Auckland Black Friday Sale 2020 – Brisbane, Spain: bargains…
|Stroke Rehab
Auckland was getting into the swing leading-up to Christmas 2020,... and not least Black Friday Sales. The Food Show event was on just recently; fantastic food, some very innovative ideas and products - we bought heaps compared to the previous years.
Now, Black Friday sale. The hit-the-stores extravaganza that takes place the Friday after Thanksgiving; reputedly the most profitable day of the year, some say. Hence the term 'black' Friday, an American import, that is possibly here to stay
Now seriously into the Christmas shopping period here in NZ 2020, was it different, this year, for Black Friday? Pre-Covid free and easy, then Covid lockdowns, time has flown by. Post COVID19: a moment of frenzy at stores for Black Friday, or maybe something quieter? Perhaps online shopping has zoomed ahead instead, due to possible fears about crowded places.
In NZ, now emerged from the earlier lockdowns during 2020, there may be some reticence in joining in on a free for all at stores advertising heavily discounted sales. It was going to flavour some changes of attitude, I reckon. Fastidious cleaning of hands, physical distancing, and face masks were normal for surgeons and nurses in an operating theatre rather the average public out and about in the shops or on public transport. The new norm post COVID19...?
There had been hint of caution in the news media about Black Friday – bargains may not be bargains after all, in 2020. What shoppers would call very good prices, may have been put up accordingly just before Black Friday sales, hence the very big reductions on Black Friday event....hmmm. Certain goods attract a more clientele, and great price reductions...we shall see.
Pre-cursor: Brisbane 2019
I remember Brisbane Australia during Black Friday sale last year. We actually didn't realise that it was such a huge thing. Black Fridays had been and gone in the last few years in NZ, although I wasn’t aware it was a super special shopping day, as the prices were similar at shops. Stores were doing promotions quite a bit, clearing out old stock and getting brand new stock for Christmas - just the norm, I thought, for world over.
Imagine my surprise in Brisbane, a city which we hadn't shopped in more than 30 years – the CBD, had changed quite substantially. Wintergarden facade, South Bank lagoon and Streets Beach, sculpture installations, Treasury Brisbane Casino, Story Bridge, the Felon Brewery, Howard Smith Wharf-side eateries, and more. See: Walk Brisbane CBD.
Story bridge, brisbane cbd
In one of the stores we visited, saleslady said the it was Black Friday sales all over town, and they all had good prices – omg, where would I start? We had a just flown into Brisbane that day, so we were already late to hit the shops. Also, we were in town to celebrate a friend's 60th birthday, a 'masked' soiree no less, so what better excuse to buy something dressy?
Being a visitor to Brisbane, dress stores were unfamiliarly named although half of them were well-known brands as we lived in Sydney in the past. I didn't remember eating, though perhaps it was something on the go, as we shopped,.. and shopped. The shopping centres and malls are big and beautiful. We even visited some costume hire places to get some ideas for the masked party. Which mask should I wear? As I hadn't even got a party-dress in mind (still to be bought at the Black Friday sales, if possible), the choice should certainly be interesting one; hmmm....
Auckland 2020
I had been an avid shopper for many years before my brain haemorrhage, 25 years ago. Then it was me into the wheelchair – Murray would wheel on shopping expeditions. I called it an expedition as I had such a lot of paraphernalia to bring with me - I couldn't easily try clothes on, even reach for the garment myself; ...I had to ask for help for everything. As I couldn't readily speak and make sense, it was a challenge... After a while, we only shopped if there was a need or on holidays, otherwise I'd refrain from buying clothes.
In Auckland, it was clear sky sort of weather on Black Friday 2020, and throughout most of the weekend at the end of November. Armed with stout shoes, leg brace, etc. it will be pleasant going, if the weather holds up; always a bonus. Being a Friday, we hit the shops after work – there were lots of shoppers around, but not to overflowing; just a burble of excitement, queues were there but shoppers were patient and delays minimal. There were quite a lot of bargains, if you were prepared to search out the deals.
Time to buy presents for Christmas? - why not? Or to purchase electronic goods, or décor for the home, fragrances & cosmetics, there seemed a lot of choice. We spent around three hours at the shops and bought quite a bit. Back home, I found that we'd missed a few things – gone were the days when you rushed from store to store, on a mission. Now, we had to do the tracer-App for Covid, i.e. find the QR code, self-distancing where possible, etc.
On Saturday, we hit the shops just before midday. My word, the queues had grown: what was a trickle of shoppers on the Black Friday sale, turned into a deluge; everybody had come out in full force, hunting down the bargains over the 4-day weekend, until Cyber Monday. People were everywhere, we had only time for a snack at the cafe, before more shopping.
On Sunday, as we still had shopping left, … it was bedlam! Cars were stopped, inch by inch queueing to get into the shopping centre and find parking. And... almost all were full, luckily we found a spot. Omg, it was just as if it had gone back to pre-Covid days, it seemed like. The festive spirit amidst all the stresses & strain of the past year, for a moment in time, at the shopping centre, all were temporarily pushed to the back of minds. Shoppers were laughing, carefree and spending, as the sales continued until Monday. Queues getting out of the carpark were legendary, with security hurriedly blocking off selected roads to contain the congestion. It they hadn’t, it may have quickly blocked the off-ramp from the motorway and then grid-locked most of south Auckland.
Meanwhile, in Spain (2010)
…it was the January sales that most shoppers got excited about – again, we didn't realise the significance of this day in years gone by. Being slightly hampered by my leg brace, having got out of the wheelchair by then, we didn't relish being trampled by the rush. When we were living in Spain, we decided to go just be with the locals and go with the flow; tidal wave more than a river. The carparks were full all day long, and enduring the checkout queues needed a lot of stamina... just a madhouse. We followed suit, as getting a bargain was the prize...
From then on, we'd go to every January sale in Spain, if we were around – 70%-off and upwards of the retail price, and top of the line, not the bottom-end two-years-ago clothes.
Wow..! I wonder if retailers do Black Friday sales now, and whether they are much the same as January and July, where shoppers, retailers go crazy shopping...
So was Black Friday in Auckland 2020 a success? I like to think so, we'd go to the shops next year as I got real bargains on the Black Friday sales this year... enjoy the festive season.
