Stores open early to lines of customers
Tara Blair, left, of Crows Nest, AB takes hold of a bag as Diane Corns makes space in their vehicle for their purchases.
Kate Wallway, left, works with Jessica Lyman work to fit in their last remaining purchases from early morning shopping on Friday morning. The two began their shopping at midnight at Wal-Mart and finished at Target just as daylight began arriving.
Lori Rolfe of Coutts, Alberta, and Jill Rowland of Claresholm, Alberta, take inventory of their purchases Friday morning before taking a break for brunch. After the break they headed back to the Duck Inn in Whitefish, unloaded their vehicle and resumed shopping.
The Shop ’til ya Drop women, a group of loyal Black Friday shoppers from Canada, visit with one another in front of one of their decorated vehicles Friday in Kalispell. The women took a break from their shop-a-thon for brunch at Sizzler before heading back into the busy stores.
Black Friday shoppers were out earlier than normal this year.
That’s because a number of local stores opened one hour earlier than last year.
Target opened at 4 a.m. and had shoppers lined up five stores down past Bed, Bath and Beyond, store manager Paul McClintock said. It was “probably one of the longest lines I’ve seen,” he said, noting he’s worked for the Minneapolis-based retailer for 13 years.
“It was a really smooth morning,” he said. “The snow hasn’t seemed to dampen anyone’s spirits.”
McClintock said Target “had a really good ad” that resulted in significant foot traffic.
Hot items included televisions and electronics, such as PlayStations and Wii consoles. These “doorbuster” items sold out between 4 and 6 a.m., he said.
Ken Sechser, store manager at Lowe’s, said the business opened at 5 a.m. instead of 6 a.m. He noted the advertisement said “6 a.m.” but “people were already here” at 5 a.m. DeWalt drills, flashlights, four- and six-foot ladders and Shop Vacs were some of the hot items at Lowe’s.
A number of shoppers “kind of followed each other around,” Sechser said. Many started at Walmart at midnight and went to Kalispell Center Mall at 3 a.m. before heading to Target at 4 a.m. and other stores at 5 a.m.
Some shoppers said their friends started at Walmart and then went to the mall, but headed home to take a nap before resuming their shopping, Sechser said.
Jennifer Siler, a saleswoman at the Herberger’s children’s department, said the store opened its doors 15 minutes early at 2:45 a.m. “They were sitting on the floor. Everyone was happy,” she said. Siler, who has worked at Herberger’s for 13 years, said comparing this year with last year is “kind of a blur.”
But this year was at least as busy as last year, she said.
Top-selling items in the Herberger’s children’s department were play tents, Barbies and toys in general.
Echo Dupea of Bigfork came to the mall with her 17-year-old daughter, Bethany.
“We didn’t plan it because it was Black Friday. It just happened because there was no school today,” said Bethany, who is home-schooled. The Dupeas bought a Christmas outfit for Bethany and a gift for Echo’s husband, Monte.
They stopped for lunch at Pretzelmaker for some pretzel bites and sodas. They also ate some turkey left over from the day before that they brought from home. “It’s just a girls’ day,” Echo said.
Tom Alger of Ronan came to Kalispell for lunch at Taco John’s, where he met his wife Terrie, 28-year-old daughter Erin, and his mother Babe Alger, an Anaconda resident who drove over for the weekend.
The Alger women came to the mall at 8 a.m., Tom said.
Babe Alger said the family normally comes to visit her and shop in Butte on Black Friday, but this year they came to Kalispell because of her great-grandchild who was born earlier this year.
After lunch, it was back to the mall.
Tom Alger sat on a mall bench around 2 p.m. waiting for the women of the family. He had three shopping bags with gifts, none of which he purchased. “I just came to be out with the crowd,” he said.
Reporter Caleb Soptelean may be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at csoptelean@dailyinterlake.com.