Young, Bored and Looking for a Deal

Other shoppers around the country ventured in the opposite direction, flooding stores in search of promised Black Friday deals on electronics like tablets, giant televisions and children’s toys.

“It was crazy,” DeVonte Johnson, a 20-year-old sales associate at the Leesburg Corner Premium Outlets in Virginia, said of the overnight wave. “It was three in, three out. I felt like I was at a club.”

Retailers beckoned shoppers during morning television shows on Friday, with commercials and holiday songs to remind viewers that the stores were open and the sales were on. But for many, the bargain shopping had already begun on Thanksgiving, as families and teenagers seemed to carve out time for shopping around their holiday turkey, or went out at night when many department and retail stores opened with major deals.

With the kickoff to the holiday retail season underway, labor groups and some Walmart workers planned protests on Black Friday near stores nationwide, in an effort to rally support for higher wages. Some marched earlier, carrying signs for better pay, while others planned disruptions later in the day.

At the Leesburg outlet stores in Virginia, Tammy Hawkins and her daughter, Ashley, outfitted in red holiday hats with jingling bells, braved near-freezing temperatures and arrived at 4:30 a.m. Ashley, 25, said she saved 50 percent on a bag at Kate Spade. She had taken note of the sale on Facebook.

“Using the social networking, the stores have definitely got out and reached out to shoppers,” she said.

In Norcross, Ga., customers at the Forum open mall on Peachtree Parkway had mixed reactions to the sales promotions.

Melvina Bolston, 48, came from nearby Doraville for her first Black Friday experience, and vowed not to do it again. She accompanied her sister — but made it clear she’d rather be anywhere else, including at home vacuuming, despite a few deals she found.

“I’ve been tortured by being out here, but my sister is into all of this,” Ms. Bolston said outside the Old Navy store. “The savings are worth it, but to me, it’s a little like torture.”

The night before, she had waited 85 minutes in a checkout line at a Walmart, she added.

Others found the savings worthwhile. “There were some things we really needed to get, so we decided to take advantage of the deals,” said Gloria Moses, while shopping at the Forum.

And after finding a parking space, Mrs. Moses and her husband even agreed to purchase an item that wasn’t on sale: a pair of New Balance shoes.

More than 400 people lined up in 28-degree weather outside a Target in Schaumburg, Ill., just before the store opened Thursday night. Perhaps 1,000 stood in front of a Best Buy in Los Angeles. As a Target in Hyattsville, Md., began to open Thanksgiving evening, people folded up the mesh chairs they’d been sitting in – some since midnight on Wednesday – as employees in bright yellow vests ushered them inside and passed out brochures with a map of the store inside.

“Thanksgiving dinner is over,” said Becky Solari, 18, standing on line with a friend at the Schaumburg mall. “And there’s nothing else to do.”

Retailers had been banking on that sentiment — and possibly younger shoppers bored with family dinners — as many expanded hours on the holiday, promising many of the same steep price cuts on Thursday that would continue into Friday.

At a Best Buy in Los Angeles, teenagers and young adults made up most of those in line.

“To be honest, it’s more of a tradition than anything else because my family, we don’t do much for Thanksgiving,” said Stephen Chea, 24. “So, my friend’s family and I would always line up the day before or early in the morning and they would actually bring the turkey.” Mr. Chea said they would eat it in line.

Elizabeth Harris reported from New York. Steven Greenhouse contributed reporting from New York; Rachel Abrams in New Jersey; Ken Maguire from Falls Church, Va.; Jada F. Smith from Hyattsville, Md.; Alan Blinder from Atlanta; Kimiya Shokoohi from Los Angeles; and Idalmya Carrerra from Chicago.

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/30/business/young-bored-and-looking-for-a-deal.html?partner=rss&emc=rss