Wal-Mart Stampede: Blame the Retailer

[Guest]

A tragedy last week gives new meaning to Black Friday. Tom's Guide believes retailers can prevent this type of chaos from happening again.

Wal-Mart Stampede: Blame the Retailer : Read more

 

[Guest]

Why blame only the retailer? What part does the media play? If I didn't know better, I would think that "Black Friday" was the second coming of Christ and he was arriving at the mall.

 

[DFGum]

Or how about just larger quanities and over a longer period of time. A whole week, with more in stock please.

 

[Guest]

Typical media blabering about the evil Corporate empire. Doesn't anyone take responsibility for their own actions any more? Not in this country, where it's always someone else to blame. Shame on Wal-Mart for not having better doors. But if you knock on the front door and no one answers, you absolutely shouldn't break the door down!

 

[m@rc]

wow, shame on people like that becoming wild animal... and all that because they could potentially save a few hundred $. I mean c'mon. As soon as we start talking money the brain isn't supposed to turn off. WTF. Let's say you'd like to get a HD TV and you might get 300 $ off on that day. If you cannot get it, the world doesn't end there. 300$ is what maybe a week of hard work maximum...

I guest it might help if the retailer add online rebates only for a few article (the most expensive ones) or spread out the deals on the hole weekend.

 

[noahjwhite]

I heard this story on the news while I was safely shopping at home online. Many of the deals... not the best ones... were available online and could be purchased and picked up at the stores later. I make a special effort to stay indoors at all times during black Friday. This year the media hype was ridiculous and ultimately misleading. I didn't see many "true deals" meaning deals for products that were substantially lower than normal sales. Most were at best 10% less than normal.

Personal responsibility is certainly expected but I do believe that Walmart shares responsibility. I think most people where out to get that Samsung HDTV for $789 or whatever it was. Good deal yes... fantastic deal... no. That was a special TV manufactured by Samsung (they cut plenty of corners) in order to lower the price $100 off the existing model. Are you really saving anything?

I think the lottery system is a great idea. Best Buy has done this before. I remember when the PS3 first came out (yes - it was in demand for a week or so ) There was a huge line.. they handed out numbers. The numbers called got a ticket to purchase the PS3. No Ticket... no purchase. This approach could work... but I also remember those PS3 Ticket holders scalping their ticket for thousands of dollars. (not good either)

 

[pug_s]

I don't agree with Tony with putting in a lottery system to get your tv or laptop because the that's not the problem. I talked with my friends on Turkey day on whether we should go to that Walmart on Black Friday and they advised me not to do that and I was glad. I distinctly remember going to Circuit City near the Walmart in question last year when they handed out tickets for an HDTV and the mob literally try to take the tickts off from the Employees and the Employees ran back inside the store in fear. There was a line to the CC store until a group of people bum rushed toward the front of the store and everybody just crammed in front of the store. By the time the store opened at 5pm, the mob from the back literally pushed people toward in front of the store and broke the automatic sliding door. The local NYPD don't do crowd control because there was about at least 700 people there. I was lucky enough to get inside the store after being packed like in a sardine can for an hour and I was lucky enough the get an HDTV. If I had to do it again, I would not do the same thing.

I've seen some of the videos and I have no doubt that this is the similiar situation happened on last Friday on Walmart as I have experienced once before. I could imagine a crowd of 2000 would have enough force to push and break down the door to the local Walmart. According to local media, the Nassau Cops were there but decided to do nothing because they simply could not handle a mob of 2000 people. Next year, I personally like to see the local media come in at 4am and videotape the people who are pushing the crowd toward the store and then shame them because this mob mentality is simply not acceptable.

 

[saljr]

I blame manufacture Too........like Sony,Samsung,Microsoft,Mitsubishi,LG and Etc. They create fizzie too.

 

[Guest]

WTF? bleame the retailer?...what about the crowd....this looks like a walmart in Somalia giving out free food samples to a crowd of animals..check out the...er....Crowd
http/www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/ny-liwalm1129-pg,0,2766609.photogallery

 

[specter_jester]

life is cheap today for those who have the money power.

 

[Guest]

Better idea. SELL tickets from a prominent in-store booth at the front of the store in the weeks running up to Black Friday, not give them out on the morning itself. For instance, to be in the first 20 through the doors you pay $80 a ticket, second 20 $60, third 20 $40 etc etc. You redeem part or all the cost of the tickets when they are presented at the checkout when a purchase is made. So the store manages how many people get into the store at any one time and then increases the likehood of them making a purchase once they're in.

The sizes of the batches of people and the cost of the tickets can be adjusted according to the size of the store and how much they want to manage the process.

The store still might need to hire some barriers and security staff to manage the crowd. But at least the situation is partially managed already.

 

[Luscious]

Blame whoever you want, we are all responsible. It all comes down to f*cking greed. Greedy stores that can't wait to make a fast buck off their cheap electronic junk. Greedy consumers who would eat their own sh*t just to save a buck. And greedy media manipulating Americans with brainwashing advertisements and unnecessary spending.

If you've ever lived in a poor country, you know that if you want something you first need to work for it and have money for it. Black Friday my @ss. If a store cannot remain profitable without resorting to this kind of shopping carnage then they deserve to go bankrupt. Seems to me the economic problems aren't bad enough if people are still crazy to spend money.

And as for the greedy consumer who freezes his @ss off standing in line overnight to save a few hundred dollars - go get a life you moron! A sane person doesn't break a stores door down and tramples over another human.

Greed has become such an integral part of American society that we don't even notice it any more. Yet to the outside eye it is all-too-evident, makes America look unattractive, and will hurt us in the long term.

 

[JeanLuc]

"Blame the Retailer"


Jesus H..........what a cope out, how about the ground breaking statement. How about the greedy grasping people who trampled over the poor guy take responsibility for their own actions?

 

[Pei-chen]

Do the above or simply stop commercializing the holidays; the year's discount sux anyway.

 

[tmc]

The store itself has some civil, possible legal liability.. they send a temp, just hired (not directly, but through a temp agency) for the holiday to open the doors to a black friday mob scene? Yeah, right.. Walmart is squeakly clean on that one.. /sarcasm intended!

First of all, there are methods, procedures to avoid a mob running into the store to be "FIRST".. This particular Walmart chose NOT to employ (apt word) this method and to tragic consequences. The media does conspire to drum up Black Friday histeria.. oooh, we hear that people are gonna spend less.. the economy isn't doing well, let's get some spokes people on our news program who pay us advertising dollars$$ and try and pry loose some more of what people really shouldn't be mobbed up to spend... But, no.. the media isn't directly responsible... but shame on them. Money apparently has corrupted the media.. people become more desensitized each year to what was common decency. To be honest.. the apparent best deal.. the 32" 720p lcd TV.. This past Cyber Monday.. Staples had a comparable online for $9 less! For the record, I didn't spend a penny on BF.. didn't even leave my home. Congradulations on making big business happy with their extra 3% even with a blood stained Walmart.. Who wants to go to that store now, knowing someone died at the entrance?

 

[AndrewMD]

This has been going on for years now. It started with the Cabbage Patch Kids in the 80's, the Elmo figure in the 90's and the Video Game system in the 00's. As people and retailers started to capitalize on this, we started to have the problem which lead to last week's tragedy...

Manufactures have a responisibility to supply enough units for the demand ( and they don't). Retailers have a responisibility to organize their supply (and they don't). People have a responisibility to act civil (and they don't).

Everyone shares a part of the problem but the biggest shareholder is the manufacture. Next is the retailer and last is the consumer.

 

[Guest]

The sole responsibility for this tragic event rests with the people who participated in this animal-like behavior. Come on - we are accountable for our actions. Otherwise human beings are nothing more than slugs which crawl on the ground leaving a slimy trail to mark where they have been.

 

[LightWeightX]

I tend to agree with Luscious.
If retailers would offer fair deals throughout the year we would not need black friday. If people put other things first, such as helping others, being friendly over posessing the latest gizmo and if they simply saved up for something, we wouldn't have these type of incidents. Now the people who saved a few hundred can enjoy their HDTV and watch the news of people gone wild.

 

[DFGum]

[citation][nom]Luscious[/nom]Blame whoever you want, we are all responsible. It all comes down to f*cking greed. Greedy stores that can't wait to make a fast buck off their cheap electronic junk. Greedy consumers who would eat their own sh*t just to save a buck. And greedy media manipulating Americans with brainwashing advertisements and unnecessary spending.If you've ever lived in a poor country, you know that if you want something you first need to work for it and have money for it. Black Friday my @ss. If a store cannot remain profitable without resorting to this kind of shopping carnage then they deserve to go bankrupt. Seems to me the economic problems aren't bad enough if people are still crazy to spend money.And as for the greedy consumer who freezes his @ss off standing in line overnight to save a few hundred dollars - go get a life you moron! A sane person doesn't break a stores door down and tramples over another human.Greed has become such an integral part of American society that we don't even notice it any more. Yet to the outside eye it is all-too-evident, makes America look unattractive, and will hurt us in the long term.[/citation]
What does this have todo with the economy and stores needing it to be profitable? Stop being a stupid. People have been shot/stabbed/etc with broken bones and everything you can think of during black friday almost every year for 10 years now.

 

[deepchild]

I think Tony makes a valid point here. If you're going to offer a sale designed solely to bring in massive crowds of customers, you'd better darn well be ready to handle the flow of people.

As for all these complaints about the people being "greedy" (whatever that really means), I would point out that standing in the cold for a couple of hours to save a few hundred dollars is only crazy if it's not worth the money to you. But, if it is worth it to me, then why would I buy a TV a week earlier for a few hundred dollars more? That said, no one would knowingly risk grave bodily injury for such a sale. Well...not many people would.

I'm certain no one shopping at that store would have behaved so wrecklessly had they known that someone would be killed. This was a terrible accident precipitated by a dangerous situation that engendered a mob mentality in the crowd. The danger of the situation could have been mitigated by the retailer, and I'd place the bulk of the responsibility at their feet.