What responsibilities do stores have to Black Friday shoppers?

If you're like many shoppers in the Austin area, your plans for the day after Thanksgiving may include going out to stores to take advantage of Black Friday deals. So, you might be preparing for this big shopping trip and how to make it as enjoyable and productive as possible.

How your Black Friday trip ends up going could also be impacted by how stores prepare for this big shopping day. This includes what steps they take to ensure your safety.

Stores have responsibilities for keeping customers safe

As this article explains, stores have a duty to keep their properties safe for shoppers. This includes a responsibility to take appropriate measures in maintaining their properties free of hazards. Among these steps are having adequate security.

The special security concerns of Black Friday

These duties can take on a particular level of importance on Black Friday. Black Friday can see massive crowds at stores. This can raise special safety concerns.

Among these is that large crowds of shoppers could be a tempting target for thieves or other wrongdoers. This could create risks for shoppers facing violence when out Black Friday shopping.

For the sake of shopper safety, one hopes all stores make sure to adequately prepare for the unique security challenges that can come up on Black Friday.

Ways stores can fall short on security

Unfortunately, stores don't always meet their duties regarding customer safety. For one, they are sometimes negligent when it comes to security. Negligent security can take many forms. Some examples include:

• Not having enough security personnel to keep shoppers safe
• Not having enough lighting on their premises, including in their parking lots
• Failing to properly address known security vulnerabilities

When stores you shop at on Black Friday allow such security failings to come up, your safety could be significantly compromised.

Responding to negligent security at stores

Security failings at stores can have life-changing consequences for shoppers. Shoppers who experience such consequences may be able to pursue legal action. Negligent security at a store can be the basis of a premises liability lawsuit. Pursuing such lawsuits can have many time-sensitive aspects. So, if you have suffered harm because of security shortcomings at a store, seek out experienced legal guidance regarding the incident.