Black Friday shoppers line up as early as Wednesday

Dearth and Coronado are in line, specifically for a Toshiba 50 inch, flat screen TV. She hoped to purchase jackets and boots.

A number of people camped outside the store overnight to be among the first into the store.

Johnson says he headed out the door after seeing the story so he could be sure he was first.

Yes, 9 a.m. Wednesday, 32 hours before Best Buy opened.

Sam Smalls, of Charleston, waited for the same TV Heyward wanted, but was let down when they sold out.

It was a team effort.

Parking near Best Buy was a premium.

“Instead of it being a Thanksgiving lunch it will be a Thanksgiving dinner”, said Hall while sitting comfortably in a chair next to his son.

“The people that are still here in line now are the ones who actually want to shop”, she said. “We just drove out here this morning and people were already here, so we stayed”.

“I normally get up around 5 to go to work, so I had the day off, so I might as well get up and come out here and get some of these sales”, said shopper Katina Jones.

Another Butler County family, Diana Koelblin and her daughter, Lindsey, 14, a freshman at Fairfield High School, said they were there to continue a tradition.

“This is part of our Thanksgiving tradition”, Ms. Stokes said. “My mom is like making an entire meal”, she said.

If Thursday at Bridgewater Falls is any indication, holiday shopping may be stronger than experts have predicted.

Ms. Stokes and Ms. Dickerson were just a few of the many who took advantage of several Black Friday sales that started on Thursday evening, filling many stores in Tyler such as Target, Toys R Us, Best Buy, Kohl’s and others.

During Thanksgiving weekend a year ago, an estimated 133.7 million holiday shoppers visited stores in-person or via the Web, according to the business group’s survey results. Another projection by global real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield predicted this year’s holiday retail sales would match last year’s 4.1 percent increase.