Shoppers gave their credit cards a workout Friday, using them to scrape frost from their windshields before hitting the stores for Black Friday sales.
Retailers across the Coast reported bigger crowds than last year and shoppers eager to buy. Many shoppers were using the reduction in big-ticket items like televisions and computers to buy for themselves rather than to give for Christmas.
“This is for me,” said Brian Lewinsky, who was already carrying his new big-screen TV to the car before half the people waiting in line at Target made it inside. He arrived at 3:20 a.m. and said there were 200 chilly bargain seekers in front of him. D’Iberville police said it took 17 minutes to get everyone in line into the store at The Promenade when it opened at 5 a.m.
Target advertised $160 off a 32-inch TV and $150 savings on a Global Positioning System. Manager Dean Warren said televisions and cameras were the biggest sellers Friday.
Laptop computers also brought out the crowds for Black Friday shopping. D’Iberville Police Capt. Bruce Dubisson said shoppers camped out at Best Buy at The Promenade before noon Thursday. Steve and Tina Stanley of St. Martin stood in line for 12 hours to save nearly $400 on a laptop computer at Best Buy.
“This is the first and most likely the last time we do so,” said Steve Stanley. Like many people this year, they are Christmas shopping on a budget and said the savings would stretch that budget. Employees brought out coffee and donuts during the night along with tickets for the Best Buy doorbusters. When the doors opened, there was a limit of 50 people allowed in the store at a time.
“Today’s one of our busiest days of the year,” said Laura Fleming, sales leader at Pier 1 Imports at Crossroads shopping center in Gulfport.
Black Friday brings more shoppers than browsers, she said, and she expects a Disney vacation contest at Pier 1 stores nationwide to attract customers.
Opening times were staggered at stores across the Coast, with Prime Outlets in Gulfport welcoming shoppers at midnight for the Pajama Jam. More than 300 people waited in line to get in the Coach outlet for an extra 10 percent savings.
“It’s really a good time to buy,” said Prime Outlets marketing manager Rhonda Roberts, and sales continue through the weekend. Stores did more this year to attract customers, she said, with the Tommy Hilfiger store increasing the storewide discount from 40 percent to 50 percent just before midnight.
At Stein Mart in Biloxi, manager Ralph Speede said the store drew customers from neighboring Wal-Mart, which opened an hour before Stein Mart at 5 a.m. Traffic is better this year, he said, even without the giveaway of gift cards offered to the early shoppers in 2008. This year Stein Mart advertised 50 special sale items and he said people were buying more gifts than clothes.
“They’re looking for value. They want to see a sales sign on top of it,” he said.
Most of the department stores at Edgewater Mall in Biloxi and Singing River Mall in Gautier opened at 4 a.m.
“We’re very happy with early sales,” said Melody Jones, manager of the Biloxi Belk. “Boots and shoes and jewelry were the big items for us.”
Marsha Langlinais of Ocean Springs decided to shop at Edgewater Mall, where all the stores she wanted to visit were at one location. Langlinais said she had to choose between tools or boots to get the best deals.
She chose to start her shopping in the crowded tool department at Sears and saved $150 there and more than $250 at Belk.
She intends to spend slightly more this Christmas and said she’ll be back to shop the sales every week.
“I’ll also be out here the day after Christmas getting the even bigger buys,” she said.
Those after-Christmas sales and gift cards may not be as attractive this year as in the past, with national retailers saying inventory is limited.
One of the hardest things for the stores to keep in stock this year will be Zhu Zhu interactive pet hamsters, the must-have toy of the season. The electronic critters sell for around $10 and the demand is pushing prices much higher on the Internet.
It’s not just the toys that squeak and chirp, but the parents who can’t find them for their kids. Zhu Zhu and the other top selling toys nationwide are also the favorites at Target in D’Iberville and Warren said the company has been good about keeping the most popular gifts stocked.
“We get trucks every day,” Warren said.
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