping experience.

Photo: SmackShopping

NIECEE’s TAKE AWAYS:

• I’m in it for the Competition & Experience. I think every year I wake up early for Black Friday I go to the stores for the competition to succeed in getting a product that some weren’t quick enough to grab.  Some situations like the stampede at Walmart and shoot-out at Toys R Us are a little over my head.  Last year some lady even tried grabbing my Calvin Klein pillows from underneath my foot at Macys as I was checking for fluffiness. Shocked by what she did, I grabbed them back and said, “Umm excuse me those are MINE!” I think she didn’t realize that there were 5 more of them in front her, not as fluffy though, LOL.