A growing number of stores starting Black Friday specials on Thanksgiving evening has stolen some of the thunder from the traditionally chaotic shopping day.
Shoppers still lined up at Kailua-Kona big box stores and other retailers for doorbuster deals Thursday evening and Friday and snapped up prizes handed out to the early birds. At Target, the line stretched around the building just after meal time on Thursday and at Sports Authority, shoppers lined up to take advantage of buy-one-get-one-free specials.
But the stampede, the incivility — even the camping — seems to have faded away, with a more organized consuming public taking advantage of staggered store openings and deals spread out over two days.
“There’s no such thing as Black Friday for some anymore,” said Palisades resident Julee Robinson.
That seems like a good thing to Robinson, who isn’t thrilled with lines but was up at 4 a.m. to make Macy’s her first stop. With the buying fervor exhausted the night before, Robinson was able to cruise through, snapping up deals on towels and other items, then stopping at Target for bargain Blue Ray DVDs and 60 percent off Christmas ornaments, which she will give as gifts.
“I went and got exactly what I wanted and that was it,” she said.
Robinson resisted heading out to the malls while the turkey leftovers were still warm, a trend Kailua-Kona retailers started to embrace several years ago.
“I was not going to go out Thanksgiving Day,” she said. “I still believe Thanksgiving is a day you should spend with your family.”
Store managers reported good sales volume Friday morning, which follows a national trend of a brisk kickoff to holiday business.
“It’s been a great start to the season,” said Robert O’Meara, manager of Kmart. “The customers have been super, and our merchandise availability has been great.”
Electronics and steep price reductions on televisions, plus 30 percent off in the toy department, brought a steady stream of shoppers to Kmart, which offered Thanksgiving morning doorbusters up until 5 p.m., then started the bargains again at 7 p.m.
But buying insanity and shelves swept empty? Not really.
“The dynamic is that people are staying up later on Thursday night, and coming in later on Friday morning,” O’Meara said.
Shoppers these days are relaxed and friendly, said Fran Richardson, human resource manager for Target.
“When we used to open at 6 a.m., there would be a mad rush,” Richardson said. “People would literally run to where they were going.”
Bridgette Ganir of Kailua-Kona did much of her buying online this year. Friday morning, she was packing her trunk with items from Sports Authority and planned to do boutique shopping for items she couldn’t find online or in the big box outlets.
“A lot of things are cheap, but when you look at them and think about it, you don’t actually need them,” said Ganir, who was shopping for three boys and her husband.
Wearable technology and buy-one-get-one-free deals on shoes and balls were a big draw at Sports Authority. There were 50 people in line when the store opened Friday morning. But 80 people had been waiting the evening before.
Shoppers moved in, got just what they were looking for, then left.
“The people now know what they’re doing,” said Alvin Tayo, manager of Sports Authority. “It’s like they’re professional shoppers.”