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StumbleBargain hunters hit stores for Black Friday
Shoppers get an early start for the year’s busiest shopping day
Sisters Laura Corsaro and Julie Terry shop with their mom, Pam Terry, at the Las Vegas Outlet Center on Black Friday.
Friday, Nov. 27, 2009 | 9:20 a.m.
The biggest shopping day of the year has arrived and shoppers across the Las Vegas Valley have mapped out routes to save on bargains.
But grabbing the day’s first deals required an early start.
At midnight, Toys R Us locations opened their doors to hundreds of people, some of whom already had been waiting for hours.
Chris Winn, 14, and his mom, Stacey Haag, were among the first in line at the Toys R Us store at 4000 S. Maryland Parkway. Haag, a Black Friday veteran, was searching for a digital camera for her daughter.
For Winn, it’s his first year shopping on Black Friday -- the traditional start of the holiday shopping season. He said he wanted to help his mom because he already knows what his Christmas present will be: a new cell phone.
Zackary Martin, 13, didn’t have a choice to stay home. His mother, Donna Hutter, said she drags one of her kids with her every year to help navigate and grab hot items.
In the three years he’s been shopping with his mom on Black Friday, he’s seen some disputes over the hot items of the year. He said Hannah Montana merchandise topped many shoppers’ lists this year.
People line up at Toys R Us, 4000 Maryland Parkway, at midnight on Black Friday.
Erin and Phillip Dalton, of Las Vegas, were shopping for their children said said they waited in line to buy a Hannah Montana guitar. The couple said they’re on a budget and looking for Black Friday savings.
Even though Hannah Montana merchandise was popular, it wasn’t the main attraction for everyone. Many shoppers had their hearts set on grabbing Zhu Zhu pets.
Toys R Us was selling a limited number of Zhu Zhu pets to the first buyers this morning. Tickets were handed out to the first shoppers in line hoping to get their hands on the item.
Sharon Gadow, of Laguna Beach, Calif., said she stood in line for five hours to get her hands on a couple of Zhu Zhu pets.
“They’re the new Furbies,” Gadow said. “I’ve been standing in line since 7 p.m. because a friend needs Zhu Zhu pets.”
Gadow said she met several people from the East Coast who couldn’t find the toy in their hometown.
To prevent injuries from shoppers scrambling for Zhu Zhu pets, Toys R Us employee Cecil Estein said the store only let 10 customers in at a time.
“They hand out tickets and crowd control (because) a boy was trampled at Wal-Mart last year,” Estein said.
Pierce Devine, 22, from Ireland sits on a bench in the Las Vegas Outlet Center on Black Friday.
The Las Vegas Outlet Center, 7400 Las Vegas Blvd. S., also was among businesses ringing in Black Friday at midnight.
Pierce Devine, 22, from Ireland, said he’s never seen anything like Black Friday. He said he flew in with friends and family for vacation.
“We knew we were flying in on Thanksgiving,” Devine said, “so we did research.”
He said he enjoyed the experience, saying it’s unlike anything in his own country. Pointing to his shopping bags, Devine said, “You can’t get half of this stuff in Ireland.”
People wait in line to enter Best Buy, 611 Marks St., at 5 a.m. on Black Friday.
Heather Johnson, 20, and her grandmother, Mary Jendro, both of Las Vegas, said they came to the Outlet Center with family to browse and spend time together.
“I like doing this,” Jendro said. “It’s quality time with the whole family.”
Jendro was looking for a dicer used to make pico de gallo.
Most stores waited until at least 5 a.m. to open their doors to Black Friday shoppers. At that time, the line at Best Buy, 611 Marks St. in Henderson, wrapped around the building in the chilly weather.
When the doors opened, people rushed to snatch up their favorite DVDs and electronics.
Margarita Leal, 32, of Las Vegas, said she was doing some self-shopping, purchasing several Blu-ray movies, including “Silence of the Lambs” and “Goodfellas.”
“This is my first year,” Leal said. “I wanted to see what the madness was all about.”
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I work at a retailer, and from today's turnout you would think, "What recession?" Great traffic and encouraging to see.
Uh, after waking up at 3:30 a.m. to attack the deals I learned that "Black Friday" started on Thursday, especially at @$*#! Wal Mart where every door buster was already "sold" (or "tickets claimd") by Midnight apparently.
And every laptop or netbook under $300 is sold from every retailer in the entire country!
All of this Black Friday commercialism makes me sick! I remember Christmas time as a much less commercialized time when the most fun was going out and picking a Christmas tree, enjoying all of the Christmas specials on TV, and visiting relatives etc. All of this mad rush BS to the stores, and people fighting over merchandise, even getting trampled to death is a thing of some other dimension which this commenter refuses to get anywhere near! In fact all of these insane people don't really belong anywhere near this religious season and what it really stands for. Nuff said..