Holiday Dealing
I hope all of you enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving holiday, and that you had the opportunity to spend time with loved ones. We had a nice family dinner at home. My daughters made side dishes and my wife baked a pie. I prepared the turkey and then watched football while it cooked. It was a pleasant day, the calm before the storm: Black Friday.
Were you one of the enthusiastic shoppers crowding the retail centers across the country? I admit that I was. This year, we started earlier than ever. My daughters and I left home at 1:00 a.m. when the local Target and Best Buy opened their doors. I knew it would be crowded, but wow: when we arrived at the shopping center, it looked like several thousand people were braving the cold weather to shop.
If the lines on Black Friday were any indication, the holiday shopping season is off to a good start. This year, Black Friday sales were up about 7 percent (about $1 billion) compared with last year.
We waited patiently and the lines moved swiftly. We chatted with a friendly couple behind us to pass the time. I was looking for a flat-screen TV and one of my daughters was looking for a Kindle. After entering the store, we noticed that everyone was looking for a flat-screen TV like the one I wanted. Nearly every third customer had one in a shopping cart. I was a little disappointed to find that the TV was long gone by the time I got to the aisle. Fortunately my daughter found what she was looking for and we left shortly after. Looking back, it was quite an experience to see so many people showing up in the wee hours for a good deal.
At UMass Dining, we always try to put the emphasis on having a positive dining experience while keeping value in mind. That’s why we offer so many special each week. Our 4th Annual Ultimate Cranberry Sampling will be held this Wednesday, November 30, from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. at all of the DCs. You can sample everything from cranberry-sausage tortillas and spicy cranberry-chicken drummettes to drenched cranberry cake. Jeff LaFleur, the executive director of the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers’ Association (who is also a cranberry farmer and UMass alumnus), will give a “Cranberries 101” presentation from 7 to 7:45 pm in the Berkshire Room.
Come and enjoy this delicious native fruit, and listen to Jeff’s presentation.
This is Ken Toong. Thank you for keeping UMass Dining at the top.
Contact Ken at ktoong@mail.aux.umass.edu
You can follow Ken Toong on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/KenToong