Darkness, snow don't deter shoppers

By CHERY SABOL

The Daily Inter Lake

Before the sun came up, before the snowplows came through, before the caffeine kicked in, Flathead Valley shoppers were lining up for Black Friday bargains.

Retailers opened early Friday with promises of sales worth getting up for at 4 a.m. Some shoppers didn't wait until then and set up Thursday night outside Best Buy, which promised to hand out tickets at 4 a.m. for coveted electronics deals.

Wal-Mart opened at 5 to a line of its own. Frank Hallett of Columbia Falls was there to buy a computer.

"Grown adults, yelling at each other," he said.

Were the savings worth getting up that early?

"You don't come in and run around and get your butt run over" if they're not, he said.

He was in line at 5:45 a.m. for Kmart's 6 a.m. opening, too. He was looking for sleeping bags for his daughters.

Kelly Hamilton already had been to Herberger's and Wal-Mart before Kmart opened. The gifts she planned to buy were "a lot less" than they will be at regular, after-sales prices, she said.

Manager Steve McGuire at Kmart was happy to see a crowd of 100 or so people outside the store when the doors opened. They were snapping up bikes and Craftsman tools.

He was worried about the overnight snowfall and the problems retailers are having finding employees to help all those shoppers, but his customers weren't deterred by inconveniences.

Anne McMarrell and Cecillia White drove in from Eureka to be there when the doors opened. They were looking for toys and were still talking about the shopper at another store who threatened to trip them if they got in the way.

The crowds otherwise were remarkably polite.

Jordan White was "a first-timer" in the sales rush. He and his wife, Laura, came into Kalispell from Bigfork.

"I was impressed at how nice and polite people have been," he said at Kalispell Center Mall, although he noticed some "mildly aggressive" driving on the road. The early hour and unplowed roads didn't lend themselves to much road rage, though. More like road apathy.

Lisa Huffman was looking for boots. She nabbed the laminator she wanted at Staples. The last time she showed up for after-Thanksgiving sales, "there weren't lines like this."

Stephanie Isakson and Brandy Johnson of Kalispell took a minute out of the rush to try a massage chair. Their pilgrimage down the aisles is something they do every year, they said.

"For some people, it's a tradition," Huffman said.

Ask Cheryl Morgan about that.

She has gotten up early for the sales for 25 years. It might even be 30, she confided.

This year, she brought her niece, Brittany Bosley, 11. Bosley's mother was working, so Morgan took her shopping.

That meant getting up at 4:15 a.m. for Morgan, who drove in from Columbia Falls to pick up Bosley.

They started at ShopKo at 5:45, where Bosley bought a Victorian doll and cookies, and Morgan found a DVD she wanted.

An experienced retail warrior, Morgan had gone through the newspaper ads to map out their route and exit strategies.

No novices, the two sped through the stores with determination and savvy.

A couple of years ago, sometime took some Care Bears right out of Bosley's cart. She had to sit in the cart to safeguard her merchandise.

This year was a little simpler.

At Kmart, Bosley zeroed in on a couple of gifts for her parents. One wouldn't go on sale until Saturday. Morgan found a popular table and chair set for her grandson. It was the last one in the store.

Besides actual sales prices, getting "the last one" increases the emotional value of some merchandise. Morgan scored again by picking up the last two lighted reindeer in the store.

But already gone was the toy bench that matches the table and chairs she bought.

"I missed out on that," she said.

At Wal-Mart, Morgan and Bosley gathered up more gifts on their lists. They strayed from their designated aisles long enough to pick up the names of children on a wish-list tree, adding the modest requests to their own shopping lists.

Then they headed to Kalispell Center Mall, where Morgan set her sights on towels and boots. She scooped up a pile of brown towels at half off the regular price and Bosley found a stuffed animal at the same discount.

Time ran out for Morgan, though. She had to get to work and didn't have time to try on boots.

"It was definitely worth it," she said of her early morning shopping spree. "I was excited to get those Christmas reindeer.

"I love the Christmas season," Morgan said.

Bosley admitted she was tired. She was going to her grandmother's house, where she would wait for her mother to get off work.

And then?

More shopping.

"We'll do the same thing Aunt Cheryl and I just did," Bosley said.

Reporter Chery Sabol may be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at csabol@dailyinterlake.com