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SHOP-APALOOZA
Black Friday draws thousands of area shoppers
BOARDMAN
It was a scene reminiscent of Pamplona’s running of the bulls: More than 800 people surged toward the open doors of Target at 4 a.m. Friday.
Sergio Matos of Youngstown and Stephanie Furman of Poland were among those in the crowd.
“It’s my second year of Black Friday shopping. It’s fun and exciting, and you have to be a little crazy. You have to use your elbows,” Furman said, as she got caught up with the flow of people streaming toward the store’s lights.
Battling a recession for the third holiday season in a row, some retailers got creative on Black Friday, offering prizes and even more extended hours.
Target opted to open an hour earlier than it did last year. Old Navy in the Shops at Boardman Park on U.S. Route 224 was open on Thanksgiving. It closed at 8 p.m. only to reopen at midnight for Black Friday, earlier than last year’s 3 a.m. start time.
Employees took a break, but more than one admitted to not being able to nap because they were so excited for Black Friday.
“This is what we work for all year long. This is our Christmas, and the best day of the year,” said Missy Hothem, manager for the Ohio East District of Old Navy.
The first 59 people in line received the video game Dance Central for the Xbox 360 Kinect, provided they purchased $25 worth of merchandise.
That alone was enough to get Saker Alexander of Canton to the door at 10:45 p.m. Thursday.
“I value video games over clothes,” he said.
Customers flocked to the $5 pajama pants and $15 sweaters. William Thomas of Boardman, who was near the front of a line stretching about 250 people, said he was heading for the $15 jeans for his children. The pants usually retail for about $30. Thomas said those who think Black Friday shoppers are “crazy” miss the point.
“They’re the crazy ones because they’re paying full price,” Thomas said.
Hothem, who was celebrating her 20th anniversary with Gap Inc., said Black Friday builds camaraderie among associates and customers in the store, which has a capacity of about 300 people.
“Our employees are doing our gobble dance and wearing matching shirts,” she said. “And that makes it a fun experience for customers. In this economy, people are looking for fun and value.”
The shopping experience is what kept Nicole Nixon of Youngstown and Marcee Richardson of New Castle motivated as they waited in line at the Boardman Best Buy for 23 hours, arriving at 6 a.m. on Thanksgiving. The two celebrated the holiday on Wednesday.
“We meet a lot of nice people here in line,” Richardson said.
The first of at least 300 people, the group had a blue tent with two heaters and were looking to get laptops and digital cameras. Nixon said friends and family were split up at other stores, including Wal-mart and Target.
“We have a list, and we’re checking it twice,” she said.
Wearing a thermal shirt, hooded sweatshirt and jacket to keep warm during hours of waiting, Zack Jones of Boardman purchased two Xbox game systems for his cousins and a laptop for himself.
“When I got here, I was still dressed up from Thanksgiving. I had to run home to change,” he said.
Police cruisers were parked outside Target and Best Buy, but officers reported that everything was going “smoothly” around the township. The Ohio State Highway Patrol said there no serious early morning accidents or traffic tie-ups.
Nixon and Richardson ran into an unexpected traffic glitch as they left Best Buy loaded with purchases. Their car battery had run out, but after jumping the vehicle, they were undeterred.
“We’re going shopping!” Nixon said.