Black Friday madness hits Austin
Published 7:47 am Friday, November 26, 2010
Jordan Songkham heads out of Target with a TV this morning after taking part in the Black Friday rush. — Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Target store manager Sara Wundrow stood at the front of the store instructing customers that shopping carts could be found throughout the store at 4 a.m. as Black Friday shoppers rushed in from the bitter cold after waiting in line anywhere from ten minutes to over three hours.
“DVDs are to your right,” Wundrow shouted into the throng. “Carts are throughout the building. Please walk.”
The first shoppers in line wait behind carts Friday morning, just before doors opened at 4 a.m. at Target for Black Friday. — Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Her instructions were barely heard as the first shoppers into the store came to the checkouts armed with 42-inch televisions and portable DVD players less than two minutes after the doors opened.
Irene Anderson, who stood in line for half an hour before the doors opened, said little to nothing could stop her from going out on Black Friday.
“It’s just plain fun,” Anderson said as she waited in line for the checkout. “By going out today I just get to buy more presents.”
Among Anderson’s purchases was a portable DVD player, Casio electronic keyboard, Tom Tom GPS, Polaroid digital camera, digital picture frame and a gaming chair.
Anderson estimated that she saves 25 to 30 percent on her overall Christmas purchases when she shops on Black Friday.
As shoppers filtered through the checkout lanes and encountered congestion near the exit doors, many of them dragged the coveted purchase of the day with them — a big screen high definition television. Roughly $200 cheaper than usual, the 40 or so TVs were sold out in less than five minutes.
“I got one!” Jack Stuhr said on the phone to his wife as he waited to exit the store. Stuhr had managed to score a 46-inch Apex HDTV for $449 after waiting in line outside of Target for around two hours.
Shoppers begin filling up the check-out isles early this morning, shortly after doors opened for Black Friday at 4 a.m. - Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Some Black Friday goers were so quick to grab their purchases and check out — before the lines formed, that is — that they had to wait to exit the store. Store employees could not open the exit doors until everyone from the line outside had come in, which took until 4:07 a.m., a mere seven minutes after the doors opened.
Lori Pestorious and Tina Johnson, who were also hoping to get their hands on a TV, began their wait in line around 12:30 a.m.
“We are crazy,” Pestorious said as she waited for the doors to open.
Pestorious said money is the reason she was willing to wait in line for over three hours in single-digit temperatures.
“That, or the lack thereof, which makes us want to come out even more,” Johnson said.
