Wal-Mart Worker Dies in New York ‘Black Friday’ Store Stampede

Serendipity

That's very sad.

I'm glad that I spent Thanksgiving with family instead of going to any Black Friday deals - that Valley Stream store is VERY close by.

bobman1235

danger boy wrote: »

I like that idea.. all black Friday sales are only available online.. if you don't have a computer or internet you're effed.. but that's how it goes. it's really the only safe way to avoid this from happening again.

Black Friday sales items are meant to get people into the stores to buy other things. Places like WalMart don't really want you shopping online because it takes away a lot of the "window shopping" purchases.

The real way to prevent this from happening is to, as many others have said, have people be more human, and less selfish and materialistic and all that stuff. I know mob mentality is a strong thing but there's just no reason this has to happen, and it has nothing to do with WalMart or any other retailer, it has to do with people being idiots.

SKsolutions

Stupefying. How do these people reconcile their actions with their conscience, and how has it come to be like this? Clearly, this **** is out of control.

snow

treitz3 wrote: »

I hear you man but apparently they provided the alternative of purchasing the same items online for the same price. The greedy were responsible for a death today, not Wally World IMO.

Thats kind of like a football stadium selling too many tickets so it becomes overcrowded to the point where it is unsafe than saying it's not the stadiums fault because those people could have watched the game on tv.

In my oppinion Wally World created an unsafe enviroment by not having safety devices in place. They were the catalyst for such an unforunate event. Are they soley responsible? No not in my oppinion but certainly a major player in what happened.

They knew full well that if they offered exceptional deals with a most likely (very limited supply) that large groups of people acting on there greed would show and that peoples personal safety would be in jeopardy. This was not there first rodeo.

If they had offered the same deals for 24 hrs with rainchecks in case they ran out of an advertised item this would not have happened. And hopefully will never happen again. Should Wally World be sued and be fined hundreds of millions of dollars? Not sure to be honest but I am pretty certain of one thing if they arent than this will happen again, if not there than at some other store.



REGARDS SNOW

danger boy

retailers also have the obligation of providing their employees with a safe working enviroment. maybe the greeter should have been given some kind of barrier to hide behind during the opening of the store. it's Wal Marts fault. or any other retailer. you can be assured had it been a customer that was killed.. they would be acting on it sooner. Not that they dragged their heels or anything.. but customers always come first.

dorokusai

Walmart will throw a few million dollars at it in damages, run some more wholesome ads in that region and more importantly, forget about the whole event.....much like most of the USA.

The phrase "settled out of court for an undisclosed sum" will also be used at the conclusion of this unfortunate death.

bobman1235

I think the fact that so many people want to blame WalMart for the actions of its customers says just as much about society as the unfortunate death itself.

Having a large sale, which, by the way, EVERY retailer has on Black Friday, does not constitute an undue risk. Nor does having a man manually open a door, like EVERY retailer does. I'm not trying to stick up for Wally World here - there are many things about that company I don't like - but you find me a single large store that didn't have the exact same situation in place. Hell, there's almost 1000 WalMarts in the country, and nothing like this happened there.

A mob of people trampled someone. Simple (and unfortunate, and disgusting, and disgraceful) as that.

snow

bobman1235 wrote: »

I think the fact that so many people want to blame WalMart for the actions of its customers says just as much about society as the unfortunate death itself.

Hell, there's almost 1000 WalMarts in the country, and nothing like this happened there.

It was just a matter of time is all.

Having a large sale, which, by the way, EVERY retailer has on Black Friday, does not constitute an undue risk. Nor does having a man manually open a door, like EVERY retailer does

It does if there is an unruly mob of hundreds if not thousands and you knew they were coming in advance and you didnt prepare for it in a safe manner.

Now this doesnt excuse the behavior of the people involved in this tragedy they are responsible also.



REGARDS SNOW

treitz3

Snow, I loves ya' bro' but I respectfully have to disagree with you on this one. It's like blaming the gun when it's the human that pulled the trigger. Kna' mean?

Nobody put a gun to those people's heads and said "You must now murder someone on the way to save money". Greed had everything to do with this. At least that's the way I see it, YMMV. Regardless, putting blame on who is responsible is not gonna bring a life back. Someone died in a very senseless and inhumane act, period.

ben62670

It solely lies in the greed of the individual shopper. It started with a few shoving, and escalated from there. It's the I'm goin ta get mines mentality:rolleyes: I hope those people truely enjoy their blood stained gifts:rolleyes:

brettw22

I can't tell if the Temp was the one opening the doors, or he was just standing by them when the crowd broke through. At 34(?)yo, he's too young to be a greeter (usually Sr. Citizens), but I can't imagine that Wal-Mart would be so ignorant to give a Temp keys to open the store with.

Every news station runs some sort of video the day after this sale to show how crazy some of the crowds get.......so it's not some bizarre anomaly that wasn't forseen.....especially at Wal-Mart's....

If Wal-Mart had their employees standing at the door 'greeting' customers on Black Friday morning, they are morons.....If they gave a temp the keys and told him to go let the mob in, they're morons....

Clearly thousands of locations run sales and have the same scenario when they open their doors.........but if you've seen the crowd mentality at Wal-Mart on BF, it's a bit on the upper end of crazy. I've seen video of the crowd's at Wal-Marts that if you put cow heads on the people it wouldn't look entirely out of line.

I can't imagine Wal-Mart's going to change their proedure because to do something like that, they'd have to acknowledge a problem they have. I do say 'they' because I've been to BF sales where people walk single file into a store and true, break into sprint once inside, but there weren't 30 other people going in there shoulder to shoulder with you. Granted, most places have the rushing crowds, but I think it's pretty safe (albeit stereotypical) to say that Wal-Mart BF are cut from a different cloth.........

snow

treitz3 wrote: »

Snow, I loves ya' bro' but I respectfully have to disagree with you on this one. It's like blaming the gun when it's the human that pulled the trigger. Kna' mean?

Nobody put a gun to those people's heads and said "You must now murder someone on the way to save money". Greed had everything to do with this. At least that's the way I see it, YMMV. Regardless, putting blame on who is responsible is not gonna bring a life back. Someone died in a very senseless and inhumane act, period.

I understand your point and Bobmans and others also. There is no denying that the people involved in this incident are to blame, but I also still believe that Wally World needs to shoulder partial responsibility for there part in it.

Using your gun statement it would be like saying ok I left the gun in plain view of the whole world but they didnt have to pick it up and use it. True but if the gun hadndt been there for everyone to see and use it wouldndt have happened.

My whole point of this is that yes greed caused an horrible accident but it's not uncommon for people to get trampled when going through a doorway, accidents are common around the world involving this. From past experience they had to know that there was very likely going to be some injuries at some of there stores involving getting safely in the store.

If Wally World had set up some sort of temporary turnstile or some other type of preventive feature so only one person can get through at a time it wouldndt have happened and hopefully now that it has happened they will do so in the future.

Just my 2 cents

Either way you are not going to catch my happy **** at any stores on BF not that I am in fear of getting trampled, as big as I am it wouldndt be a likely scenario. I just hate the crowds and refuse to be a part of the madness

REGARDS SNOW

tommyboy

danger boy wrote: »

retailers also have the obligation of providing their employees with a safe working enviroment. maybe the greeter should have been given some kind of barrier to hide behind during the opening of the store. it's Wal Marts fault. or any other retailer. you can be assured had it been a customer that was killed.. they would be acting on it sooner. Not that they dragged their heels or anything.. but customers always come first.

Please tell me your kidding. Barriers? Every retailer trys to keep a safe working enviroment, but if there is a possiblilty of a person walking into a store and shooting you in a face, does that mean you put a security guard at the front door of every store?

Same here, the guy was opening the door and people had no regard for anything except a sale and pushed the guy over. I just don't get how no one noticed stomping on a guy till he was killed. Its just sad.

brettw22 wrote: »

I can't tell if the Temp was the one opening the doors, or he was just standing by them when the crowd broke through. At 34(?)yo, he's too young to be a greeter (usually Sr. Citizens), but I can't imagine that Wal-Mart would be so ignorant to give a Temp keys to open the store with.

How would they have thought giving a temp the keys to open the door would make a difference... Either way, walmart is getting sued. But I don't see how this is in any way their fault.

wizzy

I think we all tend to forget something, not being involved in retail or managing chain stores.

I'm not saying this to claim walmart is or is not at fault, or it is the shoppers fault, or anything. I'm just pointing out these items, not trying to relate them to blame, etc

1) WalMart is a major retailer with a LOT of stores.
2) WalMart has been in business for years and years
3) WalMart has experienced MANY black fridays
4) WalMart has a history which means WalMart *knows what can happen on BF*
5) WalMart has had many many many years of first hand knowledge of stampede like situations occuring at stores
6) WalMart knows that stampede like conditions could exist, and dangers to employees and/or shoppers are a possibility in BF conditions.

So what I am saying is, given WalMarts size and history and prior existence, they should have known something like this could happen. I would guess they *do* at least have some guidelines, recommendations, and procedures in place.

Did they prepare? I don't know.

Does this say anything about who is at fault? I don't know.

Face

It was the neighborhood more than the store.

KrazyMofo24

Very sad news. How can these people enjoy anything they buy after doing that? I went to wal-mart with my girlfriend early waited to get the wii, laptop, and a tv. They were very unorganized they didn't close the store temporally and formed a line.

They finally formed a line at layaway for most of the electronics. However for the tvs they were put out in crates in middle of the aisle. There was never a line people just gathered around the tvs when the employess cut the plastic everyone just battled each other for the tvs.

I ended didn't get the tv on sale I didn't feel it was worth shoving someone out of the way to get one, or pulling a tv out of someone's hands. Granted I didn't wait first thing in the tv area I waited to get the wii, laptop and camera. However a person behind me ended up getting one and they were 30 people before him.

I just grabbed an lcd tv and had them price match sears. Two thousand people is crazy at most maybe 200 at the one I went to.

Sucks for that to happen I hope they finally come up with a safer and better way for all of their stores.

BeRad

How about the pregnant woman who had to be taken to hospital for fear of her babies well being? The baby was fine, but why the hell are you in a black friday mob while pregnant???

I went to a boxing day sale at Future Shop for the first time in 2007. There were maybe 500 people or so lined up, another hundred waiting in their cars. The line was about 2 to 3 wide. 1.5 hours before opening, the staff went through the line, in order, asking if people were there for a TV and which one if they were. Took the card, went in, rang it through, and said come to the install bay at 10 am to pick it up. With TV's being the where the major savings are, this practice makes the in-store experience much more organized with fewer staff members tied up with one department. When the doors opened, everyone WALKED in in single file. I didn't see a single person being pushed or running. If we can have hundreds of people looking for great bargains from limited quantities with no chaotic behavior what so ever, why can't other places?

Ron-P

I heard today that the police will be reviewing all the video footage and arresting anyone and everyone involved. Let's hope all those who contributed to this mans death, gets death.

treitz3

Truth.

Mall. $50 certificate for first 250 that showed up. 150 in line. Friend of mine #112. People cut in line. Friend now #212. People cut in. Mall officer issued "tickets/authentication" for the first 250 in line insuring/guaranteeing the $50. Cops came. People still cut in.

1st 250 that entered given certificate. Friend out of luck. Stood there with daughter for 4 hours overnight in freezing weather.

Truth.

Ron-P

As bad as these Black Fridays are, I only blame the people who go to them, because it's these people that make these Black Fridays so utterly stupid. The things people do for money just reminds me of how stupid people really are.

megasat16

I stay home this whole weekend and ride it through watching Netflix. God Darn the BF sales pitch and shame on these who stepped over the unfortunate guy for one lousy BS BF sales.

gtu2004

ohskigod wrote: »

hold out all the hope that they feel guilty to your hearts content.......but trust me, they'll sleep like babies tonight. seen mob mentality close enough to know that for a fact .

and why would you say so? it's very very easy to jump to a conclusion. while it's a shame that the guy died, i feel that there is more to the story.

Kris Siegel

I don't understand why companies don't follow Circuit City's route. When I worked at Circuit City years ago on Black Friday it was extremely busy but the customers walked in calmly. Know why?

First they setup a sign saying which way the line should start outside. This kept everyone, roughly, in a straight line.

Second they went outside with vouchers and gave them out to the people in line for all the top ticket items.

We even brought them hot chocolate. This kept everyone calm and everyone gradually strolled into the store at 5AM.

I had thought more companies were adopting these methods but I guess not. Humans are obviously not responsible enough to regulate themselves. While I don't believe Wal-Mart is inherently at fault (these "people" are perfectly capable of controlling themselves and didn't need to trample someone), they should treat their customers like complete morons and guide them every step of the way to help minimize the risk.

Does anyone know if police will try to track down each person who walked on the employee for prosecution.

nzone

gtu2004 wrote: »

and why would you say so? it's very very easy to jump to a conclusion. while it's a shame that the guy died, i feel that there is more to the story.

I would think so too. The unfortunate man was a temperary worker working as part-time. I used to work at a retail store while I was in school so I have some experiences. The supervisor/manager was always sending the new employee(s) to do crapy things that no one wanted to do. A good example is at a grocery superstore, the new employee(s) [male] collects the shopping carts. In this case with this Wal-Mart incident, the store supervisor is sending the man to the door knowing full well how dangerous it can be. Open the entrance door is always the job for the supervisor or the manager.

edited: Damour, 34, came from a temporary agency and was doing maintenance work at the store, Wal-Mart said. Like I said, the supervisor is at fault here.

Best Buy handled Black Friday very good. They did an advance ad indicating what items are on sales and the quantities they have on hand. Buyers are allowed to line up starting Friday 3am; ticket will be given at 5am to the buyer for the intended purchase item. Kudos to Best Buy.

Igo

I don't even get on the streets on Black Friday.

bobman1235

gtu2004 wrote: »

and why would you say so? it's very very easy to jump to a conclusion. while it's a shame that the guy died, i feel that there is more to the story.

How much more can there be to the story? A mob of people trampled a man to death to save a few bucks on **** merchandise. Even if WalMart sent him out there camouflaged as floor tiles and had him lay in front of the door, any thinking rational human being, mob or not, should have noticed something squishy and screaming under their feet and **** STOPPED STAMPEDING.

WalMart management may have made some level of mistakes with their decision-making, but it's so completely paled by the humans whose feet crushed a man to death that it's barely worth mentioning.

wizzy

Of course, part of it is a lot of them are native New Yorkers.

Here we have a little park that people go to to walk and jog the path when they don't feel like hitting the real trails. Most people are very nice - the say hi, good morning, smile, laa dee daa.

One day I was there and there was a big group walking along, and I was nicely passing them.

One of the guys jogging came up behind us at a nice clip and shouted "COMING THROUGH!" and proceeded to rip through everyone. Sure enough, big fat New York accent.

You know someone from here 99% of the time would slow down, say a nice "excuse me" and proceed to gently make their way through the crowd being sure not to ruffle anyone. Or at least slow down a little on a jog and try to be courteous.

Of course not everyone form NY is like this, there's a lot of nice people from NYC.

W

dholmes

Next time they need to get several workers around with tazers & when people start to act stupid pop them,what people will do to save a few $$.I hope that guys family gets millions!!!

george daniel

While spending Thanksgiving with my wife's family,north of Atlanta,in a town calles Marietta, my sister in law,who is a supervisor for Home Depot, had to work friday,the staff was there early, and they formed a tunnel(kinda like cheerleaders do at a football game when the team takes the field coming from the locker room) ,, so when the doors were opened, they were sort of funneled into the store, no one was hurt,,and I'm sure that the crowd was smaller and less intense than the wal-mart crowd was. One thing that she did say,was that she had never seen so many people pay with "checks",, usually they pay with cc's or debit cards,,,but friday,they paid with checks,, wonder why.

Serendipity

wizzy wrote: »

Of course, part of it is a lot of them are native New Yorkers.

I feel insulted.