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Reader Complains About Circuit City, City Center Crowd Control Friday AM
Posted on Friday, November 25 @ 15:52:12 EST by jfbailey
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WPCNR MR. & MRS. & MS. WHITE PLAINS VOICE. November 25, 2005. A reader went to shop early at Circuit City Friday morning and this is what he encountered:
John,
What a mess it was trying to shop at Circuit City this morning at 5:00 AM!
I arrived at about 4:45 or so, parked my car (Note: escalators were still
closed from Thanksgiving. Why do we pay for parking in that structure
and get shut-down escalators?), and got on line.
Many people were already snaked around the courtyard waiting to be let into
the store.
City Center security personnel were apparently disallowing the lucky few
nearest the door from even getting into the lobby area to keep warm.
At 5:02 or so, it became clear that Circuit City and City Center personnel
were making a big mistake; in an effort at crowd control, they were letting
the merest trickle of people into the store at a time, which led to
a large number of cold and angry shoppers. (It should be noted that
CompUsa opened their doors at 11:59 PM Thursday evening.
The crowd was pretty substantial, but once the official opening
time was met, everyone was allowed to go in at once without incident).
When I went to the movies on Thanksgiving Day, I had noticed a clearly
printed sign posted on the doors permitting access to the corridor between
the garage and the City Center. The sign(s) promised that the doors
would open at 5:00 am. They weren't opened until at least 5:12 or so,
and when they finally were, people began streaming upstairs, and queued
up near the escalators on the Filene's level.
A mini standoff ensued; security personnel told us to "get back," clearly
trying to prevent us from walking down the escalator and into the lobby.
(At this point, I was more interested in documenting the festivities than
being a part of the dash to the store itself).
I don't think anyone was trying to cut the line by outflanking the main
lobby wait; it was more about just getting out of the cold.
Several of us tried to remind the security people that there was a sign
promising us access to the building at 5:00 AM, and that we had every right
to be where we were. They ignored our pleas, but we also stood firm
and didn't leave the second floor area. (The "Get Back, Get Back" guy was
also hampering people who legitimately wanted to get to the Target
level and wait until that store opened).
The security people started to get a bit nervous about the situation
and it looked as if they reacted by further constricting the flow
of people into Circuit City.
At around 5:20 or so, the frustration got to be too much, and one of
the more argumentative consumers on the second floor led
a shoppers' insurrection and rallied the second floor denizens
down the escalators.
Without any profanity, pushing or shoving, people streamed
down the escalator; Circuit City and City Center personnel
simply stepped aside, as the lobby-waiters also streamed in.
Within about two minutes, the store easily swallowed up everyone
who had endured the unnecessarily long and cold wait.
I hope they found their bargains; I just walked away because I
had work to do...
Aaron Woodin
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| Article Rating |
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Average Score: 4.5
Votes: 4
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