doorbuster

[David Barnhart]

doorbuster, n. {w} Also written door buster or door-buster.  a merchandise
sale so inviting that customers will break the doors down to gain access.
Standard (used in informal contexts dealing especially with Christmas retail
sales; very frequent)



"Computers, TVs, laptops, tablets.  Everything.  I'm here for it all,"
Bryndon Romero of Newburgh said Wednesday, as he waited for the "door
buster" sales to begin more than 30 hours later, at midnight Thursday.
"Shoppers camp out for Black Friday," Times Herald Record, Nov. 22, 2012, p
48



"We will have doorbusters Thursday night and until 1 p.m. Friday," Davis
said.

Goody's has stocked 10 percent more merchandise, and Davis said he was
expecting it to be extremely busy. Matt Burrowes, "Black Friday comes a day
early," The Natchez Democrat [Miss.] (Nexis), Nov. 22, 2012, p not given



Reducing peak loads also is the goal of the early-morning and late-night
promotions. Breakfast at Tiffany's may be more romantic than breakfast at
Woodies, but Tiffany's doesn't have 8 a.m. doorbusters. Some stores
practically will pay you to shop at that hour, and you're likely to get
better service from clerks who have not yet been trampled by gift-givers.
Jerry Knight, "Oh Come All Ye Shoppers," The Washington Post (Nexis), Dec.
10, 1984, Washington Business sect., p 1



It was the deal of the century, maybe the millenium: dinosaur bone fragments
for a buck, door-buster discounts on mammoth molars and half price on
trilobites.  "Domestic News," The Associated Press (Nexis), Sept. 23, 1983,
p not given



Says Ron Rulof, Lieberman Homes, "Newspaper sections have become more
competitive, so we're using more direct mail.  In a particular part of town,
it's better to identify prospects via income and special interests than run
a door buster offer." "Street Smarts: How marketing works for home
builders," Ad Day (Nexis), July 10, 1986, Sect. II, p 6



Composite (compound): formed from door (eOED: 721), as in

door-opener (eOED: n.d.), + buster (eOED: 1835), as in ratebuster (eOED:
1970).

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