These camp-outs are a holiday tradition

The line at Best Buy in Boardman began forming at 4 p.m.; at Circuit City, 5 p.m.
By KATIE LIBECCO
VINDY.COM CORRESPONDENT
BOARDMAN -- Some local shoppers say the rush of "Black Friday' Christmas shopping is better than Christmas Day itself.
At least that's what those at the front of the line at Best Buy in Boardman said Thursday night. They arrived at 4 p.m. to secure their spots.
First in line was Boardman's Jim Evans, who said this has been a tradition for his and three other families for six years. They set up a card table, grill, coffee pot and laptop to watch movies. He said they began preparing for the night about a month ago.
"We work together," Evans said.
The families created a list of what everyone wanted, then divided it by where it was located in the store. A different person was assigned to each part and was responsible for finding items for themselves and others in the group. Then, they met at the back of the store to take which items they had requested.
"It's a family affair -- the kids come, everyone comes," said Bob Comstock, also of Boardman, another member of the group.
Comstock said he has been in the front of the line for the past six years, except for one year when he was on active duty with the military in Germany. Comstock said he missed Black Friday shopping more than he missed Christmas Day when he was overseas.
"I told you I missed Black Friday, too," Evans' daughter, Krystyne added.
She said she had to miss Black Friday one year while she was studying abroad in Kenya.
"I told him I missed the hustle and bustle of Black Friday," she said, as she looked over Best Buy's advertisement again with a friend.
Comstock, Jim and Krystyne Evans said they came out every year because it was a fun tradition , and would probably do it even if they didn't need to buy anything. Comstock said he doubted he would buy anything for himself and was mostly shopping for others. But Krystyne Evans said she was after two new televisions for a newly purchased home, among other items.
Another Best Buy shopper waiting in line, Jimmy Kopanic of Boardman, said he waited all year for Black Friday. He said he began looking up sales on the Internet weeks before the sale.
"What brings me out here is the good deals, of course. I've been going online to gottadeal.com and some other Black Friday Web sites, checking ads, because, you know, a couple of weeks ago some of the ads were leaked. I think Best Buy's came out about two weeks ago. So I've been studying." Kopanic said.
At Circuit City, the line began forming at 5 p.m., with many of the shoppers near the front of the line saying they chose Circuit City because they couldn't get a good spot at Best Buy.
Mark Muransky of Canfield and Al Shivez of Poland said they got to Circuit City at 8:30 p.m., which put them about 25th in line. They said that they were there to do Christmas shopping, as they waited in lawn chairs, under blankets.
Farther back in line, around 35 spots from the front, were Kristy McGuinness, Sarah Centa, Shelby McGuinness and Brandy Sutcliffe. They gathered around a small space heater and brought a pile of blankets. They were all there for laptops. they said.
"It's worth it if I get a laptop," Centa said of waiting in the cold. "But if I leave with a 2.99 DVD, then I don't know."
Both stores were scheduled to open at 5 a.m.
To see Vindy.com video coverage of the shoppers, click here: http://media.vindy.com/video/newswatch/video_player_hi.html
klibecco@vindy.com