Black Friday: The morning rounds in Washington County
Nov 23, 2012 (Menafn - The Oregonian - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --Many of the discounters, such as Toys 'R Us and Target, which had sales that began at 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. respectively, were pretty mellow this morning.
But some retailers seemed able to sustain the crowds. The parking lot of the Beaverton Kohl's was as packed at 7 a.m. as it had been at 2 a.m. (yes, I drove by the lot both times).
And at J.C. Penney's, which opened at 6 a.m., the small crowds that had waited for the oddest Black Friday opening -- no Thursday night and later
than its usual 4 a.m. -- all seemed to dash for the
discounted boots or 8 griddles.
"I'd rather shop online than get pressed in like that," said one shopper pulling herself out of a dense crowd of shoppers edging their way into a small corner of the store to try on and track down boots, ranging in price from 15 to 40. While some shoppers dove in, others stood along the perimeter and directed their loves via cell phone into the swarm.
Alison Brown, 31, and Dawn Young, 35, stood outside the Penney's store at Washington Square after having hit Old Navy on Thursday and Fred Meyer at 5 a.m. They took a short nap in between their sprees.
"I just wish they'd all open at the same time, whether it's on Thanksgiving night or early on Friday," said Brown, who was after a pair of boots for 25 and a Crock Pot for 8. "This is exhausting."
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which saw several dozen protestors at its Eastport Plaza store on Thursday evening, trumpeted its Happy Black Friday around 6:30 a.m., less than a half hour after J.C. Penney's had begun its hoopla.
The world's largest retailer said that between it's busiest hours, from 8 p.m. to midnight on Thursday, it's U.S. stores processed nearly 10 million register, or almost 5,000 items per second.
"I'm so proud of what our more than 1.3 million associates have done to prepare and execute our Black Friday plans, giving our customers a great start to their Christmas shopping season," said Bill Simon, Walmart U.S. president and chief executive officer.
-- Laura Gunderson
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