Nov 23, 2007 11:01 am US/Central
North Texas Electronics Stores Jammed
PLANO (AP) ―
David Shapiro has been doing this so long, he's adopted a bunch of other shopping crazies who camp out each year in front of Best Buy for the Friday-after-Thanksgiving sale.
"This is my fifth year," said Shapiro, who staked his place first in line by showing up at 6 p.m. -- on Wednesday.
"It's worth it because of all the people I've gotten to know," he said. "We keep in touch. We do each other's birthdays."
Others behind Shapiro chimed in that his parents delivered Thanksgiving dinner the night before. They also swore that two or three tents caught fire overnight from propane heaters used to stave off the cold.
Then the gate covering the front door rumbled into action, and all conversation ceased. The time for chit chat was over.
At the stroke of 5 a.m., Shapiro -- who planned to drop $1,500 to $2,000 inside -- led a charge of several hundred shoppers straight for the laptops, GPS devices, big-screen TVs and other swag that had been advertised at deep sale prices.
Electronics stores were busy Friday even though they had no new game consoles or other gadgets to sell this year. The closest thing might be Nintendo's Wii, which debuted a year ago but has been scarce ever since, making it a coveted find.
Shoppers peering through the window of a GameStop in Dallas counted 20 Wii boxes as they waited for the store to open. Sonya Rodrigue asked each person in line how many they planned to buy, until she was confident of getting one or maybe two.
"I'm not going to wait in line for a $200 discount, but I'll wait in line for something I can't get anywhere else," she said.
The mood was sedate at the Macy's in NorthPark Center, a stately Dallas mall. A couple dozen people milled around, waiting for the 6 a.m. opening.
Store employees let shoppers in 10 minutes early. By 5:57 a.m., some were already leaving empty-handed.
Mall department stores seemed to be on the wrong side of the gift divide this holiday season.
Last week, Plano-based J.C. Penney Co. cut its profit forecast for the crucial holiday quarter. Chief Executive Mike Ullman called this "a very difficult selling environment," with consumers growing more pessimistic because of the weak housing market and the psychological effect of higher gasoline prices.
Sandy Langwell and her daughter, Megan, emerged from Macy's on Friday with a set of luggage, a wine cooler and a digital picture frame. Sandy said she would spend about the same amount on gifts as last year.
"We'll give up other things to pay for the gas," she said. "We want to keep up the tradition of gift-giving."
Back at the Best Buy in Plano, employees cheered for Albert Chavez and his daughter, Carolyne, the first shoppers to emerge from the store with their purchases. He was carrying an Xbox 360, and she was cradling a Guitar Hero game.
They had been to CompUSA for a digital camera on Thanksgiving night, and were rushing to the car and plotting their next move.
"I always say we won't do it this year," Chavez said, "but we keep coming back."
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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