Whether they are handling 75 people or expecting 750, some local retailers agree that the best way to handle the mad rush often associated with the start of Black Friday shopping, and to keep customers and employees safe, is simply a matter of organization.

    Gary Black, manager of the Wal-Mart store in Chubbuck, said his company has implemented new procedures nationwide.

    “They are really looking to make it better for the customer,” Black said. “There has been specific training chainwide to help better manage this event.”

    He said a new program for handling one of the biggest shopping days of the year was developed with the help of experts in handling the massive numbers of people attending high-profile events, such as large concerts and major sporting events.

    That program was boiled down to a one hour and 45 minute training video that each Wal-Mart employee had to view.

    The potential perils of Black Friday were thrust into the national media a year ago when an employee at a New York Wal-Mart was trampled to death by throngs of customers attempting to be the first to grab those special deals on a limited number of items when the doors opened.

    Black couldn’t say if this year’s changes were in response to that incident, but he did say the changes not only make Wal-Mart’s Black Friday sales event safer for patrons and employees, but the overall result will be a better experience for the customer.

    “A lot of these are just best practices,” Black said of the changes. “There has been some extra training this year that will help it all go much better.”

    Two other national retailers in the Portneuf Valley each handle the hundreds of people lined up outside their doors by simply making sure their place in line guarantees the purchase of the key item they have come for.

    Both Sears and Kmart give tickets to those in line on a first come first serve basis, thereby spelling the need to beat everyone else to that particular item that has them lining up, usually by 2 a.m. to 3 a.m.

    “That process is actually new for us this year,” said Mike Houdek, manager of the Sears at the Pine Ridge Mall. “In years past, we have gone out and talked to people, letting them know what was going on. This year, we have added the tickets to make it all easier.”

    Further organizing Sears’ Black Friday sale, which starts at 4 a.m., an hour earlier this year, are signs informing customers which of the store’s exterior doors they should be standing at based on the primary product they are there to fetch.

    “We already have the signs on the doors telling them where to line up for the key limited items, so everyone is lined up at the same door,” Houdek said. “Department managers will come out and hand out the tickets.”

    This will ensure those who are in line the earliest have the best shot at getting those sought after limited items.

    “The customer will know that he doesn’t have to rush,” Houdek said.

    At Kmart, Tiffany Green, assistant manager of the Pocatello store, said the ticket system has worked well for them the past three years.

    “We usually have a line clear out to Pole Line (Road) by the time we are ready to open,” Green said. “We will go through the line and ask people who is waiting for what and give them a ticket for that item.”

    As with other retailers, some of those super deals are on a limited number of items and Green said passing out the tickets also helps to let customers know they are guaranteed to get that item they have been waiting for.

    “The whole system seems to work well,” she said. “It’s been pretty smooth the past few years.”

    Kmart opens its doors at 6 a.m. on Friday and Green said customers are usually lining up by 3 a.m. to 4 a.m.

    Two other store managers said they simply work with the customers as they are waiting outside the store.

    For Dave Newell, assistant store manager at the Chubbuck Home Depot store, managing those people is admittedly less difficult than it is for other big box retailers.

    “Yes, it’s a pretty good day for us, but it’s not as big as it is for some of the more traditional retailers,” Newell said. “Last year, there were about 75 people waiting outside our doors.”

    Home Depot opens at 6 a.m. on Friday, just an hour earlier than normal, and Newell said customers at his store, while in a rush to get to those special deals, typically enter the store in an orderly fashion.

    “It’s not a mad rush,” he said. “They move through quickly, trying to get to the best buys.”

    For Chad Tolmon, manager of the Shopko store at the Pine Ridge Mall, however, it’s quite a different story. He calculates there are usually between 500 and 600 people waiting for the store’s 5 a.m. opening.

    He handles the rush through pre-emptive communication.

    “We talk to everyone as they are standing in line, and let them know to be patient,” he said. “They usually come into the store in a very mellow slow pace.”

    Although Wal-Mart’s Black Friday sales on those key hot buys actually starts at 5 a.m., the store is open 24 hours, making the logistics of starting the dispatching of those key purchase somewhat difficult.

    However, the chain’s new program has that handled as well.

    “You will actually be able to pull up a map of the local Wal-Mart store (online) that will tell you where about 18 key items people are looking for will be located,” Black said. “When they get to that area, there will be employees there managing that line.”

    A part of managing that line will include employees going through the line, asking people just how many items of that particular hot buy they are looking to purchase.

    This way, Black said, some customers who won’t likely be able to purchase the limited items, won’t stand in line in vain.

    “So, if there are 200 of those items, once we have enough people in line that are committed to buying those 200 items, we don’t let anyone else stand in that line,” Black said.

    Those key items are also placed throughout the store to limit congestion in any particular part of the store.