Midlands retailers reported larger Black Friday crowds than last year, and early reports nationally pointed to potentially renewed spending vigor, but it's too early to know whether post-Thanksgiving shoppers spent more money.
A handful of stores were open on the holiday, but most opened just after midnight or in the early hours Friday with deep discounts on many products, from Cabbage Patch Kids to laptop computers.
Customers started lining up earlier, and the lines stretched longer, than in 2008, according to many Omaha-Council Bluffs area retailers. Last year's holiday shopping season registered one of the worst sales declines in decades because of the recession and falling home and portfolio values.
Retailers said “door buster” sale items were selling out, as expected, and they were surprised by the popularity of some items. For example, the Snuggie, a blanket with sleeves costing $9.99, flew off the shelves at one K-Mart faster than an employee could restock, said Tom Aiello, spokesman for Sears and K-Mart.
“It's like the little door buster that could,” Aiello said.
Brenda Ahlers, a 24-year-old mother of two who lives in Louisville, Neb., said she didn't stay up all night Thursday for fun.
The nursing home clerk and her husband, Gabe Ahlers, 31, a detailer at Manheim Auto Auction, have less money to spend because their work hours were cut during the last year. They also face pay freezes in the months ahead, said Brenda, who shivered and clasped a blanket around her shoulders outside an Omaha ShopKo at 4:20 a.m. Friday.
“I couldn't care less about the experience,” she said. “It's just to save money.”
The couple, who usually spend $500 on holiday gifts, plan to spend about $100 less this year, she said. Brenda said she and her husband have saved as much as $1,200 on Black Friday deals.
Many analysts have predicted that total holiday sales will be, at best, even with a year ago, but Friday's large crowds nationwide boosted optimism.
“I've talked to all the managers, and they've been very positive,” said Ted Harris, Oak View Mall general manager.
Mall workers quickly handed out most of the mall's free gift tote bags after opening at 6 a.m., and department store anchors that opened at 4 a.m. had long lines by 3 a.m., Harris said.
Some people pitched tents at Nebraska Furniture Mart on Thanksgiving Day awaiting the 7 a.m. Friday opening.
By 4 a.m. at the Target store in Norfolk, Neb., there was a long, snaking line of shoppers awaiting the 5 a.m. opening.
Aiello said lines at Nebraska Sears and K-Mart stores averaged 200 to 300 people, which he characterized as a slight increase from last year. One line at a Des Moines store had about 1,500 people, he said.
By 6:30 a.m. Friday, Sears stores nationally sold out of a Kenmore high-efficiency laundry washer and dryer set, advertised as a $579 door buster. A Craftsman drill for $39.99 also was a big seller, along with other tools, Aiello said.
“I think some of the home items are a bit of a surprise,” he said. “We're running out of things like down comforters.”
Aiello said that customers at both stores were grabbing door busters and immediately heading to layaway. People seemed to be shopping longer, he said.
Tony Valencia, manager of the Sears store at Oak View Mall, said he was surprised at how big-ticket items seemed to sell better than in past years. At his store, full-price computer game systems were selling as well as flat-screen televisions, many of which were discounted, he said.
“We're ahead of last year already in sales,” he said.
Cindi Horning, a ShopKo district manager stationed at the store at 144th Street and West Center Road, said she was pleased with the Friday turnout.
“We had more people lined up earlier than I think we have in the past,” she said. “It's a lot busier than last year. We're so pleased.”
One of the definitions of the term Black Friday is that it's the day when sales push stores into “the black,” or profitability. At ShopKo, for example, Black Friday sales are seven to 10 times more than an average sales day, Horning said.
This year the discount retailer offered 70 percent more door busters than in past years, Horning said. Toys and TVs were the top sellers at the 144th and West Center ShopKo. A 6-foot stack of $9.99 Cabbage Patch Kids dolls dwindled to about 4 feet in only 15 minutes.
“Madhouse,” one woman sang in the rush.
ShopKo customers present for the 5 a.m. opening walked calmly but briskly into the store. Red velvet ropes directed traffic.
Omaha-area store managers said shoppers seemed pleasant and calm this year, but Brenda and Gabe Ahlers, the Louisville couple, said they saw a woman shout at someone she perceived to be cutting in line at an Omaha Younkers shortly after 3:30 a.m.
Tina Grauf, an Omaha native now in Otsego, Minn., who was visiting family in Nebraska, said some Walmart shoppers at the store around 4 a.m. ripped into plastic-covered palettes of toys before employees could open them.
Overall, the selection and sale prices weren't as good this year, said Grauf, who waited in line for an hour at Village Pointe's Scheels store.
Lines at the checkouts at Scheels' north and south entrances for much of the morning ran the length of the store. Grauf, while disappointed elsewhere, said she was pleased with her purchases of $20 hooded sweatshirts.
Dave Lofreddo, general manager at Best Buy at Village Pointe, said the clear weather — temperatures started near 30 degrees and warmed with sunny skies to about 60 — helped draw an opening crowd that was twice last year's.
Laptap computers, flat-screen televisions, GPS devices and digital reading devices were standouts, he said.
The prices of flat-screen TVs have declined in recent months, which helped numerous retailers Friday, but all weren't bought to give as gifts.
Todd Laird of Bellevue bought a 32-inch TV at a Target store at sunrise and had it mounted by midmorning to watch the Husker-Colorado game.
Laird said fellow shoppers were social but secretive.
“They were getting hot deals and they didn't want to tip anyone else off,” he said.
Shopping at the Village Pointe Best Buy, Rochele Rath, 42, of Pisgah, Iowa, scored a 32-inch LCD flat-screen for $299. She said she and her husband are “just not splurging” like in the past, because his motel business has suffered.
Amie Konwinski, 37, of Omaha filled her cart at Toys R Us near Oak View Mall with about $80 worth of toys but said she also is scaling back. Her extended family agreed to eliminate the adult gift exchange, and she and her husband aren't buying each other gifts so they can give more to their five children and to charities.
She planned to spend about the same amount as last year, just differently.
“It makes you want to cut back, even though we're not feeling the economy,” she said.
Marshal Cohen, chief retail industry analyst at NPD Group Inc., said the Black Friday turnout has given hope to retailers nationwide.
“So far, we are seeing that consumers are willing to spend a little more than what was on their intended list,” Cohen said.
World-Herald News Service reporters Jerry Guenther and Debra Dowling contributed to this report, which also includes material from the Associated Press.
Contact the writer:
444-1183, christine.laue@owh.com
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