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Shoppers burn the midnight oil
By Karl Henkel
NILES
Surrounded by bags on a wooden bench in the J.C. Penney wing of Eastwood Mall, Chad Mumaw held his head in his left hand.
It was shortly after 6 a.m. on Black Friday, nine hours after Mumaw, of Diamond, and his wife, Erica, began their Christmas shopping.
“I’m tired,” he said. “We’ve been going since nine o’clock last night.”
Mumaw, like thousands of others in the area, took advantage of this year’s early Black Friday specials.
Many stores, including Walmart, had sales that began as early as 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving.
That’s where the Mumaws found a pair of laptops for his two children at $200 apiece.
Many other stores, including 34 inside Eastwood Mall, opened their doors at midnight Thursday to the delight of many super shoppers.
It was unlike previous years, where waking up early was mandatory to score the best deals.
“We had a wonderful crowd [at midnight],” said Ken Kollar, mall manager. “I think it spreads the crowd out.”
The early start wasn’t for everyone.
Glenn and Millicent Steffey of Lordstown started their morning at Target shortly after midnight.
But after a long line greeted the couple a few hundred feet before the storefront, they didn’t stick around.
“We went to breakfast,” Glenn said.
It was a similar story for Pete Shelby of Girard, who also started at midnight, also went to Target and decided the bargains were not worth the wait.
So he went home and slept.
Three hours later, he returned to Target.
Turns out, he didn’t miss much.
Aside from a few DVDs and the 3G Amazon Kindle, Shelby was still able to find most items on his holiday wish list.
“Next year I’m not going to try at midnight,” he said.
Other shoppers split the time difference.
Robyn Darocha and her daughter, Heather, hit the malls around 4 a.m.
Robyn has shopped on Black Friday for the past decade. She’s gotten proficient at seeking out the best deals.
Well, except for this year’s new shopping schedules.
“We usually try to map out where we’re going to go,” she said. “But that didn’t happen this year.”
Robyn and Heather, along with Amber Butcher and Damian Reeder, spent the wee hours of Friday morning shuffling though circulars in the main concourse hoping to take advantage of as many deals as possible.
But if it didn’t happen, it was no big deal.
“It’s not so much about getting there and getting the best deal,” she said. “It’s just fun being out here.”