Black Friday Shoppers Out In Force

By Ashli Sims, The News On 6

TULSA, OK -- Tulsans kick off the holiday shopping season.  Thousands of early-bird shoppers hit the stores, before dawn on Black Friday.  The rush was on to get to the stores.  Shoppers filled the parking lots along the 71st Street corridor, near Highway 169.  Some shoppers even camped out for most of the night to make sure they were in when the doors opened.

The doors opened at Kohl's at 4 a.m. And, it seemed the holiday shoppers weren't letting a little economic downturn slow their search for bargains. 

Toys, TVs and tons of shoppers tore across Target, with their sights on deals and steals.

"I just read I'd saved $67. So, that's pretty good to me. I was ready to get up at 3 o'clock in the morning," said Amanda Mason from Coffeyville, Kansas.

Some Best Buy fans camped out in tents to be some of the first in the door.  While industry experts fretted it would be a bleak Black Friday, the lines told a different story.  Some who have never shopped early on the day after Thanksgiving were lured out of bed by the barrage of TV ads and bargain basement prices.

"But, this morning I thought: Gosh, I gotta see what all the chaos is about. But, here I am and I could have gotten a few more beauty hours of sleep," said shopper Dawn Walker.

After spotting the checkout line at Kohl's which stretched across half the store, Dawn Walker headed for the door, shaking her head.   

"I love to shop, but there's not one thing in here that I'm going to stand in line for two hours for," said shopper Dawn Walker.

While the wait brought one little shopper to tears, Brenda Tibbles said it was well worth it.

"Well, I've been able to get gifts really inexpensive and tomorrow they won't be that way. And, I have five kids and almost ten grandkids so, it's well worth it to stand in line for an hour or two to get such good bargains," said shopper Brenda Tibbles.

Black Friday is not usually the busiest shopping day of the year. It's actually those last minute shoppers the last weekend before Christmas that drive up the big sales.