As of Friday, November 25, 2011
© Copyright 2013
Albany Herald
A line of carts and shoppers encircle Target during last year’s Black Friday. Lines are expected to be at least as long this year and may begin as early as midnight or 9:00 p.m. on Thanksgiving evening at some area stores.
ALBANY — ALBANY — Many retailers opened their doors earlier than ever to allow shoppers access to Black Friday deals as hordes of eager consumers flocked through the metro area hoping to get great holiday deals just as soon as the first official day of the Christmas shopping season kicked off.
At Target, people began camping out early Thursday afternoon in preparation for the store’s midnight opening. Reports from people who were stuck in line surfaced on Facebook that the store began letting people in, 50 at a time, as early as 11:20 p.m. Thursday to help ease congestion.
At Sears, store employees said there was a surge of customers when the doors opened at 4 a.m. Friday.
One loss-prevention worker, who had the dubious task of serving as gatekeeper for a large, chain-link cage filled with some of the more popular and high-dollar items such as digital cameras and gaming systems, said the early-morning crowds forced her inside the cage.
“When we opened I was on the outside, but with all the people and the little bit of space, I thought I’d be safer in here,” she quipped.
By 6:30 a.m., the store had already sold out of several varieties of cameras and was turning away customers looking for popular gaming system bundles, like the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 with Kinect after having sold out of those as well.
Tell us about your Black Friday experience. Blog and comment on this story and post your Holiday photos at spotted.albanyherald.com or get social at the Herald's Facebook page at facebook.com/albanyherald
More like this story
- Black Friday looking greener ( November 19, 2011 )
- Black Friday means Thursday, too ( November 25, 2011 )
- Shopping season starts with a bang ( November 28, 2011 )
- Albany retailers gearing up earlier for holiday shoppers ( November 16, 2012 )
- Weekend is huge for our merchants ( November 24, 2011 )
Comments
VSU 1 year, 5 months ago
While these fools were camping out and standing in long lines, I was warm and cozy snoozing away in my comfortable bed.
sue 1 year, 5 months ago
It is SOO not worth the savings to deal with that crazy bad behavior. I will stay cozy and shop local stores or online.
VSU 1 year, 5 months ago
One lady in Los Angeles was pepper spraying other customers to clear the way for items she wanted. Doesn't get much crazier than that.
rock 1 year, 5 months ago
Holy Mother of God!!!! Documented proof that idiocy and stupidity cross all cultural lines. Greed and stupidity are going to destroy this nation not any foreign military. When the bigots on any side of the racial divide speak of either being the worst, replay this video, white, black, mexican are all represented.
chinaberry25 1 year, 5 months ago
Good role models for their children. Next week they will be in school doing the same thing.
GeorgiaAl 1 year, 5 months ago
That one elderly lady in the blue outfit should have been given a gift certificate for behaving like a civilized, courteous human being. Guess politeness is its own reward. Wouldn't want to be standing in a breadline with these folks....
JustAnotherVoice 1 year, 5 months ago
Jesus is so proud of how his birthday has begun
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