Black Friday brings out deal hunters

Black Friday has become a family tradition for Crystal Sides of Benton, Mo.

For the last four years, Sides and her family members have camped out at stores in Cape Girardeau in hopes of grabbing that blockbuster deal. Sides -- who at 11:30 p.m. Thursday was first in line -- chose Toys "R" Us as her spot this year. She was buying a PlayStation 2 bundle that included the console, six games, DVD remote and the movie "21" on DVD.

"We couldn't pass this deal up," said Sides one-and-a-half hours before the store's 5 a.m. opening. "To pass the time we've watched movies on my portable DVD player, texted on our cell phones and drank hot chocolate. It's been a lot of fun."

Customers at Cape Girardeau stores began forming lines as early as Thursday afternoon, with many shoppers citing bigger bargains as a reason for the early arrival. Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, marks the traditional beginning of the shopping season.

Many consumers said deals are better this year than last.

Kit Doyle ~ kdoyle@semissourian.comBest Buy employees huddle before doors open at 5 a.m. for Black Friday shopping in Cape Girardeau.

ShopLocal -- a marketing and advertising company that serves many of the country's largest retailers, such as Target, Walgreens and Lowes -- reported that retailers have increased Black Friday sale offers by 21 percent compared to 2007. ShopperTrak RCT Corp. said the 2007 Black Friday shopping weekend accounted for roughly 10 percent of overall holiday sales.

Cape Girardeau police had its regular staff and traffic officers on duty throughout the day. Sgt. Barry Hovis said four accidents occurred before 8:30 a.m. at parking lots of stores.

Crissy Batchelor, owner of Kids Wear Again, said about 10 customers were waiting to get into her children's consignment store 20 minutes before its 7 a.m. opening. While Batchelor said sales during the rest of the holiday shopping season are expected to be steady, she said Black Friday is the biggest day of the year.

Valerie Seyer of Chaffee, Mo., was doing her only shopping of the day at Kids Wear Again. Seyer was taking advantage of up to half off maternity and baby clothing.

"This year I'm buying more at stores like this one," Seyer said. "I'm also cutting back on how many gifts I buy to save money."

At Best Buy, the first customer arrived at 2:30 p.m. Thursday. Last year, Scott Sanders of Millersville arrived at 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving but missed out on buying the desktop computer he wanted. This year, Sanders wanted to make sure he obtained one of the 15 tickets to buy a Toshiba laptop computer, which was discounted by $270.

By 4:15 a.m. Friday, Best Buy employees issued Sanders and other customers in line the coveted tickets. He said the end result was worth the wait.

"This is a fun way to spend your Thanksgiving holiday," Sanders said. "I get to meet new friends and have a good time."

Sanders made the most of his time in line, sharing laughs with friends such as Misty Burton of Advance, Mo. Last year Burton also missed out on purchasing her most wanted items and arrived shortly after Sanders on Thursday to make sure she was able to purchase a Toshiba laptop, GPS device and television.

"Something about freezing to death brings people together," said Burton, who shared a heater with other fellow customers. "The best part of this is that I'll be saving a lot of money through these bargains."

Lines at J.C. Penney at West Park Mall began forming around 2:30 a.m. By the time the store opened at 4 a.m., lines were about 75 customers deep.

Darian Strong of Scott City, who was the first person in line, arrived for a complimentary Mickey Mouse snow globe. This was her fourth year to wait in line for a snow globe that is offered each Black Friday by the store.

Strong said the deals at area stores were better than in 2007.

"Items are quite a bit cheaper," said Strong, who had a plan mapped out for the remainder of Black Friday. "From all the places I've visited and the ads I've seen, I've seen a major drop in prices from what were offered this year."

J.C. Penney store manager Sarah Grigaitis said she expected strong sales on Black Friday but could not predict how sales would fare through the rest of the holiday shopping season. To make up for any potential loss of a week in holiday shopping, Grigaitis said hours have been extended to give customers extra time to shop.

"This is an event for families," Grigaitis said. "A certain amount of people are prepared for this day and plan well in advance to make this an experience."

However, not all customers arrived several hours before stores opened.

Donna Henderson, along with her husband, Jeff, and four others looked in amazement from the parking lot as shoppers lined up outside J.C. Penney. They arrived from Anna, Ill., 10 minutes before the store opened.

"You notice that all these people arrived here very early and we were able to walk up about a minute or two after the doors opened without having to wait," Henderson said. "One trend we've noticed is that lines are not quite as long as last year. Even with the bargains that are being offered the economy I believe the economy is affecting people's shopping habits."

bblackwell@semissourian.com

388-3628

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