Amber Green is serious about Black Friday shopping.
Joe Perrotta / Special to The Citizen
Don Podolak looks over some of the sales on Friday at the KB Toys store in the Fingerlakes Mall in Aurelius.
Don Podolak looks over some of the sales on Friday at the KB Toys store in the Fingerlakes Mall in Aurelius.
Green and her husband, Nicholas, spent an hour and a half going through store advertisements Thursday night to figure out where they could find what they were looking for at the lowest price.
She had drawn up a list of the stores to visit, prices to look for and gifts to buy while shopping with her husband and three children Friday.
“I have three kids and tons of family to buy for,” Green said. “Today has the best sales.”
Green, who works at Auburn Memorial Hospital, said she was able to get everything done so that she could leave work early to take advantage of the famous day-after-Thanksgiving sales.
Others who didn't work Friday were able to take advantage of the exclusive early morning sales at Fingerlakes Mall and larger retailers like Wal-Mart.
Greg Bulkley, manager at Bass Pro Shops, said there were about 500 people waiting outside before the doors opened at 6 a.m. on Friday. The early risers had valid reasons for coming first - Bulkley said the store ran out of several items. The store ran out of sale-item fleeces they had advertised, for instance, before 8:30 a.m., he said.
Wal-Mart began its Black Friday sales at 5 a.m. and saw the typical day-after-Thanksgiving crowd, said assistant manager Justin Saville.
For many customers, hitting the stores required strategic planning. Kelly Ripa and Nancy Buisch started shopping at 7 a.m., stopping by the earliest sales first so they would arrive before everything had been picked through. The two went into Wal-Mart planning to buy a couple of items and came out with about 20, Ripa joked.
The two are Black Friday veterans, having participated in the day-after-Thanksgiving shopping festivities for the past 13 years.
By early afternoon, they were finishing up at the Fingerlakes Mall. While Buisch said she planned to finish the majority of her Christmas shopping Friday, Ripa was anticipating several additional visits to area retailers.
For employees at the mall's various stores, the crowds were a positive sign.
Nancy Sanders, a part-time worker at KB Toys, had a long day Friday - she was scheduled to work from 4:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. handing out shopping bags and sale advertisements to customers. This was her first Christmas season working at the mall, and she said she was enjoying the experience, tending to some of the earliest shoppers anticipating the sales.
“It was really fun,” Sanders said. “People lined up and were anxious to get in.”
Kathleen Kanalley, an employee with Bath and Body Works, said she was spending a large part of the day re-stocking, which she saw as a positive sign.
“I haven't seen his many people at the mall in a very long time,” Kanalley said. “We've been re-stocking all morning. It's nice.”
The crowds were noticeable, but less intense in areas like downtown Skaneateles, where some of the shoppers were more interested in frequenting restaurants and window shopping at the various specialty shops in the area.
Many of the offices in downtown Auburn were closed Friday, but Marty Goldman, owner of the Liberty Store downtown, said the sales offered at his retail store were enough to draw customers in despite the lack of foot traffic. This is the store's 87th Black Friday, which Goldman estimated beat out most other retailers in the county.
Staff writer Anne Gleason can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 248 or at anne.gleason@lee.net
She had drawn up a list of the stores to visit, prices to look for and gifts to buy while shopping with her husband and three children Friday.
“I have three kids and tons of family to buy for,” Green said. “Today has the best sales.”
Green, who works at Auburn Memorial Hospital, said she was able to get everything done so that she could leave work early to take advantage of the famous day-after-Thanksgiving sales.
Others who didn't work Friday were able to take advantage of the exclusive early morning sales at Fingerlakes Mall and larger retailers like Wal-Mart.
Greg Bulkley, manager at Bass Pro Shops, said there were about 500 people waiting outside before the doors opened at 6 a.m. on Friday. The early risers had valid reasons for coming first - Bulkley said the store ran out of several items. The store ran out of sale-item fleeces they had advertised, for instance, before 8:30 a.m., he said.
Wal-Mart began its Black Friday sales at 5 a.m. and saw the typical day-after-Thanksgiving crowd, said assistant manager Justin Saville.
For many customers, hitting the stores required strategic planning. Kelly Ripa and Nancy Buisch started shopping at 7 a.m., stopping by the earliest sales first so they would arrive before everything had been picked through. The two went into Wal-Mart planning to buy a couple of items and came out with about 20, Ripa joked.
The two are Black Friday veterans, having participated in the day-after-Thanksgiving shopping festivities for the past 13 years.
By early afternoon, they were finishing up at the Fingerlakes Mall. While Buisch said she planned to finish the majority of her Christmas shopping Friday, Ripa was anticipating several additional visits to area retailers.
For employees at the mall's various stores, the crowds were a positive sign.
Nancy Sanders, a part-time worker at KB Toys, had a long day Friday - she was scheduled to work from 4:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. handing out shopping bags and sale advertisements to customers. This was her first Christmas season working at the mall, and she said she was enjoying the experience, tending to some of the earliest shoppers anticipating the sales.
“It was really fun,” Sanders said. “People lined up and were anxious to get in.”
Kathleen Kanalley, an employee with Bath and Body Works, said she was spending a large part of the day re-stocking, which she saw as a positive sign.
“I haven't seen his many people at the mall in a very long time,” Kanalley said. “We've been re-stocking all morning. It's nice.”
The crowds were noticeable, but less intense in areas like downtown Skaneateles, where some of the shoppers were more interested in frequenting restaurants and window shopping at the various specialty shops in the area.
Many of the offices in downtown Auburn were closed Friday, but Marty Goldman, owner of the Liberty Store downtown, said the sales offered at his retail store were enough to draw customers in despite the lack of foot traffic. This is the store's 87th Black Friday, which Goldman estimated beat out most other retailers in the county.
Staff writer Anne Gleason can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 248 or at anne.gleason@lee.net
