Welcome to another installment of Cat Chat!
Thanks for all your feedback — both positive and constructive — after last’s week inaugural episode. We’re still figuring out what’s the best format, the best location, the best way to deal with my unruly hair — so thanks for your patience. And keep the comments coming!
This week I’m chatting with Jermel-Lynn Quillopo, Nonstop contributor who writes the Social Encore blog. She’s also an avid shopper and Black Friday veteran. So we brought her on the show this week to share her Black Friday strategy and share her tips for getting what you want on the country’s busiest shopping day of the year.
And these are practical tips I’m considering. I’ll be honest: I’m not a shopper. I prefer to buy online than fight crowds at the mall. But there’s something magical about Black Friday. I’ve never shopped on that day, but I have covered the spectacle as a reporter — and the hype and excitement can even turn a non-shopper like me into a crazed bargain hunter. I’m sure you’ll find Jermel’s tips helpful — if not utterly entertaining!
If you’ve got advice to dish, share them here. We’re always open to your thoughts and comments!
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRHZpQ_t9t8
Subscribe to Nonstop Honolulu on YouTube »
***
To read all of Cat’s blogs, visit www.nonstophonolulu.com/thedailydish. Follow Cat on Twitter @thedailydish or send her an e-mail at [email protected].
RECENT BLOG POSTS
‘Hawaii Five-0’ vs. ‘Magnum, P.I.’
‘Spiritual’ lessons we’ve learned
FUUD: Pablo’s Cantina in Ward Centre
Introducing Cat Chat
ASK DR. DISH: Male shorage
Dear ‘Hawaii Five-0’ writers
Here’s a secret: don’t bathe
FUUD: Rainbow Dine-In & Take-Out in Waikiki
McRib returns to happy fans
TOP BLOG POSTS
Introducing Cat Chat
Top 10 best memories of Europe
Top 10 first dates
36 hours of eating in Maui
North Shore Eats
28 Comments
Wonderful Cat Chat (planning, production and delivery), and not a hair out of place. And the world wondered how we would live without Oprah’s show….who’s show?
Hair is bad! Posture is bad! I couldn’t watch more than 10 seconds of the video before I had to walk away and book a haircut appointment! 🙂
Thanks for watching!
@cat ahaha I told you to sit up! 🙂 That’s okay — next episode, we’ll get you standing and make sure we brush your hair!
@JohnGarcia @cat Cat, your pageant days are behind you. No need worry! You’re just being….you. All you need is to be scrafing some grinds and all will be complete! And we’ll love you more for it.
John, did you let the camera run just to make her suffer? Bad, John, bad! Go sic ‘im, Indy! He made mommy do bad things!
Solid episode 2 ( tips geared mostly to your female audience ) I rarely do Black Friday, much less bail right after Thanksgiving dinner to rush to the mall at midnight. One tip not mentioned is parking. Big hassle. My tip, for Waikele, Pearlridge, Ala Moana, etc. is don’t park at the mall. Find a spot outside the mall, a block away, and walk. Saves loads of time. By the way, Cat, don’t worry. You and your hair look great.
@CodyZamboni We should have done the male perspective as well! Elbowing, kicking and shoving people out of your way… haha
@JohnGarcia @CodyZamboni John, that “IS” the female perspective on black Friday, LOL! Guys stay away, or you’ll get hurt! Women have superhuman strength on that day!
Hahahaha. Cute clip. Love the psudo power point presentation sliders. I must say though, you sound alot different than I imagined…kinda Rachel Ray-ish. Speaking of which…how about a cooking something for us next time? Kinda like “Cat’s Treats” or something 🙂
@MoOgooGuypAN See! The people want to hear and see more of Cat Toth! 🙂 hehe Imagine those who have been reading your blog since The Advertiser but haven’t heard you talk yet? Good stuff!
@JohnGarcia Very true Jon. I think Cathy missed her calling at broadcast journalism. I still wanna plug Cathy’s cooking show. Make it happen Nonstop!!!
@MoOgooGuypAN @JohnGarcia +1 for the cooking show =D
@MoOgooGuypAN No, no more Cat Toth. I have to live with her. She can be a handful. 🙂
@MoOgooGuypAN @JohnGarcia Hey guys, that’s a guud idea! But here is another angle, instead of just CAT, have Melissa and Mari join her to cook SPAM!! Can you imagine the craziness of a show like that. Auntie Marialani would roll over in her grave!? Say, do these fuudies cook? They seem to be going out to eat so much, they may need a map to the kitchen!!!
@Annoddah_Dave @JohnGarcia Even better idea AD. I second that notion. I’m getting fat just thinking about it. 😀
Sometimes just dumb luck plays into this. I did a Black Friday a few years ago and because of several issues, I didn’t arrive at Waikele until lunch hour. But it worked out to my advantage since most of the morning crowd was gone, and the afternoon/evening crowd of people coming in from after work didn’t arrive yet. I found parking in the mall, and relatively close! Went to a couple of stores and I thought they were out of what I wanted (didn’t see it on the shelves) but when I asked the staff, they said they had it in the back. They were sitting on the inventory to make it last throughout the day. So I scored all around on just pure dumb luck and timing.
At about the 1:57 mark:
Jermel: Black Friday’s kinda a good excuse to buy things for yourself.
Cat: Well, that’s what Christmas shopping is all about.
ROFL, although, now that I’ve typed it, it doesn’t read as funny as when Cat says it. 🙂
Jermel hit the nail on the head with asking employees about the sales.
I was a retail manager for a year at an Air Force BX and the employees/managers (if they’re following company protocol) will have mid-week meetings to review what’s being sold, substituted, stock on hand, etc. so everyone gets a pretty good idea of what you’ll have and what won’t be made immediately available. And, speaking for myself, I was always willing to help out a curious airmen or solider when they asked about sales.
Definitely ASK, don’t just follow their sales promo flyers!
Wow that was some intense stuff from Jermel-Lynn about doing pre-sale reconaissance, had no idea that much work went into it. What no pre-Black Friday training like sprints, obstacle course, hand-to-hand combat drills, etc.? Gotta sharpen up that flying armbar to make a lady give up that purse you want right? 😉
Anyway I think it’s great that the first two eps. of Cat Chat featured the newest of the bloggers on Nonstop since they weren’t featured on the first Nonstop intro video. So who’s next on the couch?
Wow. Excellent tips. I especially liked #5, shop with friends to be on the lookout for and pick up items on each others list. What could come in handy here is using something like Google Docs or phone apps like OurGroceries where you can share a single shopping list that has everyone’s individual lists. Friends sharing the list would mark off items they already got as they get them so in real time everyone can see what items remain to be bought.
Cat, get that camera operator to pull in tighter! We don’t need to see the whole room. We wanna see you and your guest! 🙂
To be honest, I never really understood Black Friday… I mean, we don’t have such a thing in Europe (sale is allowed all year round, just need to know which store is having it when) and when I got here and saw it, I thought (and still kind of think (especially when you hear of deaths)) that everyone got complete crazy lol.
Anyways, When I look at the deals (well, the ones interesting for me that is, I cannot say much about woman’s clothing), I have to say many so-called deals, are not much of a deal at all. When, for example, they say you can have 150 USD off a certain item, that sounds pretty cool, but if you have seen the same item a couple of weeks before for just 2 bucks more than the Black Friday sale, then it is not much of a deal, and certainly not worth the hassle imho. Unfortunately, many many ‘deals’ are like this. Personally, I think the best tip you can give anyone is to look at sales and ads all year round, which is what I also do. For example, a few weeks ago we bought a 55″ LED 3D tv for 1700 USD, the television is awesome, the normal price was around 3300 USD so that was a great deal and I already know (thanks to the ads shown on https://www.blackfriday2010.com/) that this was probably a better deal than any of the other TV’s that will be on sale during Black Friday.
Also, when you get the ads in your hand for Black Friday, compare them with online stores (including ebay). Many things might be cheaper online (or can also be bought online for Black Friday prices during BF). In the last years I honestly haven’t seen a deal for which I would like to skip a night of sleep, but then again, it might be me being European lol.
Oh, btw, as an addition to the ‘seek parking elsewhere’ tip at Waikele. When you see it’s very busy on the freeway at the exit towards Waikele, just keep driving to the next exit and take that one (Kunia), then turn around and get back onto the freeway and then take the Waikele exit eastbound. You should then just park in Waikele or Waipahu, and walk the last short bit, it avoids a lot of hassle at the parkinglot. In 2008 we made a short vid of the cars waiting at the Waikele exit (Ewa bound) and it’s pretty crazy if it’s going to be like that again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCpMQuFFup8
Cat, you’re hair looked great. The slouching, hey, that is correctable, and was only minor.
I’m not a Black Friday shopper. I always shop on Christmas Eve, LOL. l do best when there’s a fire under my butt! But her planning of how to shop was impressive.
A few things:
1) John, I feel the color balance was overly warm. Whatchoo t’ink?
2) Why was that pillow on her arm the whole interview?
3) I didn’t care for the white wall. I think a painted wall, or drapes work best for a “homey, chatty” backdrop.
You both looked at the camera a lot. It had an engaging effect! Nice job Cat, Jermel, and John!
More evidence that women are
crazy.
you mean all those women at the mall are executing a complex strategy like that? it makes hedgefund trading look like child’s play. well, just put me in a sandbox with a little shovel and a plastic bucky. i had no idea.
@turkfontaine do u write these comments sober?! u crack me up at least once every other day.
@nonstopMari yeah, i’m always sober. i have a drinking problem. i don’t have any time to drink- that’s my problem.
Hello Cat,
We been going shopping on Black Fridays and my wife always have a plan. We start off at Walmart at 3:30am, then to Sam’s Club, Costco, Macy’s, Crazy Shirts, Quick Silver, Best Buy and everywhere else. We shop at least for 8 hours.
CAT & JQ,
Lots of strategy for naught…the best solution is to marry RICH! Hire a personal shopper while you ladies hang out at the spa to get the hair, face, body, and nails done!! Too much stress shopping on BF, relax and avoid the asphixiating body condition due to “snug clothes”!
Holy cow… what an interesting video 🙂 I can see some guy using it as a training video on how to spot cheap dates versus can’t afford it dates. If a girl puts this much effort into shopping be prepared to spend $50 for a bottle of wine versus $2.50 for a Bud Light. Anyways, that just seemed like too much work to SPEND money… I want to see the movie featuring the girls who put that much effort into SAVING money. Now now I know someone is going to come along and tell me how much money the girls are saving by shopping Black Friday and I can appreciate that argument. Will someone please tell me how in the world SPENDING money SAVES money. I think it is a chick thing.