The new Thanksgiving tradition — parties in the parking lots

BOARDMAN

Black Friday tipped off early this year, dispatching eager shoppers fresh from their Thanksgiving tables — or before they even sat down — to take a place in line as the holiday shopping season kicked into full gear.

Unlike years past, most of the area’s leading big-box stores elected to open between 8 p.m. and midnight Thursday, while a few opened earlier in the day, forcing Valley consumers to adjust their turkey day traditions in order to seize limited supplies and the banner deals that have come to signify the holiday.

Kaileigh Christy, 14, of East Liverpool was wasting no time, and said her holiday shopping would be done sometime by 8 a.m. today. Her older cousin, Allison Pallard, who described herself as the evening’s “shoperone,” Christy was able to develop what the three called their “war map,” which outlined all the area stores they would hit along Route 224 as they opened and sales hit their peak.

The group even had a contingency plan for shops in Beaver, Pa., where they were headed afterward.

Nearby at Target, a sense of camaraderie was building at the front of a line where nearly 60 people had queued up for the store’s opening at 9 p.m.

Allison and Olivia Schaeffer, both in their teens, made their way two hours from Wakeman — about 25 miles southeast of Sandusky, along with their friend Catherine Blackwood. The group lined up at Target around 1 p.m. with the hopes of scoring Cody Simpson Dolls and The Elf on the Shelf.

Around 7:30 p.m at H.H. Gregg the mood was no different. Sandy and James McCune of New Castle had been posted by the doors since 11 a.m for a 10 p.m. opening there.

“She had everything in the truck and we decided to come here so we could be first in line,” James said as the couple sat with a pop-up table where they had eaten their Thanksgiving meal earlier in the day. “My son and daughter-in-law brought us dinner. We’re here for a flat screen and tablet I guess.”

For more on the fun, read Friday's Vindicator or Vindy.com.