Shopping frenzy: Shoppers hit stores early
By Contributed to by Steve Herring, Phyllis Moore and Brandon Davis
Published in News on November 25, 2016 8:50 AM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Retailers offered online promotional sales as well as in-store discounts, such as the one pictured here at Target, to draw business on Black Friday.
News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Brian and Lydia Strickland, of Kenly, have for the last 16 years made a date of Black Friday shopping at Target in Goldsboro.
Despite many retailers offering Black Friday deals online and in-store ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, lines still formed well before sunrise outside several local businesses Friday morning.
The lure of a chance to win a $1,000 gift card, along with traditional Black Friday deals and free gift cards, had Patricia Midgette in line at Belk.
Meanwhile, outside the nearby Target location adjacent to Berkeley Mall, a mother used the opportunity to spend some time with her son before he departs for military service, and a couple from Kenly marked the holiday sales the same way they have for the last 16 years -- they made a date out of it.
Mrs. Midgette was among the first in line at Belk well before its 6 a.m. opening, motivated by the chance to win the $1,000 gift card.
"I hope it will be me, but there's a lot of us here," said Patricia Midgette, one of the first in line at Belk. "I was here at 4 o'clock. About a quarter of 5, we got out of the car."
Midgette planned to shop for a pair of Belk's $20 boots -- one of the more popular draws on Black Friday -- and clothes for her grandchildren and a dress.
She stayed in on Thanksgiving Day, even though many retailers were open and offering some of the deepest discounts of the year.
"It was Thanksgiving," she said. "I gotta eat some of that gobble, gobble."
She said she planned to finish her Christmas shopping today with stops at Walmart, Old Navy, Dick's Sporting Goods and Kmart.
Julie Lynch and her son Elijah Smith, 16, arrived at the store before 6 a.m. for their first Black Friday ever, but they weren't looking for the best deals.
Elijah will graduate from Charles B. Aycock next year, and he plans to join the Army after graduation. Mrs. Lynch asked her son to shop with her before he leaves home.
"It's just a couple of hours to hang out," she said. "We're both working, he's in school, and he's leaving in a year and a half."
While they talked about Elijah's future, they both placed a few electronics in the cart.
"We live on a budget, but we still have to find something for Christmas," Mrs. Lynch said.
Brian Strickland and his wife Lydia headed to the toy aisle to buy the newest items for their two daughters for Christmas, but the couple went alone for their 16th-annual Black Friday date.
Strickland and his wife said they live in Kenly, but they shop at Target each year rather than driving to Raleigh. They said their daughters Sydney, 11, and Addison, 5, stay with family while the couple loads up their cart with Christmas presents.
Mrs. Strickland said Sydney likes clothes and money, while Addison longs for the newest Hatchimal toy.
"The older one is more expensive. She talks about North Face and those brand names," she said. "But the other one like a lot of things we add up, so it looks like she has a ton of stuff."
Strickland said this Black Friday has posed as the calmest shopping experience compared to past ones. He said years ago he and his wife used cell phones to communicate to each other while they shopped at different locations in the store.
But this year they shopped side by side.
"We're a lot mellower than we used to be on Black Friday," he said. "I think that's what's changed more than anything."
Target executive team lead, Leslie Stevens, said the store opened its doors Thursday at 6 p.m. with a steady flow of guests. She said shoppers returned at 5:30 for Black Friday, and she said they headed for the toys and the electronics.
She said guests ran to the TVs, the new toys and clothes this morning, but she believes guests purchased more items on Thanksgiving, leaving the lines at the register shorter than usual.
"We had a really, successful night last night, and we've stayed pretty consistent overnight," she said. "We've had great interaction with our guests and great feedback about how we've handled our lines. It's gone really well."
And while there were no long outside of Walmart and a few other outlets at the crack of dawn, there were plenty of shoppers inside pushing shopping carts stuffed with holiday gift items.
Frankye Watson, of Goldsboro, felt no pressure to change her way of doing things.
"It was an all-day family day," she said of Thanksgiving. "My sister and I have always had this tradition. We go out (Friday) but it's so different now."
She got up at 4:30 a.m., she said, and ventured out with her sibling and two grandchildren, ages 13 and 17.
"We stopped at Krispy Kreme first -- we've got our priorities in order," Mrs. Watson said with a laugh. "I just wanted to see what's out there and get us going."
She was at Kmart shortly after 6 a.m., one of the sparse few in the store.
"I'm glad it's not as crowded," she said, adding, "I hate that everybody goes on Thursday. I just wish it would go back to early morning (Friday). We don't like change."
Wrapping up their shopping at the store were Tammy Norman, accompanied by daughter Karlee Norman, her sister Rhonda Harrell, all of Snow Hill, and a family friend, Lauren Butler of Pikeville.
"We always come out at midnight," Tammy said, rattling off the list of stores the group already had under their belt. "Dick's Sporting Goods, Target, Walmart, Krispy Kreme and here. We're fixing to go to Belk."
The women planned to wrap up mid-morning, they said.
Was the lack of sleep catching up with them?
"After a cup of coffee and Mountain Dew kickstart, we're good," Ms. Harrell said.
Despite the list of stops already made, their haul wasn't that impressive, Tammy said.
"No bargains," she said. "This is just a tradition."
At Berkeley Mall, Michelle Radford and her daughter, Lana Radford, 16, of Four Oaks, were on their second leg of the shopping journey, having made a day of it in Raleigh on Thursday.
"My phone got knocked out of my hand," Lana said, showing the cracked screen.
It happened while at Victoria's Secret in Crabtree Valley Mall, she said, as she unwittingly bent over in a bargain quest.
"I didn't even get the underwear I was picking out because the lines were so long," she said with a laugh.
And the woman who bumped her?
"She kept walking," Lana said.
The duo was joined today by Teresa Allen, Michelle's aunt, who lives next door. They left home to begin the shopping day at 5:15.
"We're running on two hours of sleep," said Lana.
Shurby Lewis pushed around a shopping cart filled with clothes and accessories at JCPenney, where $10 off coupons were handed out early this morning. She started at 5 a.m., at a time when fewer people were in the store.
"It's nice now because you're not banging into everybody, and you can walk around," she said. "We're shopping for nieces, nephews, grandchildren and secret Santa. The deals are excellent."
Niall Oxendale was at the Spence Avenue Walmart early looking for some of the deals, including discounted prices on movies.
He did the heavy lifting Thursday when he went to Walmart to buy a 55-inch television at one of the lowest prices of the year.
"I was here yesterday and got a vacuum, a big TV and a printer," he said. "With the TV, it's hard to justify spending $700, so a 55-inch TV for $300 is worth it to me, in my book.
"I was really after the specific stuff and what I was going to get for the biggest bang for my buck."
Today, he bought several movies and planned a trip to Best Buy in Wilson.
"The big thing was getting the TV and vacuum," he said. "Anything after that was like cool."