Todd Bishop

Xbox 360 launch at Bellevue Best Buy

Danny Boggs will be in bed early Thanksgiving night.  After all, the 52-year-old general manager at the Best Buy in Bellevue will be up at 2 a.m. Friday prepping for what he hopes will be a massive onslaught of holiday shoppers.

Boggs, who has survived seven holiday seasons at the electronics retailer, said he still gets a charge as he opens the doors to eager shoppers at 5 a.m. "It is exciting," he says. Some are predicting that Best Buy and other electronics retailers could take a huge hit this holiday, though more will be known after sales receipts are tabulated Friday.

We chatted with Boggs this week to get an inside look at what it takes run one of the largest computer retail stores in the state on "Black Friday." The affable Boggs -- who said he "bleeds" Best Buy blue -- even offered a few tips on shopping for the hot tech gadgets this year.

How do you get ready for Black Friday?  "It is really a lot of planning, 30 to 60 days ahead of time.. In my store, at least about 45 days ago, we did a lot of planning on how we are going to run our lines with the amount of customers that come through and how we were going to strategically put the product within the store so it is easy to grab and go."

Is it a stressful day for you? "For so much planning, you are just pulling your hair out constantly. But it is fun. I look forward to this event every year."

How do you know you are ready? "It is funny. It is like playing a football game. We have done all of our coaching and all of my players are ready to go, so it is really about execution. This day, it is like a tradition for Best Buy, for me anyway. It is always about the customer and how we can make it fast and speedy."

When do customers arrive? "You will have people start lining up Thanksgiving day that will camp out in tents. They will have their propane tanks."

How many of the 200 or so employees will be working? "Every associate will be on. You will see more blue shirts than you have ever seen. It is a blue shirt nation."

What sort of sales do you do that day? "I can't really give you numbers but it will probably be eight to nine times more than on an average Friday, which is a lot."

What impact will the economy have on sales this year? "We do a lot of interviews with customers to see what they are going to spend and what their buying habits are going to be like. A lot of the customers are waiting, they are waiting for Black Friday and I think that is the common sense in the retail market. Our inventory levels -- especially my store -- we have as much if not more. We are prepared for a big week, and I think we are going to have it. I think it is there. I think people are going to buy presents. Are they going to spend less? They may, but we have some great deals so I am not sure how they are going to pass on those." (Laughs)

What will be the hot items this holiday season? "Gaming is going to be phenomenal: Wii, Xbox and Playstation 3. You will see a lot of GPS. GPS is going to be just super. I think cameras, power shot cameras. And you will see some screaming deals on TVs and laptops again."

What gaming console is the most popular in Bellevue? "It is kind of unusual because we are right near Microsoft and Nintendo. We sell all of those about the same. It is just a lot of it. I mean Rock Band and Wii Fit, and it is just awesome. And of course the PS3 has the Blu-ray player which makes that a very common one too. It is really cool.... You would think one would dominate, but it doesn't."

What tips do you have for finding tech deals? "The best advice is to know what you want. Price shouldn't be an issue because it isn't on Black Friday. That is the best pricing you will ever get. So, buy it. Don't wait because within five minutes it will be gone because this stuff just flies out of here." (Laughs)