Early birds caught the bargains

Thousands lined up, some as early as Thursday, for Black Friday sales

Date published: 11/26/2011

BY CATHY JETT, MICHAEL ZITZ AND KATIE THISDELL

Rhonda Promer, her two daughters, a son-in-law and a family friend made a beeline for appliances the moment Macy's in Spotsylvania Towne Centre opened at midnight for Black Friday.

The group, which had been at the head of the line at the store's main entrance, snapped up four deeply discounted Presto griddles and three George Foreman grills before spotting the Keurig coffee maker on their list. It, too, was on sale, and a sign next to it said shoppers could get an additional 40 percent off.

Giddy with delight on their third stop of the evening--they'd already swung by Walmart and BJ's--the Spotsylvania residents headed for the register with son-in-law Tim Clements hefting much of the loot.

"He's the muscle," Promer said.

After some initial confusion at the checkout, she ended up paying $99.71 for the Keurig, two griddles and a George Foreman grill. That figure will drop to about $60 once she gets rebates on the griddles and grill. Daughter Wanda Clements paid $83.96 for the rest and will get rebates, as well.

"So, we basically got [one] gift for free," she told her husband.

As Tim Clements headed off to the car with their shopping bags, Promer, daughters Cassie Promer and Wanda, and their friend, Kayla Worley, debated where to go next in the mall, which was so noisy with shoppers that the holiday music blaring from the mall's loudspeakers was nearly drowned out.

Cassie and Kayla asked if they could check out some of the other mall stores that had opened at midnight for the first time. Wanda Clements had her heart set on snagging one of the free snow globes that would be given away to the first people in line when JCPenney opened at 3 a.m.

Last year, the entire mall didn't open until 6 a.m., although some retailers in other locations such as the Toys R Us in Central Park and the various area Walmarts opened the evening before.

"It's different," Rhonda Promer said of this year's earlier Black Friday store openings. "It's cool because we're all psyched, but for us, it takes away the tradition of standing outside with hot tea and hot chocolate."

AS CLOCK STRUCK 10, RACE WAS ON

At the Walmart Southpoint Parkway Supercenter in Massaponax, the parking lot was overflowing well before the Black Friday sale began at 10 p.m. on Thursday.

To avoid the kind of stampede that has caused people to be injured around the country in recent years, store staff allowed shoppers in hours ahead of time. Some said they had been there at 7 p.m., and some pressed themselves against the merchandise they wanted, including a woman dressed in a black satin jacket that read "Tim Burton's 'Nightmare Before Christmas'" on the back.

Twenty minutes before 10, two women and a man positioned next to a large pile of hefty boxes containing 12-volt quad bikes that were on sale for $99 were clinging to them, saying they weren't going to let go.

Miranda Ellia stood a safe distance away with her shopping cart, eyeing the mountain of quad bikes.

"My son is 4 and he's outgrown the one he has," she said. But she said she didn't want one bad enough to jump in and wrestle for it. "I'm 41/2 months pregnant and I'm not taking any chances." she said. "Better safe than sorry. My husband is waiting at the Toys R Us," she said, so she felt reasonably certain between the two of them, they'd get a good deal on a bike.

A Walmart sales associate counted down, "It's 9:58!" She said someone hanging onto a quad bike box muttered, "Damn!"

"It's 9:59!" the sales associate yelled.

"It's 10 o'clock!" she shouted.

Big, heavy boxes were furiously yanked off the pile, and chaos ensued for a couple of moments, but no elbows were thrown and no one got hurt or argued.

Ellia stood back and waited, but she got her son's bike, put it in her cart and headed for the checkout counter, unscathed.

"You know, the deals weren't all that great," a woman said to her husband as they exited the store with toys about 10 minutes after 10 and quick-stepped through the Walmart parking lot, perhaps headed for a store with a midnight opening.

--Mike Zitz