A worker died after being trampled by a crowd of unruly shoppers when the Valley Stream, Long Island WalMart opened for the holiday sales rush on Black Friday 2008. The man was trampled to death and at least three others were injured causing that particular Walmart to close on Black Friday.
Walmart is going to do some crowd control for Black Friday 2009. Offering $300 laptops and $99 GPS devices will attract the crowds, so Walmart stores are planning new safety measures to make sure there isn't a repeat performance of last year's tragic Black Friday incident.
Changes in Walmart Store Hours
The majority of the Walmarat stores will open Thanksgiving morning at 6 a.m. and stay open through Friday evening. Last year, those stores closed Thanksgiving evening and reopened early Friday morning. By keeping the stores open for 24 hours, Wal-Mart is hoping for a steady flow of shoppers instead of huge crowds battering down the doors early in the morning on Black Friday.
Only a small percentage of stores will not be open 24 hours; most Wal-Mart Supercenters are already open 24 hours
No Fighting Over Popular Merchandise
Customers will be able to enter the store at any time and line up at merchandise displays for the must-have items, such as TVs, digital cameras and laptops. When the products go on sale on Black Friday at 5 a.m., workers will supervise the lines. The workers will give shoppers the merchandise in the order in which they joined the line — until the goods are out of stock.
Walmart Store Entrance Will Be Staffed
Wal-Mart does not have multiple entrances so crowd control at the door is a must. On Black Friday 2009, Walmart will put employees in front of its stores to direct customers and keep them moving. This hopefully will stop the stampede-like behavior that cost a man his life last year.
Cheryl Phillips
HULIQ.com
Posted November 11th, 2009 by Cheryl Phillips
