Black Friday deals lure shoppers

All-night hours keep customers out of rain

Shoppers line up outside Crescent Ace Hardware store early Friday morning. (The Daily Triplicate/Adam Madison)

Hundreds of early risers in Del Norte’s version of Black Friday got up around 4 a.m. on Friday morning, and most of them couldn’t be happier with the results.

By 5:15 a.m. hundreds of vehicles had streamed into the Wal-Mart parking lot, filling it to capacity.

Cart stalls inside the store were empty, and every register, including those at the jewelry and electronics counters, already had a line.

The most sought-after items of the day were a $248 32-inch flat-screen television and a $198 laptop computer.

A video game called Rock Band was also a hot item. The game is a band simulator where players use simulated instruments in concert and included drums, a guitar and a microphone for $50.

The computers and TV’s were sold out as soon as sale prices took effect at 5 a.m. Most were already in customers’ hands.

Wal-Mart made the decision to be open all night long this year, after a person was killed during Black Friday at a Wal-Mart in New York last year.

According to Crescent City Wal-Mart Assistant Manager David Kestler, the decision to be open 24 hours was a good one.

Kestler, who was fielding hundreds of phone calls on a headset as he walked around his store — mostly about electronics prices and inventory, said, “it’s good we’re open like this this year, plus people don’t have to wait out in the rain.”

Customer Lisa Shurill of Central Point, Ore., who was staying with her father in Crescent City for the Thanksgiving weekend, agreed that the store being open all night was a help.

It didn’t stop her from getting up at 3 a.m., however.

Shurill said she was doing some shopping for her father and actually didn’t come for the TV, laptop or Rock Band.

But her cart was still overflowing with cookware, children’s toys and her heralded items — $3 kid’s pajamas and Nintendo Wii games at bargain prices.

“All the kids wear pajamas, and the Wii games were the cheapest I’ve seen them,” said Shurill.

Right across the street, Crescent Ace Hardware and Radio Shack had their customers lining up for deals.

Several people were there at 6:30 a.m. to get a deal on $5.99 pet beds.

Radio Shack seemed to have the most customer attention, with flat-screen televisions and Xbox 360 video game consoles selling out within half an hour.