DoingItLocal

Earlier today I stopped at Best Buy in Norwalk to interview the hardcore shoppers giving up their Thanksgiving to wait in line. At noon there were about 20 people in line. The store opens at midnight and the first in line got there at 7am., most were waiting for a television. They were aware from the fine print in the flyer that there were only 10 available and someone in line was wouldn’t be going home happy.

I haven’t been to a door buster sale since I worked them when I worked at Caldor almost 20 years ago. I worked at the headquarters but the day after Thanksgiving all executives working the headquarters were required to work a store in the northeast. Tonight I took my 17 year old son with me because he is my computer consultant and he has never been to such a sale so I knew it would be memorable no matter the outcome. I posted this on my personal Facebook page, some warned us it probably won’t be a good memory, and others protested they didn’t think it was fair to employees to make them work the hours.

We arrived at the store at 11:40pm and the line stretched all the way around the building. It was difficult to estimate how many were in line but there were several hundred to say the least. The line moved quite quickly, we got in line at the very end and were inside within ten minutes. There were two Norwalk Police Officers that were stationed outside the front doors and they were there since 10pm to ensure order. They were firm but very friendly. Line cutters were not to be tolerated, inside the store was another story; they sure could have used enforcement inside. Once inside the store it was wall to wall people, you couldn’t move without bumping into someone. Getting from one place to another was a challenge. .

So my son and I ventured inside trying to find the computer we had in mind. It was a bundled unit that came with monitor, printer and computer all in one big box, not something you were going to hide under your jacket. Items like the TVs, X-Boxes and other high demand items were stacked at the front of the store in the aisles. I’m not sure why our item wasn’t displayed this way as well.

The item we wanted was at the very back of the store and we had to wait in a line that snaked in the aisles of the computer department; openings were blocked with merchandise or large carts. We really felt like cattle in the slaughter line, at times feeling claustrophobic, but hey, that’s part of the experience, right? We waited in line for over an hour, dealing with line cutters, loud alarms going off, and the kid five feet from us blasting his music on his cell phone’s tinny speakers were starting to take its toll on my nerves. Speaking of nerves I did get nervous when I noticed we were at the very back of the store with a sea of people in front of us hoping no emergency takes place. We were confined in line not with the ribbon stanchions you see at banks or theatres but the physical merchandise shelves. As a reporter I am often in large public gatherings and I think this was the first time I was a little nervous for my safety in the case something happened.

I knew the item I wanted was limited to five per store since it was clearly posted in the online circular. I was willing to gamble that not too many were in line for a quad core five hundred dollar computer. After the hour in line we finally saw a manager I guess was pre-writing the orders those in line were waiting for. That’s when we found out we needed a ticket for our sale item. There were no signs anywhere, not in the flyer or any where in the store indicating that we needed the ticket. He said I had to be  in line this morning to get said ticket. So my son and I wasted an hour but grew an appreciation for the Occupy Movement, not for corporate greed but for corporate insensitivity for not taking care of the customer. I told my son not to be disappointed coming home empty handed if they went through the five per store but not on a technicality of something like this!

I think back to those waiting in line for over seventeen hours for the TVs, if they paid themselves five dollars each hour they waited in line they could have paid full retail for the TV and enjoyed their Thanksgiving! It also gave me a greater appreciation for the smaller stores like Marsillio’s in Fairfield or Mudrick in Stratford; they purchase as a group to give competitive prices to these big box stores and they would never ever treat their customers like this– but they don’t sell computers!

Tonight also reminds me of a post on Facebook that says “If you really want to occupy Wall Street do all of you’re shopping at a local business”. Tonight Marsillios posted on Facebook their sale–19″ LED TV’s for $139.00 a 32″ LCD TV’s: $197.00 while supplies last, no mention of a ticket but I seriously doubt you will need one!

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10:19pm–#Bridgeport–Report of heavy smoke coming from a structure to the right of 127 Jones Street. UPDATE:Home behind this house has a wood burning stove and the smoke may have been drifting to the house in question.

2:35pm–#Bridgeport–Report of a motorcyclist struck by a car at Seaview and Adams Street, cyclist is have difficulty breathing. EMTs on the way.

12:03–#Bridgeport–AMR on the way to Bullard Haven HS for a player with a dislocated finger.

11:53am–#Bridgeport–Ugh, AMR sending an ambulance to Central High for a player with a spinal injury.

1:39am–#Fairfield–Fight outside Penny’s Diner on Black Rock Turnpike. Police on the way.

Over 20 people gave up their Thanksgiving family gatherings to gather at Best Buy on Connecticut Avenue to be the first in line for Black Friday specials at the store.  Most everyone we spoke to said they were waiting to get the 42″ TV on sale for $199.    The online advertisement says there will be 10 per store.  The people in the front of the line started gather at 7am Thanksgiving morning. The store will open at  midnight.

Not even a week after a devastating fire at Saugatuck Congregational Church on Post Road East in Westport, the Thanksgiving was relocated and held down the street at Christ and Holy Trinity Church at 75 Church Lane. Over 250 people turned out for the feast in addition to another 100 or so shut ins the church will deliver later today.

After stuffing yourself with turkey and all the trimmings come join Treeman and DoingItLocal.com at 5pm Thanksgiving Day for the official light up of the 2011 Christmas display.    The house is on Roseville Terrace right off Black Rock Turnpike (just down the road from Chips).  I will  be there recording everyone’s  expressions for an upcoming special on this amazing home!  I hope to see you there!  The display at Roseville Terrace will be lit up every night until New Years Day.
Exact location: geo:lat=41.17513714203662 geo:lon=-73.2402840256691

“After five months of negotiations with various guilds, hundreds of presentations to potential financial and technology partners, and a hope that we could pioneer a new network for the future, it is with great disappointment that we are suspending our aspirations to revive One Life to Live and All My Children via online distribution,” said Prospect Park’s Rich Frank and Jeff Kwatinez in a joint statement issued Wednesday.  Read full story……

Written by Nancy Doniger Bridgeport News– Video Steve Krauchick DoingItLocal.com

A familiar voice that greeted a generation of Bridgeport area residents as they began each work day but suddenly went silent in 2007 is back on the airwaves.

John LaBarca’s big personality was, for all intents and purposes, the morning voice of WICC AM for 20 years, and its absence left a void. (Video produced by DoingItLocal.com)

Now LaBarca, 64, of Stratford, has returned to State Street in downtown Bridgeport as morning show host at AM 1530 WDJZ, interactive leased time radio. The 5,000-watt station reaches 65% of Connecticut and streams live at WDJZradio.com.

LaBarca’s down-to-earth tone and exuberant style once again exudes a local presence and reassuring quality, almost as though he was never gone.

“It feels great,” LaBarca said during a weekend interview. “People want to hear a real person in the morning — a human being talking to another human being.”

His new show began with a soft opening Monday, Nov. 14, and will be broadcast each weekday from 7 to 10 a.m. He will host his original “Italian House Party” Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“Some people grew up listening to me until corporate took over and lost sight of the relevancy of what AM radio is about,” he said. “Rather than relating to the audience they chose shows where people yell at each other or talk real fast. AM radio has been formatted to death.”

He wasn’t the only one let go; other veteran broadcasters also found themselves out of a job. LaBarca said his new show would do things differently and relate to people interactively with the full support of management.

Every 15 minutes listeners will hear top stories, weather, traffic reports and sports updates. His morning show, John LaBarca and Friends, also features fellow long-time broadcasters Matt Levine and Bill Buchner.

“The three of us have a great rapport in the studio doing the show,” he said. “We have conversations and will make an effort to really entertain the audience every day.”

After LaBarca’s job at WICC suddenly ended four years ago, he landed a job at 1400 WSTC/1350 WNLK in Norwalk. He worked there until recently, when the long-time local stations became NPR affiliates upon their sale to WSHU.

In the beginning, LaBarca thought he would do the Italian House Party at WNLK one day a week and sleep in and take off the rest of the week.

“I said never again,” he said about hosting another daily show.

But as time went by he began to miss it and wanted something more, leading to his becoming morning news host on WNLK.

But LaBarca’s new show will not be a carbon copy of his old show.

“You’re got to reinvent yourself every day,” he said. “I want to change and be more interactive and have people on the station who are experts in their field. They can have their own show.”

Mike Raub, a former colleague at WNLK, produces LaBarca’s show on WDJZ and said the station would be adding more live shows very soon.

“John’s back home again,” Raub said. “He was a huge personality in Bridgeport for two decades, and we’re bringing him back to the city.”

LaBarca is excited about being back in the city where he has many personal and collegial ties.

“I live five minutes from work,” he said. “I had to get up at 3 a.m. to do the show in Norwalk. It feels so good to be home.”

A day after a major fire swept through the Saugatuck Congregational Church in Westport church officials moved forward with relocating their annual Thanksgiving and rebuilding their church.

Shortly after 3pm Monday firefighters were called to a structure fire at 533 Gregory Street. Initial reports also said that pit bull puppies were on a second floor porch but the report turned up to be false. Fire officials suspect that copper thieves were trying to burn off the insulation off wires causing the blaze. The fire marshal was called to the scene to further investigate.

Shortly before 10pm Westport firefighters responded to a fire at the Saugatuck Congregational Church located at 245-265 Post Road East. Fire departments from Norwalk, Fairfield even came to assist in battling the blaze. The fire appears to have been confined to the rear of the church where the administrative offices and meeting rooms are located. Scanner transmissions indicate heavy water damage that were bowing ceilings.

Reverend Howie Toback senior minister said there is no chance for the turkey dinner at the church this week, but Communications Liason Mary Ann West said the dinner that served over 350 last year will be held somewhere to be determined later. The church had thirty turkeys that were defrosting that were destroyed in the fire. Saugatuck Congregational Church is also famous for their Field Of Flags each Memorial Weekend.

Mutual aid firefighters did not leave the scene until after 2:30a.m. The Connecticut State Police Fire Marshal arrived on scene to begin their investigation to the cause of the fire.