Boot Camp Before the Blitz
Retailers Ready Their Workers for 'Black Friday,' the Post-Thanksgiving Rush

By Ylan Q. Mui
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Madness reigned at the Best Buy at the Potomac Yard shopping center in Alexandria the other morning. And 27-year-old Shawn Tillery was caught in the middle of it.

One person grabbed an armload of CDs while another tried to stuff Nintendo's new Wii gaming console into his shopping cart. A poster was nearly knocked to the ground.

"My cart got stolen," a voice wailed.

"Traffic jam!" another person called out.

"I know y'all got some PS3s in the back," someone else yelled at Tillery accusingly.

Early Friday morning, stores will be opening their doors to determined hordes of bargain hunters. When the shoppers rush in, what's a poor salesperson to do?

Tillery just laughed out loud.

He could afford to, surrounded as he was by role-playing co-workers. Some played shoppers, others played beleaguered salespeople, all part of Best Buy's strategy to train front-line employees for the annual onslaught of shoppers who lay siege to its stores the day after Thanksgiving. Some of the employees were veterans, but others were seasonal, facing the holiday assault for the first time.

"Until you experience one," said Cindy Wojnar, a Best Buy training manager, "people never grasp what's about to occur."

Employee Pamela Murray, a 46-year-old Forrestville resident who was playing the role of a customer, said she hoped those zealous shoppers would keep one thing in mind:

"We're not here to fight," she said. "We're here to serve."

The day after Thanksgiving earned its moniker of Black Friday because it marked the day when retailers traditionally went from being in debt to making money -- going from the red to the black. The day has now become the symbolic kickoff to the holiday season, when retailers open their doors early and unleash blockbuster discounts. The National Retail Federation, a trade group, estimates more than 137 million people will go shopping between Friday and Sunday.

Retailers have been adding workers since October to help keep up with the demand. Consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas predicts that retailers across the country will hire nearly 700,000 people this holiday season; Best Buy said it was taking on about 23,000. At rival Circuit City, spokeswoman Jackie Foreman said each store hires between 10 and 25 extra workers during the holidays. Wal-Mart plans to bring on 50,000 more employees.

To help them get up to speed quickly, many retailers reduce training time, leaving out lessons on corporate strategy and focusing instead on important products and promotions. Black Friday is their first big test.

"A lot of companies will skip the why and the what and go right to the how," said Phil Hamburg, managing director for retail and hospitality at Root Learning, which has trained employees at Gap, Nordstrom and Home Depot.

Crowd control is a major focus. Many shoppers spend hours waiting outside to be first in line for the best deals. But the situation can turn ugly fast, as it did last week when the long-awaited video gaming console PlayStation 3 was released. Police fired pepper spray toward a crowd of about 200 people who rushed the locked doors of a Circuit City in Tysons Corner before it opened.

Brett Thomas, store manager of the Wal-Mart on Fair Lakes Parkway in Fairfax County, said he plans to mingle with customers outside the store before it opens at 5 a.m. and hand out maps showing them where to find the hot deals. He has had daily meetings with the staff to discuss plans for Friday and will have police available to keep things from getting rowdy.

But retailers say they are also trying to keep the day fun -- well, as much fun as you could have working a 10-hour shift that starts before the sun rises. Thomas says he is hiring Chick-fil-A to cater lunch for the staff. At KB Toys, management turned Black Friday training into a game. Gerald Tempton, vice president of store operations, said a two-hour meeting on Sunday included a scavenger hunt for employees and a round of 20 Questions.

"That's one of the reasons . . . that they learned it a little bit better," he said. "This is the kind of fun and the kind of energy that we want to see on the floor."

At the Best Buy in Alexandria, store manager Ryan Seymour went through the game plan with his staff during last weekend's early morning training session.

Employees will attempt to hand out maps to shoppers to slow them down as they enter the store but stay clear of those who just want to "dash and grab." Black tape on the floor will mark the path of the checkout lines. One lucky worker was designated to stand at the end with a blue balloon that reads, "I am the end of the line."

"The most critical point of the morning is that first 15 minutes," Seymour said. "Once the line forms, things will start moving."

For Tillery, who lives in Alexandria, the day begins at 4 a.m. and lasts 10 hours. The store is providing free Mountain Dew to power workers through the day.

When Tillery arrived at work early in the morning last year on Black Friday, a line of eager shoppers was already forming. He was stationed among the CDs, where he complained it was slow. This year, he will be in the coveted video game section, which boasts brown leather recliners and flat screen TVs showcasing the latest releases.

"Games was where all the action was," Tillery said.

Other employees were not so gung-ho. Friday will be Jason Parker's first post-Thanksgiving blitz. He looked slightly dazed during the training session as he meandered through the aisles holding a digital camera case.

"They're telling us it's gonna be wild," said the 28-year-old District resident. "It might be even wilder if we're not organized."

But Tillery said he wasn't worried. He considered last year's Black Friday to be pretty tame.

"I don't think we had anyone trampled," he said.