Black Friday Officially Begins

by Laura Monteverdi, Reporter
November 23, 2012 3:33 PM


The wait is officially over for those shoppers who waited hours, and some even days, to score the best deals on Black Friday.

As soon as the clock struck midnight, eager customers bustled through the doors of Best Buy - many with checklists in hand. People spread quickly throughout the store on a mission to scoop up hot items like the XBOX 360 and the new Kindle Fire.

Several electronics were sold out within minutes.

"We got to Best Buy about 2 hours before it opened and  waited in the cold and windy weather for a TV that was out when we got here," said Jessica Frederickson, who drove from Milbank for the sale.

However she said the deals were worth the wait.

"We walked away with a TV, a Leap Pad for our kids, a slushie maker and some movies," said Frederickson.

Best Buy employees handled the crowd well by letting only small groups of shoppers in at a time and allowing a few seconds in between.

The Empire Mall also opened at midnight. Long lines streched outside of big name department stores like Old Navy as many consumers waited a lot longer than usual to make their purchase.

"It was pretty crazy. We grabbed a bunch of shirts and some scarves and then all the bottoms were $15 so we grabbed a lot of that and then we waited in line about 45 minutes to pay for it all," said Sioux Falls resident, Kaila Weihe.

Several stores offered deals as soon as you walked in the door- no purchase neccessary.

"Tillys. I went in there. They gave me a $10 giftcard right when I walked in," said shopper Tru Davidson.

As the night wore on, it was evident that the words "shop til' you drop" were more than just a saying, as many people sat outside of stores, appearing exhausted.

Other department stores, like Walmart, opened their doors earlier on Thursday evening.