However, over the past several years Black Friday has marked the beginning of a somewhat dismal shopping season for many retailers. In an effort to attract more shoppers for the 2009 holiday season, some merchants and retailers opened their doors as early as 11 p.m. on Thanksgiving night.
BrandsMart USA in Stockbridge, Ga., and Toys ‘R’ Us in Morrow, Ga., had lengthy lines at 11:30 p.m. Thanksgiving night as shoppers anticipated their midnight openings.
However, retail conglomerate Walmart kept its doors open around the clock in hopes of attracting shoppers who were prepared to leave their holiday feasts or forego them altogether to take advantage of the once a year deals.
“This year is a lot busier, we’re selling a lot more high end items and customers seem to really be into shopping this year” says event coordinator and manager Tony King of the Gresham Road Walmart in Atlanta, Ga. “We had ‘queue lines’ for all the ‘hot’ items, we had more staff available, and an event staff — it was well planned. We tried to keep it well organized, to avoid any incidents from occurring.” Each year retailers tease and entice potential shoppers with ‘never to be seen again deals’, as well as offering items in their stores that are usually only available on line. “Although long lines are definitely what we want to see, it doesn’t always mean big numbers in the long run,” said one store manager who wished to remain nameless.
Buyers are especially keen on getting the lowest prices on electronics — ranging from laptop computers to big screen tv’s to digital cameras. That shopping trend was evidenced by the two-block long line of shoppes at the Best Buy in Morrow, Ga. at 5 a.m. today. Unfortunately, it also had a line for check out that stretched four aisles over, making for some rather unhappy and frustrated shoppers. –condia perry
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