We have this really expensive, fancy, high-brow furniture store in town. They have really nice stuff with really big price tags. Walk through their showroom during 363 days of the year and you will find that two things happen 1) you are immediately evaluated by the salespeople as to your buying capacity based upon your clothing and appearance and 2) you will be astounded that anyone would actually pay the prices flagging each opulent item. I walk through every once in a while, just for fun. Salespeople don’t bother me because I am obviously a lurker - not a buyer. For the most part, I am fine with that.
But then twice a year (once in the spring and once in the summer) the great equalizer is announced - the warehouse sale. It is exactly that. They take all of the odds and ends and previously un-sellable pieces (I like to think of them as being too high priced for anyone in their right mind to purchase out of the showroom so they are forced to put these most ravishing items on the sale) in their warehouse at "drastically" reduced prices. Some deals are good - some aren’t.
I heard about this sale when I first moved to town. So the first year we were married, hubby and I woke up at the crack of WAY-BEFORE-DAWN to go stand outside in line for an hour. Much to my extreme delight, this is what happened.
I discovered that people actually camped out overnight for this event - just like they would for concert tickets or that much-anticipated movie release. The kicker is no one really has any idea what will be at the warehouse so they are camping out for a completely unguaranteed outcome. At about 5:30 a.m. people (like myself) who don’t sleep outside for anything started lining up behind the die-hards. As 5:55 ticked into place, the line moved forward, scrunching us into the people in front of us. And then the most glorious thing happened at 6:00 a.m. sharp. The overhead doors opened. People lost their minds. Women crawled on their hands and knees to get inside first. All we could see at first were the people in front of us sprinting to various areas of the warehouse. We struggled to process the images in front of us. Couches to the right. Bedroom sets to the left. Dining sets in the middle. I saw people literally throw their bodies upon pieces of furniture. I saw shoving. I saw many an elbow thrown. I saw two adults performing a tug of war with a lamp. I witnessed people who brought their children and gave them instructions like "go sit on a leather couch and don’t let anyone buy it till I see it". These random children were scattered throughout the warehouse sitting on huge pieces of furniture saying "this is mine" in their squeakiest, peskiest voices. Hubby and I stood back and just watched in a combination of horror and fascination. We bought nothing. It was free entertainment at its best.
I have been back nearly every sale since. It really isn’t an ideal situation for me because I am certainly a "thinker" when it comes to furniture. I need to consider it and examine it and make absolutely certain there is nothing else in the store that I want more than that one particular piece. This isn’t done at the Boat’s Sale. No, you run, you sit, you buy - in one swift unbroken motion.
This year was different. I had seen lazyboys before at the sale and I knew what they had typically priced them at. I spent weeks mentally preparing myself to run, sit and buy. My dear hubby went along with me with strict instructions - if you see this chair in any color for this price or lower, sit it in. We ran (sort of), we sat, we bought - one swift unbroken motion. It was a rush. It was a deal. It was just plain fun. I also spent less than I wanted to so that was an added bonus.
Please consider this your invitation to join me for future sales. Its worth your time. Its worth waking up at 5:00 a.m. Its worth standing outside in rain or bitter cold or incredible heat. Its more fun than any sale you have ever been to.
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