By Aja Cooper, Staff Writer

Published in print Dec 3, 2014.

It had started. The first round of Thanksgiving dinner was over and it was time to get down to business. Sale paper ads and shopping lists written on notebook paper crowded the table that was once covered with plates of turkey and dressing. The Cooper family’s Black Friday tradition was being kept alive, as it had been every year. While Black Friday still officially takes place on Friday, it is no longer the day everyone awaits to shop. For the past few years, Black Friday sales have started on Thanksgiving Day. This year in particular, pre-Black Friday sales filled the week prior.

My mother, Jada Cooper, the ringleader of our Black Friday endeavors, flipped through the Wal-Mart, Target, Kmart and Toys-R-Us ads that came as inserts in the newspaper. She made a list of which items would be purchased and price matched from which stores. Simultaneously, my sister was scrolling through the Black Friday advertisements online. She was more than familiar with them, with her constant glances of the Black Friday app on her cell phone and frequent visits to BlackFriday.com starting in early November.

This year’s team consisted of my mother, father, sister, uncle and myself. We would form a plan, determine who was going to which store and who was buying which items. It only makes sense to do things this way; it makes it easier to cover more ground.

Traditionally we make Wal-Mart the home base of our shopping. Wal-Mart along with other stores will honor price matching. If you have the sale ad from another store and the item’s price is lower than Wal-Mart’s, they will allow you to purchase it for the lower price.

There are stipulations as the item has to match the picture in the ad. With one of Wal-Mart’s big-ticket items being a 50” television for $218.00 this year, it appeared that many people had the same idea as us.

The Wal-Mart Supercenter in Jacksonville, N.C. where we partook in our shopping endeavors seemed to be fresh out of parking spaces on Thanksgiving night.

Sales started at 6:00 P.M but only amateurs arrive on time. We were prepared and ready to leave at 4:45 P.M, which to some could still be considered as late. The closest parking space my uncle and I could find was at the nearby hotel across the street.

Once we made our way inside the store we departed to our designated areas. I personally shop for the low priced DVDs that are always a great stocking stuffer and can be counted as an item that people won’t fight over. Even though people don’t fight over the DVDs, tensions do tend to rise in the store as the crowds fill every aisle.

“They couldn’t have possibly planned this any better?” a lady in Wal-Mart asked nearby. “The police said it’s a fire hazard. This whole store is a fire hazard! They couldn’t have just put some of these things outside in the parking lot and put heaters outside for everyone?”

This woman’s frantic suggestion to place some of the Black Friday sale items outside in the parking lot, to then be purchased in doors, was a clear indicator that she was unexperienced when it came to Black Friday and all of it’s splendor.

It’s easy to spot first-timers on the day of the big sale, just like it’s easy for a New Yorker to spot a tourist in their home state. First-timers will traditionally arrive very close to the sale’s start time, as they’ve disregarded the fact that people line up for sale events hours in advance. Women who show up in heels, tights and make-up also reflect the “first-time Black Friday shopper” look.

For those who have never participated in this particular event, take note that attire should be no less than comfortable. Sneakers and sweats are always appropriate to fit the cold weather and the vast amount of walking that is going to be done. As mentioned before, it is essential to have a plan and arrive more than early.

Sale items will be stationed in locations they wouldn’t normally be sold in around the store, so it’s essential to find a dependable team that isn’t afraid to hunt for items on the shopping lists.

Taking these tips into consideration can lead to a very successful Black Friday shopping experience, whether it be on a Thursday or Friday.

A Black Friday Shopping veteran of 12 years, my mom has been leading my family in this tradition for years and she says she doesn’t ever see herself not participating in the Black Friday experience.

When asked to describe her feelings about Black Friday, my mother, had this to say, “I like the adrenaline, the excitement of getting out there and finding deals and getting into the shopping mood for Christmas and saving money. Once you get those deals, you feel accomplished.”

2014 marked another successful year for the Cooper team and we’ll soon be preparing for Black Friday 2015.