Retailers Should Take Responsibility For Black Friday Deaths

Black Friday is traditionally the day that retailers nation wide offer the best deals for the Christmas season shopping. This year was no different.

However, this year there were a lot of issues playing in the background. One many Americans find the outlook for Christmas bleak with worries of the economy. Retailers went beyond the norm in deals because of this economy. The retailers were coming off a horrible November in which consumer spending was down one percent.

Shoppers were enticed with great deals such as televisions for under $400, cheap games and toys at unbelievable prices.

The catch to these sales were in store shopping required and little and limited product at each store. The result? Several injuries and deaths plagued Black Friday. My question is why are we shocked by this?

Imagine if you will this analogy. You line up 20 four-year-olds. Then you tell them that five of them will get chocolate candy. What do you think there response will be?

I know that the consumers involved with these deaths are not four-year-olds. But they parents, grandparents, children, singles, spouses who are finding themselves worried about the economy. Individuals who have kids they don't want to disappoint this Christmas. Individuals who have watched over the last few months executives fly in private jets, take financial payoffs and enjoy the finer things in life. Individuals who need to get these sale items because it is the only way they can afford gifts for Christmas because who has enough money to pay full price.

The retailers have spent weeks advertising to these individuals encouraging and teasing them to come to their store. Of course the small print is always "while supplies last" or "limit 20 per store." All the while they are telling are kids they need this toy or that toy.

Why do they not offer unlimited? Because they get you in the store then can sell you a comparable item at a higher price. Most times the retailers have more of the product in the back, but are waiting until the next day to put it out.

Retailers should take responsibility for these deaths. In the case of the Wal-Mart in New York where an employee was trampled, police are now looking at video to possibly place criminal charges on consumers who stampeded the store. Why should Wal-Mart not be held accountable?

They spend weeks encouraging the first come first serve mentality, then not set up any procedures to control crowds? Even Best Buy who had less supplies handed out coupons to those in line insuring their right to a product.

I was at a Wal-Mart in Texas at 5 a.m. on Black Friday. I saw desperation in people's eyes. The employees weren't prepared at all for the day. Add to that a large amount of people looking for those promised sales to be told that they were not available only 15 minutes after the store opened. And somehow that is the consumer's fault?

Retailers need to expand their sales this year for those who believed in the advertisements. The sad truth is that all of these gimmicks worked for retailers. Spending on Black Friday was up three percent from last year. I wonder how much of it was extra spending after being disappointed because they missed the items they could afford? How much trouble will the credit card companies be in after the new year when consumers can't pay what they ended up charging because the gifts they could afford were no longer available?

If you have no clue about the injuries or deaths that occurred on Black Friday, I encourage you to read feature writer Avis Ward's articles about the ordeals right here on SearchWarp.