The Denver Post
All over Colorado, tousled-hair shoppers – many clutching newspaper circulars – early Friday morning crushed into mass discounters in search of “doorbuster” specials on toys, consumer electronics and computer gear.
Although most stores weren’t filled, some were. And a few people lined up as early as 1:30 a.m. to get the best deals before their chosen items sold out.
The crush of shoppers created odd scenes: Rush-hour traffic was headed not to the office centers of downtown Denver and the Denver Tech Center, but to places like the Park Meadows Mall and large “big box” stores on South Quebec Street in Highlands Ranch.
Also curious were the masses of people assembled at 5 a.m. in certain places – the Circuit City in Highlands Ranch, for example – next to desolate stores like an empty (and as-yet-unopened) Babies R Us.
Locally, Colorado’s retail sector is expected to enjoy sales that are 5 percent to 6 percent higher in 2005 than in 2004. That’s the same forecast predicted nationally.
However, relatively high energy prices could dampen buyers’ enthusiasm, experts say.
At the Circuit City in Highlands Ranch, hundreds of people waited for the store to open in a darkened parking lot lit only by the headlights of arriving cars and by a crescent moon shining in the southeast sky.
Here’s what The Post encountered:
11:15 a.m.
Twenty anti-fur protestors carried signs on the sidewalk in front of Neiman-Marcus saying “Faux Fur Fabulous People,” Denver Post staff writer Beth Potter reports.
Recently, protestors say they won a victory by persuading Nordstrom to sell only faux fur, not real fur. They want to persuade Neiman to do the same.
The protesters also collected furs from people wanting to turn them in and ease their conscience. While the Post was there, one woman turned in a fur stole.
10:15 a.m., Denver
The biggest selling products at the Foley’s store at Cherry Creek heaviest seller were shoes.
“The shoe department looks a tornado went through it,” Denver Post staff writer Beth Potter reports. “A store manager was going through picking up the trash with a huge plastic bag.”
Twenty to 30 women shopped for shoes at mid-morning.
9:30 a.m., Glendale
Five megapixel cameras, which first went on sale at 6 a.m., were still available at the SuperTarget, Denver Post staff writer Beth Potter writes.
Besides the cameras, shoppers also sought out Xbox game players (unavailable since Tuesday), Ipods and a new GameBoy machine.
Most shoppers were in the electronics department, rather than the toy department.
11 a.m., Aurora
Pam Moore, 27, and Michelle Lavigne, 38, sat at the food court at the Towne Center at Aurora, formerly Aurora Mall, with their bags spread around them, Denver Post staff writer Tom McGhee reports.
The duo started at 5 a.m. at Kohl’s, then traveled to Wal-Mart, to Target, to Walgreen’s and Toys R Us.
“By the time I spoke to them, Moore had spent $500 and Lavigne spent $400,” McGhee reports.
Moore averages $900 to $1,000 in spending a year, and expects to do about the same in 2005. Lavigne has 40 people on her Christmas list, and she usually spends $1,800 to $2,000.
This year, she expects to spend less, because she left the Colorado Department of Health to take on a business with her husband.
The hot seller at the mall’s Disney Store was the Princess Vanity, which sells for $70. The store’s 12 units were sold out by 10 a.m., which is quick for a relatively big-ticket item, manager Laura Fettes said.
“Sales are very hot today,” said Lisa Buchanan, assistant manager.
At Fast-Fix Jewelery Repairs, a mall kiosk, business was non-existent.
“They come into shop at early bird,” said the retailer’s Seth Tran. “Every year is the same.” Few people come in for repairs at this time of year, he said.
Fast-Fix does get some business just before the Christmas rush, he said.
10:30 a.m., Silverthorne
Banana Republic and Tommy Hilfiger opened at 5 a.m. at The Outlets at Silverthorne, 145-L Stephens Way. People pulled on the doors at the Coach store at 6 a.m. even though it didn’t open until 8 a.m., Denver Post staff writer Margaret Jackson reports, quoting store employees.
“It’s not a madhouse, but it’s getting pretty crowded,” she says of traffic at the outlet centers.
Wednesday was really busy at the Ralph Lauren store. It hit its goal by 3 p.m., then went way over it. “It was busy. It was insane,” said “Jack,” a salesworker who intends to buy many gifts there because employees get a 40 percent merchandise discount.
Craig Cox, of Denver, and father-in-law Dick Bateman, bought “a whole bunch of stuff” for Cox’s wife at the outlet center’s Pearl Izumi store. They shopped early so they could ski Breckenridge later this morning.
Sales were three times what they were at this time of day last year, said Scott Kreider at the Great Outdoor Clothing Co. People were buying more ski clothing for themselves than Christmas present, he said.
Annette Huckabee from St. Louis, staying at a condo in Frisco, stopped in Pearl Izumi to buy bike pants and jackets for a ride today. “We’re skiing tomorrow,” she said.
She was doing no holiday shopping.
10:15 a.m., Thornton
Sears Grand, 16395 Washington St. in the just-opened Larkridge Shopping Center on Interstate 25, had more than 200 in line when it opened at 6 a.m. because of a special giftcard giveaway, Denver Post staff writer Kelly Yamanouchi reports. Tools and electronics sold briskly.
Traffic was still pretty busy four hours later, and the parking lot was crowded considering the store’s distance from populated areas, Yamanouchi reports.
“Because we’re out in the middle of nowhere, a lot of people are going out in the metro areas where they can hit three or four stores at once,” said Arden Heilbut assistant general manager of applianes and electronics.
9:50 a.m., Northglenn
Old Navy, a clothing retailer, was busier than the other stores at Northglenn Marketplace, West 106th Avenue at Huron Street, Denver Post staff writer Kelly Yamanouchi reports.
The store featured velour hoodies at around $10 apiece.
“The line was (through the store and) back to the wall. We just turned around,” said one frustrated shopper Nancy Borho, 33, who works in sales.
There also were good crowds at Mervyn’s store, which is closing in February, Yamanouchi reports.
At the Lowe’s store, shopper Angie Sanders said she was out today because “we wanted to do as much as we could before we get out gas bill in December.”
9:45 a.m., Aurora
Costco, 1471 S. Havana, opened at 9 a.m. and had 130 people come through the doors, more than the 50 that’s typical every morning, Donna Grohan, a member-services employee, told Denver Post staff writer Tom McGhee.
“It gets better every year,” said Grohan, 76, who has worked at the warehouse club for 16 years.
The store’s manager told McGhee that electronics are the biggest sellers, though he declined to say which for fear of offending vendors.
Stephen Lopez, 25, a Costco salesperson, said Pentax Optio S60 six megapixel cameras were selling briskly at $199 with a coupon. And “everybody wants their Ipod for Christmas,” he said.
One customer, Sandy Rodriguez, 28, told McGhee she started her day at 5 a.m. at Wal-Mart, went to Target at 6 a.m., then went home to drop off what she bought and stopped for breakfast at Denny’s. “Because you need fuel,” she said.
At 9 a.m., she was in the line at Costco, McGhee reports. By 9:15, she maneuvered a Hewlett Packard computer into a cart already crowded with DVD boxed sets and other items.
Rodriguez expects to spend $400, more than last year. That’s primarily because last year she was a student at the University of California at San Diego; now she’s a nurse for Denver Health.
The computer is for herself, she told McGhee. The other items are gifts.
Look out: Rodriguez also may go shopping tomorrow, too.
9:35 a.m., Lakewood
The Dollar Tree store at the JCRS Shopping Center, 6601 W. Colfax Ave., saw just a trickle of shoppers even though the store opened an hour early. Everything in the store sells for $1, so the discounting that takes place elsewhere doesn’t apply to it, manager Ben Orf told Denver Post staff writer Aldo Svaldi.
The store is selling holiday-themed merchandise like wrapping paper, plate sets and candles, Svaldi reports.
9:10 a.m., Lakewood
Gordman’s at Westland Shopping Center, 10755 W. Colfax Ave., was running early-bird specials till 10 a.m., and people who buy $50 or more between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. get to pop a balloon containing gift cards from $10 to $50, Denver Post staff writer Aldo Svaldi reports.
“Our comforter sets sold out, and are our poker chips are right behind,” store greeter Vicki Hoffman said.
9 a.m., Lakewood
The Sears store at 10705 W. Colfax Ave. in the Westland Shopping Center opened at 6 a.m. and gave out free $10 gift cards to the first 200 customers, Denver Post staff writer Aldo Svaldi reports.
Three hours later, “the store is pretty busy, and the lot is three-quarters full,” Svaldi reports.
Sears ran specials on Craftsman cordless drills, $29.99 vs. $39.99; 1,000 watt tripod lights, $19.99 vs. $39.99; 83-piece mechanic’s toolset, $39.99 vs. $69.99, and Kenmore appliances were priced at 20 percent off until 11 a.m. Additionally, fashion jewelry is on sale for 50 percent off.
8:50 a.m., Colorado Springs
Monica Settoe, 25, a stay-at-home mom, along with her aunt, Stephanie Bond, had been in Wal-Mart at 8250 Razorback Road for about an hour and a half, Denver Post staff writer Kimberly Johnson reports.
Settoe bought a 13-inch Dora the Explorer TV and DVD player for her three daughters. This was her first time coming out shopping on Black Friday, she told Johnson. She was concerned there weren’t going to be enough on the shelf, but there ended up being plenty.
“This year, I’m spending less,” Settoe said, noting that she’s going out earlier in the season and getting better prices as a consequence.
Bond, a nursing assistant, is the big Christmas person in the family, she says. “I planned to come out on this day, and every year I come out on this day.” She says she’ll spend the same amount as last year.
The duo also looked at perfumes and colognes on one of Wal-Mart’s discount aisles.
A lot of Wal-Mart’s lowest prices are available only until 11 a.m., a clerk said.
Outside in Wal-mart’s parking lot, a man in his late 20s or early 30s sold random items – microbead pillows in the shape of stuffed animals, snowman ornaments and a cordless iron – out of the trunk of his green Honda.
The man declined to give his name.
8:15 a.m., Lakewood
People camped out beginning at 11 p.m. at the Best Buy, 1400 Denver West Boulevard, Dee Anne Holman, general manager, told Denver Post staff writer Aldo Svaldi.
By 5 a.m., when the store opened, 700 people streamed in.
They bought plasma screen TVs with 42-inch flat screens for $999 apiece (sold out), $379 Toshiba notebook computers (sold out) portable DVD player for $69.99 (sold out); and 20-inch LCD TVs for $287.99 (sold out).
“The rush hasn’t stopped,” Holman said. Svaldi noted the Best Buy parking lot is still full.
Izzat Mizam told Svaldi he bought a computer hard drive for 40 percent off. Mizam’s friend, Daniel Shahperi, bought a stack of blank DVDs for $2.99. Both are students at the Colorado School of Mines.
7:42 a.m., Frisco
The Wal-Mart store, 840 N. Summit Boulevard, had 50 laptops that were priced less than $100, and those were gone in minutes, the store’s manager tells Denver Post staff writer Margaret Jackson.
One cashier saw a person leave with six DVD players. “It was nuts in here” at 5 a.m. said the cashier, “Lynn,” who lives in Leadville and got up at 3 a.m. to come to work today.
By 7:40 a.m., when the Post arrived, the store had returned to a more normal pace.
Krista Hines of Conifer and her sister-in-law, Christine Mckinnon of Indian Hills, arrived at the store at 6 a.m. and plan to make the trek a holiday tradition. Both are stay-at-home moms, and they have a condo in Breckenridge.
McKinnon visited a “Black Friday” website to scope out the deals. Hines bought a small flat-screen TV for her husband for $150, and they also bought a doctor’s playset to donate to Children’s Hospital in Denver.
“The weirdest thing is to go shopping in the dark and come out when it is light,” Mckinnon says.
7:36 a.m., Lakewood
A few stores are open at the Colorado Mills shopping center, 14500 W. Colfax Ave., staff writer Aldo Svaldi reports.
They are Brooks Brother, which advertises two suits for $499; Regency Diamonds, selling goods for between 40 percent and 70 percent off; Tommy Hilfiger, which is offering sweaters at 30 percent off; and Ann Taylor and Nautica.
Off Fifth, the outlet division of Saks Fifth Avenue, opened up Wednesday evening for the first time, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., and sales were strong, up 700 percent from a normal Wednesday, general manager Todd Riner tells Svaldi.
At 7:30 a.m. Friday, perhaps a dozen people were in the store.
Riner tells Svaldi that “cashmere’s hot, and so are men’s and women’s coats, and leather. We’ve invested a lot in collectibles.”
7 a.m., Lakewood
The parking lot at the Denver West SuperTarget, 14500 W. Colfax Ave., is one-third filled. “The store is pretty mellow,” reports Aldo Svaldi, Post staff writer. “A third of the checkout lanes are open, and most of the people are back in the toy section.”
A hot seller is the 54-inch Omega Hockey Table priced at $39.88, marked down from $59.88.
“It’s a pretty big item,” Svaldi says. “One of them fills up your cart.”
6:55 a.m.
The sun rises along Colorado’s Front Range.
6:50 a.m., Denver
Ninety-three people waited at 6 a.m. outside the Foley’s store at Cherry Creek Shopping Center before the store opened, reports Lisa Herzlich, mall marketing manager. “The first four families arrived at 4:46. There were people at Foley’s, Foley’s Home Furniture and Bed Bath & Beyond, which all opened at 6 a.m.”
Several stores opened at 6:30 a.m., Herzlich reported. They were Eddie Bauer, Children’s Place, Verizon Wireless, Pac-Sun, American Eagle, Urban Outfitters and, “of course,” Cinnabon.
Doors of the mall were open at 5 a.m. The first store to open was Peaberry Coffee, at 5:45 a.m.
6:15 a.m., Avon
Melvin and Raquel Valdez of Gypsum tell staff writer Jackson that they arrived at Wal-Mart Supercenter store at 5:10 a.m.
“They do this every Black Friday. They come and do this with their three kids. This was like an ordeal to get three kids – Anthony, 7, Alexis 5 and Aiden, 2 – and drive somewhere by 5:10 a.m.
“They were there mainly for the SpongeBob TV and DVD player.”
Melvin is a mechanic at Vail; Raquel is a medical receptionist.
5:42 a.m., Denver
The Kmart at 363 S. Broadway is ringed with brightly colored green-and-red signs advertising a 50 percent off sale. The parking lot, however, is only about 10 percent filled.
5:41 a.m., Denver
The Sam’s Club at 505 S. Broadway is open despite posted hours of 7 a.m. “for business members.” The parking lot is only 10 percent filled.
5:28 a.m., Lone Tree
The parking lot outside J.C. Penney, 8417 S. Park Meadows Center Drive, is filled with cars. A number of cars also are parked outside the Foley’s department store, 8401 S. Park Meadows Center, on the mall’s south side.
5:25 a.m., Lone Tree
The well-lighted parking lot of the Best Buy store, 8682 Park Meadows Center Drive, is 90 percent filled.
At the front door, WB-2 has a live camera crew, and burritos, bagels and coffee are being sold at two booths.
5:18 a.m., Highlands Ranch
The parking lot at the Wal-Mart at 7900 West Quincy Ave. is 85 percent full. Four customers are seen carting out large 20-inch “Pure Flat TV DVD Combos.”
One customer carts out two of the machines.
5 a.m., Avon
“The parking lot at the Wal-Mart Supercenter (171 Yoder Ave.) was not that full,” reports staff writer Jackson. “And when I got inside, there seemed to be more employees than there were people, until you got to the electronics section. It was packed.”
Two shoppers at the store talked about “how laptops flew off the shelf. They were gone in two minutes,” she reports.
“They had a sale on, and I’m a guilty purchaser of, a 20-inch flat-screen TV and DVD combo,” Jackson reports. One woman said Wal-Mart was advertising them for $128, but they were being sold for a less-than-advertised price of $98.
According to Jackson, shoppers also were buying:
Desktop computers
Radio-controlled Jeep Wranglers
Roasting ovens.
4:58 a.m., Highlands Ranch
Between 500 and 1,000 people are lined up around the Circuit City Store at 8575 S. Quebec St.
When the doors were thrown open, a few shoppers ran inside, but most proceeded in an orderly fashion. People filed through magnetometers two at a time for a full seven minutes.
Anupam Das, 33, a Hewlett Packard employee, is at the front of the line trying to buy a $199 laptop (with a year’s subscription to Amerca Online.) He hopes to “slice off” the AOL portion.
Bane Petrovich, the store’s director, says he has 70 to 80 employees staffing the store. As for this year’s “Black Friday” sale, he says, “I think it’s much more competitive. There’s better pricing on teelvisions and computer equipment. It’s going to be a great Thanksgiving.” As for the laptops, “I think we’re going to be out of them.” The line outside the store at 1:30 a.m., when Petrovich arrived, numbered about 25 people.
Shihaun Qu, 18, a student at the Colorado School of Mines, has purchased a 512-megabyte memory card for $10. “They usually cost $60,” he says. The card is for himself. He leaves the store at 5:09 a.m.
Karen Hirsch, 42, of Lone Tree, likewise has made her purchases and is checking out at 5:12 a.m. The tousled-hair Hirsch, with her daughter, Emma Giedt, had come to Circuit City for a laptop. But vouchers were made available for only 21 people, and she arrived only at 4:30 a.m. However, she’s purchased an HP Photosmart 2610 “all-in-one” printer costing $99.99. “I saved $160,” she says. The printer is a gift for herself: “People are always wanting to fax me things, and this has a fax machine.”
4:50 a.m., Littleton
A line of red shopping carts block the entrance to the Target store at 1950 E. County Line Road. The store doesn’t open until 6 a.m., and no one has yet arrived.
