Even with the bad economy, this year's Black Friday brought many shoppers to retail stores. Malls were buzzing with shoppers galore. This year saw an increase in sales on the day after Thanksgiving, up 0.5% from last year.
Stores that carry electronics and toy retailers did really well this year on Black Friday. Shopper Katie Kramer went shopping this Black Friday, but only went to one store, looking for electronics. "The only Black Friday sale I hit up this year was Target, and I was looking for a kitchen appliances I'd seen advertised, "she said. "Definitely a more boring Black Friday than previous years, but much more practical!"
Also, surprisingly, some higher end clothing stores had increased foot traffic. Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, and other higher-end stores were busier than usual on Black Friday.
Jennifer York works at Juicy Couture, a higher-end clothing boutique. She said business is starting to pick up now. "More and more people are buying full-price items and using credit cards more," she said.
York said that sales figures are much better than last year. "The number of shoppers versus the number of people actually buying is almost double what it was last year," York said. "We doubled our sales plan on Black Friday by 108%!"
The Juicy Couture that York works at is actually hiring seasonal help, and will most likely keep someone on part-time even after the holidays. "Everyone's personal sales are much higher than last year," she said.
Although shopper Kramer is watching her spending money, she does shop occasionally at higher-end retail stores. "I am definitely spending less money on clothes or want items and more on need items, though," she said.
Kramer said she spends about $100 per month on clothing, depending on the month. "I think that, due to the economic conditions of the past year or so, I've learned the importance of having a savings fund after seeing so many friends and friends' parents losing their jobs or taking pay cuts."
Lindsey works full-time at a small clothing boutique store, which recently began carrying women's clothing as well as men's clothing. "We had a lot of customers come in during Black Friday this year," she said. "On weekdays we typically get anywhere from 25-40 people in the store, depending on the promotion we are offering that day," she said. "On weekends we have about double that, and should see quite an increase in those numbers during this holiday season," she said.
Although she works in a small store, regular shoppers still come and purchase clothing items from her. "Many of the customers that come into our store seem to be either browsers or time-killers, however we do have a fairly loyal base that manages to keep the store alive," she said. "These customers typically receive e-mails about special sales and promotions and are able to form a relationship with the sales associates."
Other news outlets are reporting a spike in certain types of Black Friday sales this year, even online sales are up. This year, Google searches for "Black Friday sales" were up 50% from last year.
Even though people are still watching their spending habits, they seem to have saved a little bit extra to spend this holiday season.
Frank Warren is a man of many secrets. Unlike the rest of us, his secrets are not just his own. For the past five years Warren has been running his website, PostSecret. PostSecret began as a community art project where people could send in their personal secrets on a postcard, usually expressed through artwork along with words. Warren began updating his blog five years ago with new secrets every Sunday, and hasn't stopped since. PostSecret has become a pop culture phenomenon across the world with no sign of slowing down.
Before beginning PostSecret, Warren had been operating his own company for 20 years. "It was a great business, lucrative, but it was kind of boring and tedious. So after-hours on weekends, I'd come up with these little projects where I could be creative, that I found more meaningful than the work I was doing during the week. PostSecret was one of those projects and it just took off and exploded," Warren explained. Something that started as simply an idea has turned into a pop culture phenomenon across the world and changed Warren's life forever.
When I spoke to Warren, I could tell he was a man who had a passion for what he does. His friendly demeanor was clear to me even over the phone. I felt like I was speaking with an old friend, not someone who I had just met. He answered all my questions with genuine delight. I'm not sure if it's because he has seen people's darkest secrets or not, but for some reason I felt instantly comfortable around him.
When I told Warren I was from USC, he told me that he is a native of our area. "I actually grew up in Southern California in the San Fernando Valley. I was a student at Colfax Elementary School with Adam Carolla, and then I went to Pierce College in Woodland Hills, close to Canoga Park," he said. He actually looked at transferring to USC or UCLA, but chose to attend Berkeley.
One of Warren's favorite parts about PostSecret are his college visits. "For me, having PostSecret events, especially at colleges and universities, is the most gratifying part of the project for me," he explained. "It's a great thrill to be able to share the inspirational and funny stories behind the secrets to young people, and project images of postcards that were banned from the books...that's always fun!"
People have even been inspired to come up to the microphone and share their own secrets at these events. "More and more, audience members are coming up to the microphone and sharing their own secrets, not private or anonymously, but very publicly, and that can be very emotional too," he said. "I think there's something about young people today. They really have more courage than their parents generation, than my generation, in talking about parts of their lives that parts of my generation wouldn't feel comfortable sharing. I think that kind of honesty and generosity and trust is a very positive thing," he added.
Warren recalled his experience at USC as something special. "In fact, we used that event as a promotional video for the later tour. We had cameras there, and we had people videotaping it, and it was actually very powerful. We had some great secrets there from audience members," he said. Warren also expressed interest in coming back to USC again. "Invite me, and I'll be there next week!" he exclaimed.
Warren shared with me his process of choosing secrets for the website. "I try and find secrets that are new and different, or express the secret in a creative or artistic way that I haven't seen before," he said. "I'm always looking for secrets that have that ring of authenticity to them. Also, every week I try and include secrets that touch on all of our human emotions." When sifting through the 1,000 secrets he gets every week, he also tries to arrange them on the website in a way that creates a conversation with the reader.
Warren sold his business last year, so he focuses about 50-60 hours a week on PostSecret. He thinks that PostSecret can have a personal impact on people, and attributes part of its success to that alone. "I think that what can happen is that people can come to website initially out of curiosity or voyeurism, but then they still come across a very earnest secret from a stranger, that maybe is articulating a secret that they are keeping from themselves and resonates with them personally," he said. "When that happens, I think you can have an epiphany, and realize that you're not alone with that secret. I think that can really start a journey that can lead to a transformation."
PostSecret is also unique because it is the largest non-advertisement blog on the web. Warren thinks that is another reason why people trust him with their secrets. "I also think people appreciate me not exploiting the secrets by having ads all over the website, too," he said. "Instead, I try promote Hopeline, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline, and I think people like that. We've also raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for Hopeline too and the community," he added.
Warren was a volunteer for Hopeline when he began PostSecret. He knew the quality of the program and the good work that was done there. "I do get a lot of secrets of painful details, and because they come anonymously I can't reach out individually and help," he said. "But I try to channel those natural feelings of wanting to help out into promoting awareness of the suicide prevention hotline, 1-800-suicide, and also by raising funds for it," he added.
Having viewed thousands upon thousands of secrets over the past five years, I was sure that Warren had to have a couple of favorites. "One secret that came early on that was really memorable came on a Starbucks cup that someone wrote my home address on, and put a stamp on it. They wrote 'I serve decaf to customers who are rude to me,'" he said with a laugh. He also added another one of his recent favorites. " 'I'm too much woman for all the pansy ass guys in my church.' I think that's pretty funny," he added.
Another secret that struck Warren was one that was included in his most recent book, Confessions on Life, Death, and God. "There's a Polaroid picture with the words 'I'm a Christian, but I'm falling in love with someone who doesn't believe in God.' I think it's a beautiful love story," he said.
As for shocking secrets, Warren was sent one that took the cake. "It came on a postcard with the pictures of the Twin Towers, the World Trade Center in New York, and it said 'Everyone who knew me before 9/11 believes I'm dead,'" he said.
I couldn't help myself. "What? Are you serious?" I exclaimed. "Pretty shocking, huh?" he responded to me. "It really invites you into the story behind the secret and lets you know of all these extraordinary stories happening in these people's lives that we don't get a chance to see."
When asked how PostSecret reflects society today, Warren responded with an honest and thoughtful answer. "Well I hope in some ways it allows us to be more open, not just with other people but with ourselves," he said.
Working on PostSecret has definitely changed Warren's life. "Knowing about all these secrets and stories in the world, for me, makes life more interesting," he said. "It makes riding the subway more interesting," he added.
Warren tries not to make goals for PostSecret, and rather follow where it leads. "I think that's what's so special about the PostSecret Events. It seems like that's how the project wants to grow," he said. "The community is now kind of showing that they want to share their own secrets, and so I just try to listen carefully and follow where it leads, and grow the project in a self-defined way," he added.
With a current total of 282,343,535 website hits to date and changing by the minute, PostSecret shows no signs of slowing down. In his closing statement to me, Warren explained what PostSecret has shown him. "I would just say that PostSecret has just shown me that everyone has a secret that can break your heart if you just knew what it was," he mused. "If you can remember that, or just remind ourselves of that, I think there would be more understanding and compassion, and maybe more peace in the world."
Michael Green is a first-year graduate journalism student at USC. He wants to become an online sports journalist when he graduates. He does agree that the layoffs affect anyone who is interested in the journalism field. However, Green's attitude is positive. "It's concerning, but at the same time you have to go for your dreams and hope that everything works out for the best," said Green. "It might take a little longer to get there, but I think my dreams are still within reach," he added.
Holly Butcher, a graduate journalism student at USC, agrees that the circumstances are not ideal. "It seems like nowhere in the print industry is safe from layoffs due to decline in subscriptions and ad revenue," she said. Butcher would like to work at a music magazine, writing music reviews. "The good thing is that papers do seem to be hiring young people straight out of journalism school, but the downside is that they are not paying them very much," she said. Butcher knows that the journalism industry is going through some changes and is not sure what will happen next, but she has a positive attitude.
Andrew Khouri wants to work as a staff reporter at a newspaper. He is a graduate student studying print journalism at USC. "I would say the recent layoffs do affect me because I would be more likely to receive a job after school," he said. "Those companies will be looking for people they can pay less--young journalists." Khouri mentioned that although the layoffs may put him in a better position to get hired, the layoffs of senior writers may hurt the quality of journalism. "Young journalists can do a great job, of course, but by removing senior writers you lose familiarness with a beat and sources," he said. "I think it could also decrease pay levels for us in the future, by pushing out higher paid senior journalists and replacing them with low cost recent graduates," he added.
Major corporations like the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Conde Nast suffered layoffs this past month. Vanity Fair, Wired, Lucky, Bon Appetit, and Architectural Digest all had layoffs in October. The New York Times plans to get rid of 8% of their total newsroom jobs by the end of the year. The Los Angeles Times let people go in the Metromix section, and 31 people were cut from the circulation team.
Even with the mass layoffs, journalism students still seem to have high hopes in reaching their goals.
Celebrities and fashion fans alike celebrated the close of Downtown LA Fashion week on Thursday night, Oct. 15 at the Geffen Contemporary MOCA. People gathered to view Oliver Tolentino's work with a fashion show for his Spring/Summer 2010 collection. Elizabeth Mason, The Paper Bag Princess Vintage Couture, also put on a fashion show celebrating Valentino.
I attended the 4th Annual Careers in Entertainment Day at USC Annenberg on Oct. 10. The event hosted different Annenberg alumni who currently work in the industry. An extremely high turnout of students attended the event. Students were able to attend different sessions with the professionals and were able to ask questions and network.
USC Annenberg students pick up their materials for the day and network with each other.
Kristen Keen, an Annenberg alumni now working at Sony, explained her current job to students.
As with many Annenberg events, a delicious lunch was served. Students were given many opportunities to interact with entertainment industry professionals at the luncheon, as well as at the different seminars.
Hancock Park is a quaint, cute neighborhood just south of Hollywood and north of Miracle Mile. It is a residential neighborhood, boasting Larchmont Village and Paramount Pictures. Take a brief look at Hancock Park below.
Paramount Pictures is located just off of Melrose in Hancock Park. There normally aren't that many people coming in and out, but as you can see, there are a few cars exiting. Maybe production on a movie just wrapped.
Larchmont Village begins south of Melrose. People walk around near Beverly, close to all of the shops and restaurants.
Larchmont Village is a popular location. Many people will drive here, park, and walk around. Beverly and Larchmont is where Larchmont Village begins.
While taking a stroll around Larchmont Village, it would be hard to miss the historic clock.
A nice view of the Hollywood sign can be seen if pedestrians go north on Larchmont. Even though Larchmont doesn't seem like it's in a big city, this landmark is a reminder that you are indeed in Los Angeles.
Hancock Park is a beautiful, tree-filled little neighborhood that I'd definitely recommend going to visit.
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