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Business & Tech

Thousands Seek Deals, Something To Do On Black Friday

Crowds descended on various local stores late Thursday night and early Friday morning

If you want to make a cheering crowd of hundreds stop applauding and start booing, tell them they can’t enter a store with good deals on large televisions.

One security guard at the Target at the Palisades Center learned this a few seconds after midnight Friday morning, right after the store opened for its Black Friday sales. The crowd, many of whom waited for longer than an hour outside on a line stretching back off the sidewalk and into the parking lot, started cheering when the doors were first opened at midnight. A group of about 50 or so people were let into the store first, many of them clapping, wooing and raising their arms in triumph.

The people behind them were also excited, but that was until they realized the line wasn’t moving anymore. Target was letting people enter the store in groups, with another group heading into the store every minute or so. Once the large crowd realized the line wasn’t moving, many started booing.

The TVs were the big prize item at Target on Black Friday. When the first person walked out of the store, maybe five minutes after it opened, all he had in his cart was a 46-inch television. He was cheered by those still on line for his purchase, although one man did yell out, “You should’ve got a bigger one.”

As more people came out with TVs in their carts, nervousness spread amongst those still waiting outside on line, some wondering if they should even bother going in. Others power-walked from the front of the line to the door, breaking into a jog once they entered the store. One person was so excited to finally get to the front of the line, she high-fived the Target security guard as she passed him to enter the store.

About a half hour after the store opened, the line of hundreds was gone, and so were the TVs. Rebecca Haber of Spring Valley said she got the last television in the store, although she didn’t have to fight anyone for it.

“It was really really chill in there,” she said.

This was Haber’s first Black Friday, and she said she came out specifically to purchase a television.

“I convinced my sister to come with me,” she said. “We were going to go to Best Buy, but they were already packed.”

She said she got to the Target line at about 9:30 p.m., and the store opened at midnight.

All throughout the Palisades Center people were lining up outside of stores before they opened, many at midnight as well. GameStop had a rather large line, and people were still lined up out of the store at 1:45 a.m. Abercrombie & Fitch was another store with a lengthy line before it opened at midnight. Best Buy had a line that seemed to extend around a majority of the ground floor of the mall. In the food court, Nathan’s had a line about 20 people deep a little before 2 a.m.

Not everyone showed up early to get into stores, though. Sayed Tajdar, of New City, said he got to the mall at around 12:15 a.m. He parked near Macy’s so went there first. He and a friend checked out some menswear and thought a few jackets had really good deals, but they didn’t buy them. They stopped in H&M, but it was too crowded for them. They ended up at Best Buy at around 12:45 a.m., purchasing a Playstation 3.

“We waited to get in the store maybe 15 minutes,” he said. “But once there, it was so crowded. It took like an hour to get out of there.”

Tajdar said they came to the mall because they heard there were a lot of good deals, and it was supposed to be crazy.

“We came to sightsee as much as for the deals,” he said.

Tajdar noted that it wasn’t too crazy, though. He said he thought the deals on electronics weren’t that great, and were prices you can see on the same electronics other times during the year.

“It might be worth it for the clothes, though,” he said.

He added that they came because they didn’t have much else to do, and he’d consider going to another Black Friday.

“Right now, though, hopefully we’ll just go home and get to play some video games,” he said.

Even before most places at the mall opened, one of the earliest stores to open in Rockland County was Toys “R” Us in Nanuet. The store right off Route 59 opened at 9 p.m., with a line starting to form a bit before 7:30 p.m. A few minutes before opening, the line was massive, wrapping around the side of the store on the sidewalk and then extending out past the rest of the shopping center. The last people were lined up down past the last store in the center, the Golden Dragon restaurant.

Toys “R” Us also let people into the store in groups of about 50, and within 20 minutes of opening, a few hundred people were inside, where arrows and workers were there to direct customers to whichever aisles they wanted to get to. One employee wore balloons and directed people which lines were the ones with cashiers.

Mariead Young of Suffern got on line at about 7:30 p.m., making her one of the first 20 people there. She said she’s been coming to the store’s Black Friday sale for the past four years.

“It’s the one chance I get to shop without the kids,” she said.

She was there picking up gifts for her three children and said inside everything moved very smooth.

Anthony Alvardo, of Nyack, purchased a PS3 and some games. He said it was “crazy” inside because of all the people, especially in the games section. But he added that everyone was nice and weren’t bothering each other.

Jennifer Cunnane of New City wasn’t planning on going out for Black Friday. After Thanksgiving dinner, she was reading and saw some of the deals at the store.

“It was like 8:30 at that point, and since it’s right down the road I figured I could get here pretty quickly,” she said.

She got there by about 8:45 p.m., heading to the back of the line, passed Golden Dragon, and added that people near her were having fun making jokes with each other. While it was very busy inside, she said it was very organized. She said this was her first Black Friday shopping experience.

“It worked out for me,” she said. “I don’t think I’ll ever do it again, though.”

Conversely, Karen Wylie of Seneca Falls and her mother, Nancy Kraus of West Nyack, know their way around a Black Friday sale. Wylie said she’s been shopping on Black Friday for 10 years, and Kraus said she’s been shopping on them for more than 30 years.

They were getting gifts for Wylie’s children, and once they got into the store, Wylie went and got exactly what she needed while her mother got a spot on a line with one of the cashiers.

“People like getting good deals,” Kraus said. “But it’s also all about the hunt. It’s fun to go shopping like this.”

Wylie said she didn’t like that the store opened so early, though.

“It doesn’t seem too fair to the workers,” she said. “We tried to thank all of them while we were in there for working and for their help. But it’s not even Black Friday anymore with all these places opening up on Thursday.”

After the toy store, the two were off to Target and Bed Bath and Beyond, where they didn’t have much in mind for things to get.

“Maybe a coffee maker," Wylie said.

While they went off to other stores, the line continued out the door and around the building for Toys “R” Us. At 10:30 p.m., the line was still well into the shopping center. As one man walked out of the store, bag in hand, he lifted his head and looked up, allowing the slight breeze to run up against his cheek as he said, “Ah, it’s good to be outside again.”

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