County residents shrug off uncertainty to snap up deals

From the Saturday, Nov. 29, 2008 edition of the Northwest Herald:

County residents shrug off uncertainty to snap up deals
By DIANA SROKA - dsroka@nwherald.com
Grace James’ shopping spree Friday morning was practically a sporting event.

On Thursday she pre-gamed, scouring sales circulars and typing up a shopping list organized by store title, price and estimated cost savings.

By 3 a.m. Friday, James and her 7-year-old son, Brendan, joined a line outside the Best Buy store in Algonquin. Grace James kept the shopping list on hand. Brendan James draped a red blanket over his shoulders the way boxers wear a warm-up cape.

Then at 5 a.m., the doors opened, and they made a mad dash for the mp3 players.

“I’ve never done this before,” James said as she swiped her credit card to pay for three brightly colored iPod Nanos. But the sales were so good this year, she said, she couldn’t pass them up.

James was just one of many McHenry County shoppers who either woke up early or camped outside area retail stores overnight in hopes of snagging deals during Black Friday and “door buster” sales.

Retailers call the day after Thanksgiving “Black Friday” because it’s considered the first day they start making annual profits, or go into the black, accounting-wise. But the tumultuous economy has retailers trying especially hard to make sure that the nickname rings true this year.

According to recent Gallup polls, Americans plan to spend a lower amount this year on Christmas gifts than they have in any year since 1999. The latest figures show Americans anticipate spending an average of $616 this Christmas – down 29 percent from last year’s anticipated spending of $866.

It was clear Friday morning that local businesses were dead set on beating those projections.

Stores at Huntley’s Prime Outlets mall opened at midnight. The first 500 shoppers who showed up in pajamas received free Jockey pajamas as part of the “Midnight Madness Pajama Jam.”

Meanwhile, Kohl’s and J.C. Penney opened at 4 a.m. with special morning prices, and electronics stores such as Best Buy advertised steep savings on TVs, computers and mp3 players.

Best Buy was among the electronics stores that carried a limited number of sale items. This prompted shoppers to form lines around the store as early as 7 p.m. Thursday so that they could guarantee sale prices on items.

Tony and Pam Silvestri were focused on giving their daughter a laptop computer for Christmas, so the Huntley couple, dressed in layers and Carhartts, spent the night camped outside the Best Buy in Algonquin until the store opened at 5 a.m.

“My daughter is 17 and going to college next year,” Pam Silvestri said, while standing in line about 4:30 a.m. “This is the only way we could afford it.”

The Silvestris estimated that they saved about $500 on the computer and a digital camera by shopping so early.

Some shoppers thought the sales were so good that they couldn’t help but indulge themselves.

As Nicole Schlotfeldt waited for the McHenry Kohl’s store to open at 4 a.m., she recited the mental list of items she wanted to buy: toys, clothing and cookware.

Gifts for her or for others? “Both,” the McHenry mother said with a smile.

For others, that 4 a.m. spot in line was just the first of many lines that shoppers planned to stand in.

Emily Jensen of Lakemoor also stood outside the McHenry Kohl’s, which was the first of several stores she planned to visit.

“You gotta do your 4s, your 5s, your 6s,” she said.