Archived Black Friday 2017

[HRZone]

Lots of new people on the site this time of year give your survival tips, suggestions, war stories, etc.

 

[slowhands]

Stand your ground.

 

[CrimsonRaven712]

-If a guest asks you if any other stores in the area have an item, don't trust the pda/my device. It does not always update properly. Please don't cause issues for people are others stores by doing this. I had so many people angry at me because someone at another store told them that my store had an item in stock.

-If you are doing SFS or Store Pickups, don't leave your cart unattended. I've heard stories of people stores stepping away from their cart for less than a minute and looking back to see people had taken already picked items from their cart.

-Take a hoodie/jacket to wear if you are in the backroom. Throw it on before going out on the floor to take your break. It helps to keep people from stopping you.

Don't stress out too much, if it is your first year it can be a bit intimidating (especially if you are there at open) but just take a deep breath and if your store leadership is good they will have people around who can help you if you get into a situation you don't know how to handle.

 

[NPC]

Work out. Seriously. It will give you much needed energy and get some blood flow to your brain. If you can't work out for whatever reason, stretch at least. Keep your body healthy so you don't have to deal with holiday shit on top of not feeling well.

 

[HRZone]

Thanksgiving/Black Friday Tips

1. To echo @slowhands stand your ground. There was a poster here last year who was at the electronics boat and got rushed by a bunch of guest. He says his walkie calls were ignored. If you fear for your safety don't hesitate to call "Cold Green" (Even if you aren't injured but are simply unsafe) -- your LOD is required to respond to such a call immediately.

2. Partner with your leadership to find out our Q4 Policies. For example our price match policies change a lot for the Holidays. May or may not have gotten into it with a seasonal who offered to price match Best Buy when I had just told a guest that we cannot.

3. Expect the worst then realize it's not so bad. The one nice thing about Black Friday is the store is staffed incredibly well. It's going to be chaos but once you relax and realize there isn't much you can do and you have plenty of people to commiserate with you leave at the end of the day not feeling so well.

4. If you're planning on calling out, when the schedule for Black Friday comes out next week please try to give your shift to someone who isn't scheduled (despite the all hands on deck calls, a few dozen people or so don't get scheduled Black Friday every year) Don't screw your team over if you can.

5. Don't get fired over merchandise. Our AP Director for our group was telling our ETL AP to watch people closely for purchasing guidelines and partner with my ETL for terms. If you hide merchandise for yourself you will probably get caught. We had some idiot on this site who used to brag about how he would hide merchandise for himself and other BR team members. He's gone now, maybe he left Target but I bet he got fired because he was a pompous idiot.

6. Enjoy the food at your store. I know a lot of stores say they don't have FFF days anymore but HR's are required to do food for at least Thanksgiving and/or Black Friday. We're also doing food several weekends in December. I'm going to encourage TM's who aren't scheduled to come in and enjoy catered food. If they don't provide any food call the hotline, they have no way of finding out it's you who called and the budgets for food in November is insanely high. Also your mood will be a lot better if you aren't tired and hungry, probably won't be able to help the tired but you can help the hungry.

7. Take your breaks and lunches. You work for Target you don't make enough to justify skipping them.

8. You will have some downright nasty guest. It's a badge of honor. Just remember they will be gone in 5 minutes and you will also see some extremely kind/friendly guest who help each other out or show genuine appreciation for you doing what you do.

10. If you need someone to talk to, take a moment to do that. Our group had a TM suicide Q4 last year. I don't think retail caused the suicide but remember the team is here for you. Speaking for my past experiences our camaraderie is always amazing Q4.

11. You didn't notice I skipped #9 haha

 

[HRZone]

-If a guest asks you if any other stores in the area have an item, don't trust the pda/my device. It does not always update properly. Please don't cause issues for people are others stores by doing this. I had so many people angry at me because someone at another store told them that my store had an item in stock.

Amen! I always tell the guest "This as of 7am this morning, here's their number to call and confirm if they still have it."

Also don't guarantee that another store can hold an item for a guest. I know some STL's try to guarantee this but at my store we tell them it's first come, first serve.

 

[Militantagnostic]

11. You didn't notice I skipped #9 haha

 

[TTGOz]

Last year, someone had bought a TV, didn't let us carry it out for them, and they dropped it and broke the corner of the TV in the parking lot. They came back in and started a LOT of shit. I didn't work last year but that's just what I heard happened. They called for a carry out to the cart attendants, a cart attendant came over with a flat and the two guys said "nah, we can carry it out, it's fine." and ended up breaking it, came back in and tried to blame it on the guest service desk lol.

 

[Pelon1071]

Thanksgiving/Black Friday Tips

1. To echo @slowhands stand your ground. There was a poster here last year who was at the electronics boat and got rushed by a bunch of guest. He says his walkie calls were ignored. If you fear for your safety don't hesitate to call "Cold Green" (Even if you aren't injured but are simply unsafe) -- your LOD is required to respond to such a call immediately.

2. Partner with your leadership to find out our Q4 Policies. For example our price match policies change a lot for the Holidays. May or may not have gotten into it with a seasonal who offered to price match Best Buy when I had just told a guest that we cannot.

3. Expect the worst then realize it's not so bad. The one nice thing about Black Friday is the store is staffed incredibly well. It's going to be chaos but once you relax and realize there isn't much you can do and you have plenty of people to commiserate with you leave at the end of the day not feeling so well.

4. If you're planning on calling out, when the schedule for Black Friday comes out next week please try to give your shift to someone who isn't scheduled (despite the all hands on deck calls, a few dozen people or so don't get scheduled Black Friday every year) Don't screw your team over if you can.

5. Don't get fired over merchandise. Our AP Director for our group was telling our ETL AP to watch people closely for purchasing guidelines and partner with my ETL for terms. If you hide merchandise for yourself you will probably get caught. We had some idiot on this site who used to brag about how he would hide merchandise for himself and other BR team members. He's gone now, maybe he left Target but I bet he got fired because he was a pompous idiot.

6. Enjoy the food at your store. I know a lot of stores say they don't have FFF days anymore but HR's are required to do food for at least Thanksgiving and/or Black Friday. We're also doing food several weekends in December. I'm going to encourage TM's who aren't scheduled to come in and enjoy catered food. If they don't provide any food call the hotline, they have no way of finding out it's you who called and the budgets for food in November is insanely high. Also your mood will be a lot better if you aren't tired and hungry, probably won't be able to help the tired but you can help the hungry.

7. Take your breaks and lunches. You work for Target you don't make enough to justify skipping them.

8. You will have some downright nasty guest. It's a badge of honor. Just remember they will be gone in 5 minutes and you will also see some extremely kind/friendly guest who help each other out or show genuine appreciation for you doing what you do.

10. If you need someone to talk to, take a moment to do that. Our group had a TM suicide Q4 last year. I don't think retail caused the suicide but remember the team is here for you. Speaking for my past experiences our camaraderie is always amazing Q4.

11. You didn't notice I skipped #9 haha

This is all spot on. My tip is. Keep cool, relaxed, and have fun ^tm

 

[Militantagnostic]

I was cashier a good bit along with working on the floor last season. A guest bought me a Snickers bar and said the silly line from the commericals about be grumpy when your hungry. It was a nice gesture, don't forget the good with all the bad that happens during the rush. Just to ruin the story: I forgot to take the Snicker bar with me when I finally went on break and was too much of a puss to go back and get it since I was new and didn't want someone to think I was stealing. I'm sure it would have been the sweetest Snickers that I ever tasted...

On second thought: When I leave Spot I'm gonna walk up to the checklanes and take a Snickers and tell'em they owe me!

 

[BackroomBear]

Comfy shoes, take your breaks, take advantage of OT as much as possible. I worked 17 hours the day after BF that was all OT.

Overnight trailers after thanksgiving can be horrendous. We got 1800 cartons of Christmas on our overnight trailer.

Purge that backroom of toys and Christmas every opportunity you have.

Work fast but safe. Q4 freight flow can make people feel pressured. Take care of yourself, Spot won’t do it for you.

 

[buliSBI]

Hide the knives and invest in baseball bats.

Keep 911 on Speed Dial.

 

[Militantagnostic]

Hire this guy as a temp STL for the season. I heard when shit goes crazy he'll shut it down real quick.

 

[FlowTeamChick]

Good shoes and socks. If you have an especially long shift and can take an extra pair of shoes, do it and change half way through. Put your feet up when on breaks.
Take an extra shirt or a sweater to layer up; one year I was very near the front doors, which were mostly open with guests arriving and leaving for the first few hours. I froze. Had I known where I'd be posted, I would have planned better. But I didn't know so I didn't plan. Now I'm smarter and go prepared "for anything."
If your store will be having food brought in from a place you don't care for, bring your own. We had Mexican one year for the overnight; I just can't eat spicy food when I'm tired. Maybe bring your own anyway; we've run out before of enough things that the pickings were pretty darn slim by the time my meal break came around.
If you're posted in an area where you don't normally spend a lot of time, take a few minutes to figure out what's on end caps before the store opens. It's usually the stuff guests are anxious to find quickly before they're all gone.

 

[Militantagnostic]

Good shoes and socks. If you have an especially long shift and can take an extra pair of shoes, do it and change half way through.

Most definitely, compression socks have done me wonders especially when at the registers for extended periods.

 

[Noiinteam]

I do crowd control every Black Thursday. Most guests are very excited and happy to be there. I speed weave guests thru hba to keep main aisle clear. If I see you cutting in line I will call you out. No one at my store is forced to work that night. We have great food, loud thumping music playing in electronics and overall I have a blast. You will get a snotty asshole or two but that is to be expected. Have fun. Don't sweat the small stuff. It's all small stuff!

 

[Corrin]

Literally just have fun. Don't worry about all the things that could happen and just enjoy working an entertaining evening with loads of extra pay and all of your favorite TMs nearby. I was nervcited last year for my first Target BF and wound up having the time of my life over at FoodAve. It was crazy as all hell and I practically didn't have a breather but the experience was something I enjoyed and I volunteered eagerly to open for BF again this year. I'm looking forward to it!

 

[Redzee]

Somebody post the Black Friday this is Target speech on YouTube. (I can't).

 

[Militantagnostic]

This one?

 

[oath2order]

 

[NKG]

Know your codes and use them with extreme best judgement. We had a couple code yellows lately that were unnecessary plus it pisses your LOD and leadership off.

If you choose not to back up cashier then you better be on top of your call boxes. We have a TM who is always "busy" and skips the call boxes while everyone is on a lane.

If you see a spill, cover it and ask for help cleaning it up. Even if your juggling 5 guests at once. All else fails call the LOD.

If you get a guest completely nasty just call the LOD. Let them yell at the LOD its not worth being cussed out for because we dont have any SNES's in stock even if brickseek says we do.

 

[Kompa]

Enter don't care mode. It's Thursday and no one that shows up to show cares about you so don't out of your way to help anyone

Or get in backroom and come in at 11am so you leave before most of BS starts

 

[redeye58]

Enter don't care mode.

Caution: Once 'don't care' mode is enabled, it's nearly impossible to exit.

 

[redeye58]

Decaf is a weapon.
Don't piss off the barista before the lid goes on.

 

[Hardlines God]

This one?

Excuse me while I move those papers out of the way of the lane's sensor...