Charlotte Shoppers Get Early Start to Holiday Season; Lines Are Long on Black Friday

Charlotte, N.C. -- Who said that we were in an economic recession?

This seems like the magic question to ask since no such thing stopped anxious shoppers from hopping out of their cozy beds in the middle of the night to get a head start on both holiday and personal shopping, and taking advantage of the huge discounts on merchandise offered by retailers on Black Friday.

Wal-Mart offered several "doorbuster" sale items, including big-screen televisions of varying sizes, laptop computers with varying features, global positioning systems (GPS), housewares, digital photo frames, as well as children's toys and bicycles. The sale was to begin at 5 am in most locations. Since some Wal-Mart locations are open 24 hours a day, consumers were allowed to enter the store at whatever time they wanted; however, the sale prices were not honored until 5 am.

Many shoppers were determined to get the items they came to Wal-Mart for-so determined, in fact, that they began arriving around 1:00 am.

Long lines accumulated at several Wal-Mart locations for the flat-screen televisions, laptop computers, and GPS systems. At most locations, the quantities of doorbuster items were limited, and were handed to consumers on a first-come, first-serve basis. There were about 20 flat-screen TVs in stock, 30 laptop computers, and about 40 GPS systems at each Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart offered several of its Black Friday deals online as well, with shipping for only 97 cents. Some smart shoppers took advantage of this by awaking early to log on to their computers before items were out of stock.

Even with all the demand for doorbuster items, shopping was relatively diplomatic on Black Friday. The experienced Black Friday shoppers were well aware that they needed to arrive (or get online) early in order to have a better chance at getting the items they wanted.

By 6:00 am, most doorbuster items at Wal-Mart had been purchased, and happy shoppers were well on their way to the next deal. Those who were not able to take advantage of the sales this year now know what they have to do when the next Black Friday comes around. Start early!