Wife Like Me

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This morning the kids and I went to the Grand Opening of a Savers store in our area on our way home from dropping Colin off at work.  I’d been to other Savers stores and think they’re great as far as thrift stores go, and I thought I’d check it out–plus there was a sign outside that mentioned free popcorn, and Degen is on a HUGE popcorn kick right now.  It was raining and the guys on the radio were predicting a tornado warning in the next few hours, so I wasn’t expecting many other people to show up.

We happened to arrive a few minutes before the store opened, and I was shocked to find the parking lot half-full and a line of people wrapping around the building–in the rain!  The only other time I’d seen anything like it was the day after Thanksgiving, and I’d giggled from my car as I’d passed the stores at how funny it is that people are willing to wait for hours in the dark and cold for a sale.  But, the kids were in a good mood and I thought it might be a fun cultural experience to join the throng.

So we got in line, and I asked the lady in front of me why so many people were standing in line.  She answered “Because it’s a grand opening.”  Ummmm….yeah, I know that.  But besides the store opening, what’s the big deal?  I didn’t ask her, though, because I had a feeling I’d get a blank stare.  It turned out that the first 300 customers got a certificate for a chance to win a $500 shopping spree.  Woo-hoo!  I got one, but we have to go back next Saturday to find out if we won anything.

The store opened soon thereafter, and it wasn’t a tough wait because Degen was enjoying watching and cointing the balloons and flags in the parking lot from our line.  When we got inside, they had free popcorn as promised.  I piled Maggie into a brand-new shopping cart and we were swept along with the crowd into the shoe section.  Maggie needed shoes (she wasn’t wearing any at the time because she just outgrew her old ones), so I picked out two pair that fit her as people pushed by us in the shoe section.  $4 for two pairs of shoes is pretty reasonable, even used, and they’re in great shape.

Then we were pushed into the furniture section, where I found a new-looking VCR for $9 by elbowing around two other people who were looking at used TVs.  Degen broke our VCR when we first moved here, so I’m excited to be able to play our kids’ VHS tapes for him again.  Before I bought it, I called Colin in the middle of class to make sure he was cool with it (we usually try to communicate with each other before we unexpectedly spend any money).  He said to go for it.

My next great find was a Tupperware shape sorting toy–you know, that blue and red multi-sided ball with differently shaped holes that have matching yellow blocks you push through them?  That one cost me $1.99.  I’ve been looking for one since before Degen was born, but couldn’t justify the expense.  I just checked on Ebay, and one there would have cost me about $15.  New, it would cost $17.50.  Woo-hoo!  Both kids already love it–Degen insisted that I help him with it about five times already.  Very fun.

One of the sales people suggested that we go over to the face-painting station, so we headed over there.  When asked, Degen didn’t want the face painter to get anywhere close to him with the brush.  So, I had her paint a couple of stars on Maggie’s hand.  Maggie was delighted.

Face painting was next to the book section, and I found a copy of Saving Dinner and a copy of Rachel Ray’s 365!  I’d been wanting both, but again didn’t think I should spend the $10-15 each it would cost us.  But for $3, I could justify it to myself.

Obviously, I got a little caught up in the buying frenzy that made no sense (there wasn’t even a sale!).  There were hundreds of people there pushing and stealing things out of other peoples’ carts and debating who got to that thing first.  I actually heard one lady say something like “No, I’m buying that sir, don’t even call your wife to see if she wants it!”   There were a couple of women in the toy section with THREE shopping carts FULL of toys, and they asked one of the sales people to go in the back and get some more for them to look through (and asked her to give them dibs on looking through them first before anyone could see them on the shelves!).  It was fascinating.  Before I got to checkout, I put about five things back on the shelves because I didn’t really want or need them that much, but picked them up because I didn’t want someone else to get it while I was still considering it.  Oh, and Degen had put some extra toys in there too.

Moral of the story: leave your wallet at home or at least sort through your cart before checking out when you go to a grand opening or a really busy store.

Tags: grand opening, long lines, popcorn, savers, store, thrift store, tupperware sorter toy