Sun. Nov 25, 2007

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This was one of those rare five-Thursday Novembers. That means there's an extra week between Thanksgiving and Christmas (Thanksgiving is celebrated in the US on the fourth Thursday in November, which is usually the last Thursday of the month).

Retailers love it; it's an extra week of shopping. But do people really spend more money because they have more time, or do they just spread out their allotted budget to cover the extra week?

Black Friday was more insane than usual (and that's not easy). Stores opened earlier with bigger discounts (i.e., no profit) for which people lined up overnight in the cold and become unruly as opening time approaches. And the stores' supplies rarely meet demand.

There were long lines outside an electronics store and just prior to opening (at 5am) the crowd at the back rushed the doors and it was a mob scene with flying elbows and attendant ugliness as everyone fought (literally) to push their way into the store. Merry Christmas.

I managed to get most of my Christmas shopping done this weekend.

I did it online.