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November 28, 2009

Black Friday deals draw crowds

By Aaron Wright

The appeal of $9 vacuums, $180 laptops and other doorbuster deals drew crowds to the busy doors of Norman retailers this Black Friday.

Debbie Hannah, from Wayne, left her house at 2 a.m. to drive to Norman and shop. She said she started at CVS Pharmacy, then went to Sears at 4 a.m.

"We drove through the Wal-Mart parking lot and said 'no,' Hannah said, commenting on the traffic in the store's parking lot. By 5 a.m., she was tired of the sea of people and was waiting until the shoppers thinned before buying iTunes gift cards from Target.

Josh Bookout, a Norman college student, set his alarm early to get to Wal-Mart as a favor to his cousin, who needed help obtaining a present for his wife. Since he was already up and going, Bookout decided to shop the doorbusters at the Sooner Mall.

Moore High School students Candice Banetten, Kinsey Neece and Ashley Nichols also got an early start to their morning, hitting Sears at 4 a.m. and shopping the other stores in Sooner Mall that opened their doors early.

The three girls were first-time Black Friday shoppers; they decided to join in the chaos of the day just to see what the hype was about. They found good deals while, shopping, though, getting lotions for the mothers and other items.

As for next year, the girls were skeptical about whether the prices were worth the sacrifice of sleep.

"I'll probably get up early, but not as early as I did this year," Banetten said.

The tenacity of these early morning shoppers paled in comparison to the overnight campers at Norman's Best Buy. Some of the leaders in the line said they had arrived at 3:30 p.m. Thursday to secure their purchase of a laptop on sale.

Best Buy manager Kelly Windom said when she arrived the line was wrapped around the building to the street with customers waiting for appliance deals. She said the laptops sold in high numbers, along with computer packages, refrigerators and laundry appliances.

She also said the store was busier this year than last year, which she commented was a good sign for the store.

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