Students wary about Black Friday and Cyber Monday

The day after Thanksgiving, Black Friday, seems to receive more hype each year.

But Cyber Monday, today, when many deals are offered exclusively online, has also gained popularity in recent years and though many students participate in these shopping events, many also feel they go too far.

I shopped in Brandon (on Black Friday) at the Brandon Town Center, Alicia Tew, a senior majoring in marketing, said. By 6 a.m. it was empty, the parking lot was nice and the people were nice.

Tew said she thinks the mall was less crowded because many people had already rushed to stores when they opened some as early as 11 the night before.

People go overboard, she said.

Stores opening earlier seemed to be a trend this year, causing some experts to believe Black Friday has morphed into Black Thursday.

In a few years, holiday shopping will migrate up to Thanksgiving, Dipayan Biswas, a marketing professor, said in a press release. Over the last few years, when retailers saw customers standing outside in lines, often starting Thursday night before store openings, or even earlier, they were reminded that those customers could be spending money inside the store instead of waiting in lines outside.

Tew didnt feel the need to go shopping Thursday night or even early Friday morning, because she was tired from spending Thanksgiving cooking and with her family.

If you are rushing to get your family out the door, it takes away from the meaning, she said. The employees (of these stores) dont get much of a Thanksgiving if they have to go to work that night.

Erika Troconis, a senior majoring in international business, is an international student from Venezuela, and had never celebrated Thanksgiving or the shopping days afterward until she came to USF four years ago.

Troconis said she prefers to do her shopping online.

I went to Wal-Mart (on Friday) to buy food and I am never going again on Black Friday, Troconis said. I do all my shopping online. I wasnt about to get trampled.

Troconis did make some purchases on electronics on Black Friday for family members, but plans on checking out the online deals to Monday, she said.

There werent even many great deals, Troconis said.

But James Stock, also a marketing professor, said in the press release that the best deals might be waiting online.

Other students didnt partake at all, but worked on the other side of the cash register.

Stephanie White, a junior majoring in psychology, said she worked a 12-hour shift at a Sprint store in St. Petersburg on Friday.

We were slammed, White said. There were no less than 20 people in the store at the same time. There were eight people waiting outside before we opened.

Sprint had deals on different models of phones, so many people came to make big purchases, White said.

She tried to go to Wal-Mart herself the night before, but was discouraged by the intensity of other shoppers.

Its unnecessary You save a couple of hundred dollars at most, White said. To some people thats a lot, but in some respects it takes away from Thanksgiving.