Tri-City shoppers brave cold, wet Black Friday

By Pratik Joshi, Herald staff writer

Hundreds of shoppers braved an early morning chill and rain to be at their favorite Tri-City stores on Black Friday, some hunting for hard-to-find deals and others just keeping up with tradition.

More than 500 stood outside Best Buy on Canal Drive in Kennewick waiting for the store to open at 5 a.m., with many of them lured by deep discounts on laptop computers.

Nathan Phelps, 18, of Kennewick, said he had waited since 11 a.m. Wednesday to be first in line to buy a couple of laptops for his relatives in Seattle. His mother Cheryl O'Donnell joined him to help out.

Jamie Romjue and her brother, Nick, had waited outside Best Buy since midnight Thursday to buy video games and an iTune gift card. "We should've brought some blankets. It was freezing," said Romjue, a Kennewick High School freshman. But she wants to do it again, she said.

Mike Rhoads, who lives in Palmer, Alaska, and is visiting family in Richland, wasn't bothered by the drizzle or the nip in the air as he waited with his older brother Jerral to buy a laptop at a $200 savings.

"But it's bizarre. We don't do it up there (in Alaska). It's too freakin' cold," said Rhoads, 62, surveying the crowds around him.

"I'll be disappointed if I can't buy a laptop," said Juan Ojeda of Pasco, who came with his wife and daughter to shop early Friday and was surprised to find a huge crowd.

"I generally don't do this," said Ojeda, 36.

At Columbia Center mall, an estimated 50 to 60 shoppers lined up outside Victoria's Secret just before the store opened at 6 a.m.

"Deals are good," said Jennifer Brown of Kennewick.

She planned to buy a perfume set. She wanted to spend about $300, a little less than what she normally spends during her annual Black Friday shopping trips.

The day-after Thanksgiving sales offer shoppers more reasons to buy, said Lee Boman, manager of JCPenney at the mall.

There's fall and winter merchandise, and people want to do their holiday shopping, he said. His store sold out of camcorders/cameras designed for kids as gifts -- which were priced at about $30 instead of the usual $50 -- within hours of opening, he said.

Women's boots, denim jeans and small household goods also seemed to be especially popular with shoppers, he said. "They're flying out."

"I don't want to jinx it. We are going to finish the day better than last year," Boman told the Herald at noon Friday. He said a strong Tri-City economy has helped boost retail sales.

"Retailers came out swinging for Black Friday, offering some of the holiday season's lowest prices on electronics, appliances, apparel and toys," Tracy Mullin, president and CEO of the National Retail Federation, said in a statement.

"Budget-focused shoppers seemed to be pleasantly surprised with post-Thanksgiving deals, which many retailers will extend today and even Sunday."

Early reports from Friday had many store officials optimistic.

The retail federation previously had estimated holiday sales would decrease 1 percent this year to $437.6 billion.

At JCPenney at the mall, customers came in spurts last year. But this year, there was a steady stream of them, said Fitz Reyes, customer service associate at JCPenney, who handed out free snow globes. The store distributes about 6,000 snow globes yearly to early shoppers.

Natalie Loy has been collecting them since 2003 and was at JCPenney early this year too.

"We've already been to Kohl's and Sears," she said, clutching shopping bags full of clothes and other presents that cost more than $450. Loy, a Kamiakin High School teacher, said she felt particularly happy about a pair of boots she bought for $25.

"This is the first time I have a real job and I can afford it," said Loy, who got married last week.

She said she always shops Black Friday.

"It's the fun of watching other people. It's chaotic and hilarious," said Loy, who left home at 3:30 a.m. for bargain hunting with her friend Camren Guinn of Richland.

Toys "R" Us, which opened at midnight, and Old Navy, which opened at 3 a.m., let in customers in batches to avoid overcrowding, said Kim Harvey, the mall's marketing director.

Aropostale, specialty retailer of casual apparel and accessories for teens and adults in their 20s, offered discounts of 50 percent and more across the store. It also attracted hordes of customers, she said.

"People have been nice and seem to share the Christmas spirit," said Richland's Joyce Didway, who bought clothes and blankets at the mall.

"The deals were pretty good too," she said before heading out to Sears to buy a toaster oven and check off another item on her long list.

She said she brings along newspaper ads to make sure she gets the sale prices on items she buys.

"You end up spending more money, because everything is on sale," said Shannon Case, a Black Friday regular at the mall, talking about her shopping spree.

She said she waited more than 11/2 hours to get inside the Old Navy store to buy clothes for her children. "But it was so worth it."

Staples on Tapteal Drive in Richland sold the 26 laptop computers it had on sale soon after opening, said Tanya M. Porter, the store's general manager. Specially priced thumb drives, memory cards and wireless keyboards and mouse combos, printers and other items brought in a steady stream of customers, she said.

Ryan Glatt of Richland paid $90 for golf clubs that normally cost $180 while shopping for Christmas gifts with his wife and his mother-in-law Gladys Collantes at Kohl's.

"We also got good deals on clothes," Collantes said. She said they probably saved about $150.

Shimoga Prakash, a family practice physician who recently moved from Prosser to Richland, said he saved about $25 to $30 after buying a vacuum cleaner and a scooter for his 31/2-year-old son at Walmart in Richland.

The store offered great deals in electronics, he said. A 46-inch Sony TV he bought for about $1,400 six months ago was selling for $1,000, he said.

Teresa Lemmon of Kennewick bought a cartful of coats, clothes and toys from Walmart long after the crowds had vanished. She said she didn't need to buy any big-ticket items.

"I don't do early morning shopping," she said. "It's crazy for me."

tool name

Saturday, Nov. 28, 2009

Tri-City shoppers brave cold, wet Black Friday

By Pratik Joshi, Herald staff writer