Thanksgiving shopping got off to a slow start, but by evening shoppers stood in long lines, waiting in the cold for holiday bargains. Black Friday, however, saw droves of shoppers before sunrise.
A few stores opened early on Thanksgiving Day, Meijer and Big Lots among them. Meijer’s doors were open before the sale prices started, and customers made their way inside out of the cold to fill their carts and wait before checking out for the prices to be official at 6 a.m. The only indication that this was anything other than an ordinary shopping day were the short lines for specialty items throughout the store.
Big Lots, just fifteen minutes before opening, had a scattering of less than a dozen cars in the parking lot.
In contrast, Thursday evening saw long lines and packed parking lots. In Ontario, Walmart customers filled every parking space in the shopping complex. At Walmart’s Possum Run location, customers parked in the grass and even double parked some spaces.
Greg Foote, Kelsey Foote, and David Lykins of Shelby had waited 28 hours, and still had two to go before Target opened its doors to Thanksgiving shoppers. The group hoped to get three televisions, a coffee maker, headphones, and a camera.
Greg Foote said this is his fifth year of waiting for holiday deals. Experience paid off – not only was he first in line, he had a small propane heater and had even used a cot during his wait. Thanksgiving dinner, dropped off by familiy, was eaten in line.
Kenyonne Moxley of Columbus, another holiday shopping veteran, was next in line and had made fast friends with the group. Moxley hoped to buy a television, a camera, headphones, and a carpet cleaner.
Moxley said, “I’m originally from Mansfield, and I came home to see family. I always do my Black Friday shopping here.”
Standing in long lines in the frigid cold became a bonding experience for many Thanksgiving shoppers, “This is my first Black Friday and I’m all by myself, but I made friends,” said Stephany Bailey of her fellow shoppers Rose Adkins and Kim Willis.
“We’ve adopted each other,” replied Adkins.
Most Thanksgiving shoppers referred to the sales events as Black Friday. “It’s Black Friday, just early,” said one shopper that refused to be identified and apologized by saying, “I’m skipping work.”
Many stores opened Thanksgiving evening and remained open overnight, and still had full parking lots this morning.
Some stores that opened early this morning saw long lines, but shoppers were in good spirits.
“They treat you good here,” noted Ben Cheek, of Mansfield, Friday morning at Home Depot,” They bring you food and coffee.”
Rachel Hale, Crystal Decker, and Allison Radcliff, all of Bucyrus, joked with fellow shoppers Lynn and Woody Mount, of Mansfield, as they waited outside Menards in Ontario. They were all in search of the same item, Pillow Pets, and teased each other about who would be first to the display.
Not all Black Friday consumers had been shopping on Thanksgiving.
“It is sad,” Lynn Wood said of stores being open on Thanksgiving, “It takes away from family time. That’s another reason we like this store [Menards]. They made it a point not to work on Thanksgiving, so we figured we’d support them.”
“This is my first Black Friday and I’m all by myself, but I made friends,” said Stephany Bailey.
