But the prep starts far before that.On Saturday morning, Best Buy employees all around the country gathered before the store officially opened for a "dress rehearsal" for the big day, according to a fun profile of a store in Alexandria, Virginia, by The Washington Post's Sarah Halzack.
"If you do a Black Friday at Best Buy, believe me, you can do anything," the store's manager told employees that morning.
The piece is packed with fun details, but here are some of the craziest ways Best Buy prepares for and handles Black Friday:
The entrance door will be cracked open only 2 feet, to stop people from rushing through in a giant, mob-like pack
Best Buy is extremely strategic about where it places its merchandise, with lines arranged so they never block the displays for hot items and separate lines for the most popular products
The team ran through a PowerPoint slide on Saturday with detailed drawings of the floor plan
There are 10 employees whose sole job that day will be to fill holes they spot on shelves
A few "line sellers" outside will talk to people waiting to get in, answering questions about products and trying to gauge what will be in highest demand
Some merchandise that is usually locked up won't be, allowing for a speedier handoff
In the Alexandria store, nine employees are trained to man the counter at which customers pick up products they ordered online; no one should wait more than three minutes, unless the customer is carting out a huge TV
Every employee will be on-shift Thursday night in the Alexandria store. Even though they have to adhere to their Best Buy T-shirts and black pants, they're allowed to wear "comfortable shoes" (instead of the regulation black shoes, which can't be slip-ons or open toes)
