EARLY BIRDS GET THE BARGAINS
Shopping and stuffing on Thanksgiving Day
They spent Thanksgiving stuffing shopping bags instead of their faces.
While most New Yorkers were scarfing down turkey and pumpkin pie, others got a head start yesterday on snapping up bargains from retailers whose doors were open on Thanksgiving Day.
At Toys R Us, the line of customers waiting for the 8 p.m. opening stretched several blocks along Times Square.
Erica Williams, 32, of Brooklyn, said, “I’m looking for an Xbox and an iPod. I’m saving about $200 on the Xbox, and with the iPod bundle, I’ll save about $100.
“I’m getting all my shopping done tonight, just tonight, no Black Friday, no Cyber Monday, none of that. I’m a pro at this.’’
And this year, she won’t have to resort to paying “a homeless person to sit in line for me.’’
Heather Morden, 38, of Arkansas, said, “We had no idea it was going to be a milelong line. We’ve never done shopping like this before. It’s nuts, but fun.”
Sophia Deer, 29, her husband and her 22monthold daughter, Angelia, of the Rockaways, have been living at hotels since Hurricane Sandy hit.
“Since we’re staying at Times Square, we figured we’d catch some deals,” Deer said. “I thought we’d get Angelia’s mind off things.”
At Lord & Taylor, which was open most of the day, Upper East Side teacher Susan Klein said, “It was much more pleasant than going [Friday].
“In general, stores are more or less giving the same discounts both days.”
She bought ties, wallets and jewelry as holiday gifts for up to 50 percent off.
TriBeCa legal assistant Selena Couloufacos, 42, shopping at Lord & Taylor with her 10yearold son, Alexander, echoed the sentiment.
“I don’t want to do Black Friday. I just wanted to do some early shopping for my son,” she said. “It’s 30 percent off Ralph Lauren for him.”
At Aeropostale in Times Square, business was brisk as a steady stream of shoppers came in.
“Things are bustling — people aren’t just looking, they’re buying,” noted store greeter Lisandra Salgado, 20. The retailer planned to keep its doors open 24/7 through Black Friday and into the weekend, 72 hours straight.
Many stores had manageable crowds early in the day, but not Kmart on Hylan Boulevard on Staten Island, where folks were lined up well before the 6 a.m. opening for “doorbuster” sales.
Many shoppers were Sandy victims still trying to recover fromthe storm, buying up electronics, shoes, bedding and clothing.
“We lost our house, we lost everything,” said Raymond Hutchinson, 67. “All we’ve been doing is trying to get furniture, odds and ends to replace what we’ve lost.”
Black Friday itself kicked off with pumpedup crowds charging into stores at the stroke of midnight today. About 2,000 people rushed into Macy’s in Herald Square while cheering.
“It’s exciting and fun. Why not come here?” asked Ellie Cho, 25 from Manhattan. “Maybe I’ll get a good bargain while I’m looking.”
People had camped out in front of the Best Buy in Union Square to save thousands on electronics.
Carlos Rosa, 22, from the Lower East Side, purchased four HD televisions for family members.
“I’m probably saving more than a thousand dollars,” he said.
And Joana Rodriguez, 21, from Bushwick, got in line at around noon yesterday to buy her sister a new television and laptop. “I’ll save five or six hundred dollars here,” she noted.