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There were obstacles to face Black Friday, including bigger crowds and the rise in unemployment, but no one had to worry about getting hurt.
Major retailers invested in safety check-ins this year to prevent shopping-spree tragedies, such as the 2008 Black Friday fatal trampling of a Wal-Mart security guard in Long Island, N.Y. The 1675 S. Columbus Blvd. store did not close Thanksgiving night — rolling into business the next day while eliminating the door-buster rush — but the extra security, who were hired to control the lines, gave customers a 10-minute wait to hit the aisles Nov. 27.
Security guard Herb Dodds worked from 11 p.m. to late morning Black Friday at the discount department store that offered a Magnavox Blu-ray Disc Player for $78, a 7-inch Philips Portable DVD Player for $49 and a LeapFrog Learn & Groove Musical Table for $19 to early-morning shoppers.
"It’s been really tame so far," the West Deptford, N.J., resident said of the 5:15 a.m. crowd. "I think they’re all crazy. I just don’t see the point of getting out of bed at the crack of dawn."
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Nearby, two to three police officers kept order at Best Buy, 2300 S. Columbus. The national electronics store compensated the City for the police presence.
"We’ve always had the officers here," General Manager Garrett Hetrick said. "We’ve have always provided ourselves with the necessary protection to keep our customers safe."
Officer Phil Muscarnero, of the 4th District, said the biggest problem since his shift had started at 3 a.m. last Friday was how frequently the line bunched up outside the store.
"One person sits in line, while 15 others wait in the car, and then they want to all jump in front at the end," Muscarnero said.
Carlos Rosado, a 13-year Black Friday shopping veteran, said opening the doors to a wave of manic shoppers is never worth the rush — adrenaline or otherwise.
"It’s really not fun. They will do anything to get what they want," the North Philadelphia resident said of his fellow consumers.
The 15-minute wait to get inside wasn’t a big deal, he said; it was the prowling scalpers who were the real annoyance. One seller, who asked to remain anonymous, paced the line of a 1,000 people at Best Buy, offering tickets for $50 he claimed were redeemable for door-buster deals.
"I was out here since 10 p.m. to get these tickets," he said of the store that opened its doors at 5 a.m. "I bet you won’t get one."
Once inside, customers had the option of shopping for regular-priced items or waiting in another line to redeem their tickets for door-busters such as a 46-inch Samsung HDTV, a 15-inch Sony Laptop and a Garmin nuvi 205w GPS. Hetrick said the second line was strictly for electronics.
"We were trying to keep everything orderly, without confusion. We didn’t want anyone to get hurt," he said.
Shopper Darrie Ponn hit the double-whammy when she went to buy a laptop last Friday.
"They have lines everywhere," the resident of Fourth and Jackson streets said with a hint of frustration.
At 1 Mifflin St., customers scrambled to get inside Target’s doors for its 5 a.m. opening to grab door-busters such as a Chefmate 12-cup coffee maker for $3, and Apple 8GB iPod Nano (that came with a $15 store gift card) for $145 and Blu-ray movies like "The Wizard of Oz," "Batman" and "Gone with the Wind" for $12.99.
Stephanie Trottnow, of 17th and Ritner streets, was up early because she wanted to scoop up holiday gifts for her four kids. Although her biggest Black Friday pet peeve is a store out of an advertised item, she was still hyped to fill her cart with toys and HDTVs.
"We didn’t even do coffee yet," she said of her early-morning adventure.
The day after Thanksgiving traditionally has been the biggest shopping day of the year. Experts argue the day’s sales reflect the season’s success. Research this year’s has had mixed results.
ShopperTrak RCT Corp.’s data showed spending inched up 0.5 percent from last year, reaching $10.66 billion. The increase is less when compared to the 3 percent boost stores enjoyed in ’08 over ’07.
The National Retail Federation, an umbrella group representing 1.6 million stores, said sales weren’t spread evenly across the weekend. The federation’s survey said 195 million shoppers visited stores and Web sites for holiday deals — 23 million more than last year — but the per person spending average dropped from $372.57 to $343.31.
The numbers match up with the loss of jobs. The state’s unemployment rate soared from 5.8 percent in October 2008 to 8.8 percent a year later, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Despite this, Web marketing group Coremetrics claimed more shoppers were at home last Friday, surfing for deals online. Their data said $170.19 was spent on the average online purchase, compared to $126.04 from the previous year.
Cyber Monday, traditionally the Monday after Thanksgiving when consumers take advantage of employers’ faster computers to shop, sparked as much online spending as Black Friday, according to Coremetrics. As of 6:30 p.m. Nov. 30, the organization said sales jumped by 11 percent from ’08.
Cyber Monday, the day that caps the Thanksgiving weekend, is known for having the highest online purchases of the year.
