Stores need to better plan for crowds, Police say. /Docs: fear and greed may fuel retail stampedes [View All]

[Blue Diadem]

I found both these stories interesting. It covers both sides, from the retail responsibility to the crowd mentality.

Stores need to better plan for crowds, police say

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/ny-licops3012223900nov30,0,6144172.story

snip: As police brass dissect what happened when a stampeded of shoppers outside a Valley Stream Wal-Mart left a seasonal worker dead, they may lean on the stores themselves to better plan for events like Black Friday, a department spokesman said yesterday.

Nassau police say the stampede outside the discount chain store was foreseeable given the huge crowds that gather for post-Thanksgiving sales.

"I can't stress enough how the onus is on them," said Det. Lt. Kevin Smith, the county police's chief spokesman.
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Docs: Fear and greed may fuel retail stampedes
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/ny-limob2912221004nov29,0,3819330.story

snip:While greed may seem an obvious motive for crowds that stampede retailers in search of bargains at this time of year, experts say fear also plays a significant role.

A fear of being unable to afford gifts - given today's economic woes - may drive many consumers to shop competitively for bargains at dawn, say local psychologists and sociologists.

Many people abandon their normal behavior when caught up in the urge to snag discounted plasma HDTVs like those on sale Friday at Wal-Mart in Valley Stream.

And individual judgement can melt away as people react to being jostled in a crowd, which in turn can shatter individual notions of personal space. Mary Kirby-Diaz, a sociology professor at Farmingdale State College, said average Americans need a space "bubble" of 27 inches.
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