Published: November 28, 2008 09:40 pm      

Retailers not blue on Black Friday

PRINCETON — Shoppers ready to hit the stores before dawn and filled parking lots were only two of the signs suggesting a strong start Friday for the 2008 Christmas shopping season.

While many local hunters headed for the forests in hopes of bagging a trophy buck, just as many Christmas shoppers woke early and set out on their hunt for holiday bargains and special items on sale. Several area outlets opened before sunrise to accommodate bargain hunters.

“We’ve been very busy,” said Sandra Ruble, an assistant manager with Big Lots in Princeton. “I came in at 12 noon and it’s been steady ever since I’ve been here. We opened at 6 a.m. and I was told there was a line of people halfway up the parking lot. They were waiting for us.”

Several stores opened even earlier. JC Penney at the Mercer Mall started business at 4 a.m. Many local people and visitors in town for Thanksgiving headed for area stores.

“It’s been an outstanding day,” said Manager Steve Warf. “It’s one of those shopping days when everyone’s in a good mood and out shopping with their families.”

Long lines were waiting outside the doors of other local retailers before the sun came up.

“It’s been fantastic,” said Manager Joey Scott of Kmart in Bluefield. “When we opened, we had one set of doors opened.” People who had waited right at the doors were able to enter first. Shoppers filed in for more than 17 minutes when the store opened for the first day of the Christmas retail season, she said.

“They’re still going strong,” Scott said Friday afternoon.

Good all-around conditions for shopping were helping fuel first days sales, one manager in Tazewell County, Va. said.

“We opened at 4 a.m. and there were people lined up outside the building,” said Manager Cindy Gravely of Goody’s in Bluefield, Va. “The momentum in comparison to last year is phenomenal.”

Gravely credited three factors for the crowds of shopper Friday.

“We had bargain hunters, the weather was great and lower gas prices played a part,” she said.

— Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com