Crowds, wintry weather fail to deter the diehards
Traffic crept along U.S. Route 224 between South Avenue and Market Street.
VINDICATOR STAFF REPORT
THEY ARISE BEFORE DAWN, searching for great deals, a frenetic atmosphere and meetings with old friends.
They are the Black Friday shoppers, and they were out in force this year.
Lisa Hinman and Francis Graves of Sharpsville, Pa., started at 4 a.m. at the J.C. Penney store near their hometown, looking for deals.
From there, they hit Sears before heading to Boardman to resume their trip.
“You get a lot of deals,” Hinman said. “I got a DVD player for $9.99.”
They arrived at Best Buy about midmorning and found a computer printer for $25 as well as video games and CDs. The couple tries to secure most of the shopping that day, especially items for their children.
Graves couldn’t wait for the after-Thanksgiving sales: He’d started his Christmas shopping on Thanksgiving at Kmart.
But Hinman admits she waits until the last minute to buy some things. “I’ll probably be out on the 24th [of December] as well,” she said.
When they finished with the Boardman shopping establishments, they planned to head to Niles for more deals.
“We had an excellent day, and we’ll stay busy until closing,” Barnes and Noble manager Pat McBroom said in the evening. “People like to come here to meet with friends and family, have coffee.”
The book store, nestled in The Shops at Boardman Park, also sells whole pumpkin cheesecakes that McBroom said “are to die for.” The cheesecakes are a big seller for Thanksgiving, she said.
Robert and Karen Bindas of Canfield didn’t venture out until midafternoon. They’re opening Five Points Wine & Bar in Springfield Township in coming weeks and went shopping for the grand opening.
By 6:30 p.m., they’d hit a china store in West Virginia and Sam’s Club, Lowe’s, Marc’s and Value City, all in Boardman. “Not really Christmas shopping, we’ll do that Christmas Eve,” the new bar owners said.
Heidi Obinger of Youngstown, with a grin on her face, said she “stalked” a woman inside T.J. Maxx who was hesitant about buying a small, clear chandelier but kept holding on to it. “I wanted it for myself,” Obinger said, adding that the stalking went on for 30 minutes before she gave up.
She and her husband, Bill, started shopping midafternoon, at J.C. Penney in Boardman. They don’t have a big gift list, but a chance to eat at Shangrila was reason enough to go to Boardman.
Traffic crept along U.S. Route 224 between South Avenue and Market Street. The lots of the Shops at Boardman Park, Toys “R” Us and Wal-Mart on Doral Drive were full midmorning, nearly to the road.
Tricia Haft and Breanne Romeo, both of Boardman, didn’t go shopping together, but they stopped to chat with each other as they scouted out bargains.
“I started at 7:30 a.m. at Staples,” Haft said. “I got a printer for myself.”
Romeo’s day began at 6 a.m. at Circuit City, where she searched for speakers for herself and gifts for friends and family.
What persuades them to get up so early?
“It’s exciting,” Haft said. “It’s the whole atmosphere.”
Romeo agreed. “It’s just the environment,” she said.
Jody Esposito, a manager at Best Buy, said she arrived to work Friday to see people wrapped in blankets and tucked in tents, waiting for the store to open.
“The line went out to Chipotle,” she said, indicating the restaurant that faces Route 224.
Other years, the line’s been even longer, but Esposito believes the snow and freezing conditions may have prompted some shoppers to sleep at home.
The bargain hunters began staking out their places in line about 12:30 p.m. Thanksgiving, she said. The store opened at 5 a.m. Friday.
Dan and Theresa Geary of East Liverpool say they’ve been doing the Black Friday shopping trips since their children, now 10 and 12, were young.
They started at 5:30 a.m. at the Wal-Mart in East Liverpool. They don’t camp out, though.
“We dropped the kids off at their grandparents’ house last night,” Dan Geary said.
They use the day to not only do Christmas shopping, but to pick up a few things for themselves when the price is right.
It’s also an opportunity to socialize, Dan Geary said. “You see people you haven’t seen in a long time.”