MINNEAPOLIS (Business Wire) -- For many people Thanksgiving Day is a time to rest, relax, maybe even nap. For others, the Thanksgiving meal is simply an appetizer on the way to the main event: Black Friday shopping. Whether they're on a hunt for doorbusters, trying to get a jump on their holiday gift lists, or they simply enjoy kicking off the holiday season camping out in a parking lot with friends and family, Black Friday shoppers know that shopping on the morning after Thanksgiving has an aura all its own.
This year, Best Buy, the nation's leading consumer electronics retailer, is celebrating the Black Friday tradition with the winners of its Black Friday VIP contest -- twenty-five consumers from across the country who represent all of the anticipation, excitement and joy that Black Friday shopping has to offer. These are shoppers who believe that turkey and stuffing taste BETTER when you're sitting in line in a parking lot Thanksgiving Day. They are willing to endure the jokes and strange looks from their friends who simply “don't understand” the Black Friday appeal. And for these winners, something wouldn't be quite right without kicking off holiday shopping season with hundreds of their “friends,” many of whom they see in line year after year.
Nearly 13,000 consumers shared how Black Friday shopping is an important holiday tradition for them and their family as part of the Black Friday VIP contest. From heart-warming to humorous, each entry demonstrated the variety of ways Black Friday rituals play out in people's lives.
There are tales of romance, including one woman who met her husband standing in line on Black Friday. Anther couple spent their first date waiting in line to shop. Six years later they are married, and they bundle up in the same coats and matching scarves each year to re-live the first date that started it all.
Many winners wrote about Black Friday as a time for unique family togetherness. There's the father who taught his kids how to play poker in a Best Buy parking lot, using Ritz crackers as poker chips. Two sisters who grew up shopping Black Friday together wrote about how important it is to them now that they have families of their own to carve out this time every year to be together. And one family that keeps an old beat up van in storage year round only to dust off the “Green Machine” every Black Friday morning for their shopping adventure.
Each of the Black Friday VIP winners and three special guests will receive a limousine ride to and from the designated Best Buy store below, on-site pampering and prizes. They will also gain early admittance into the store at 4:30 a.m., and the opportunity to purchase up to four doorbusters. Winners also receive a $1,000 Best Buy gift card and a Pure Digital Flip Video Ultra Series Camcorder to document the Black Friday VIP experience. A video of their Black Friday adventures will be posted on AskABlueShirt.com the week after Thanksgiving.
Whether it's a time for a family to get together, or a time to get away, Black Friday has a special place in many shoppers' hearts. According to our winners it's a chance to give “holiday glory on a budget.” To break out the tents, coolers and grills and battle the elements as a team. Or to set the mood for the holidays and treasure some time together.
As the VIP winner from New York put it:
“I don't know if I love Black Friday for the deals or the opportunity to do something out of the ordinary with my Mom – my best friend. Everyone else in our family calls us crazy, but we just give each other a little glance and laugh them off. We know that you are either a die hard Black Friday shopper or you just don't understand.”
The complete list of Black Friday VIP winning entries are posted at www.AskABlueShirt.com.
About Best Buy Co., Inc.
With operations in the United States, Canada, Europe, and China, Best Buy is a multinational retailer of technology and entertainment products and services with a commitment to growth and innovation. The Best Buy family of brands and partnerships collectively generates more than $40 billion annual revenue and includes brands such as Best Buy, Audiovisions, The Carphone Warehouse, Future Shop, Geek Squad, Jiangsu Five Star, Magnolia Audio Video, Napster, Pacific Sales Kitchen and Bath Centers, The Phone House and Speakeasy. Approximately 165,000 employees apply their talents to help bring the benefits of these brands to life for customers through retail locations, multiple call centers and Web sites, in-home solutions, product delivery and activities in our communities. Community partnership is central to the way we do business at Best Buy. In fiscal 2008, we donated a combined $31.8 million to improve the vitality of the communities where our employees and customers live and work. For more information about Best Buy, visit www.bestbuyinc.com.
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