Oklahomans hit the stores for holiday bargains

<br>OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Cici Owens didn't bother to sleep. What's the point when your best friend is picking you up at 3:15 a.m. for one of the biggest shopping days of the year. <br><br>Owens

Friday, November 29th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Cici Owens didn't bother to sleep. What's the point when your best friend is picking you up at 3:15 a.m. for one of the biggest shopping days of the year.

Owens and Lisa Carlile were standing in a line outside K-B Toys in Penn Square Mall a half-hour before the 5 a.m. Friday opening. They emerged with garbage-size plastic sacks filled with toys, including the popular $29.99 Fur Real fluffy cat that purrs and swishes its tail.

``It was crazy in there,'' Owens said. ``I got shoved a couple of times. But people were helping each other out.''

Employees handed out tags for certain toys, hoping to avoid a stampede for this year's most popular items when the doors opened. Until noon, the store was giving away Harry Potter 3-D viewers with every $100 purchase.

Early shoppers at J.C. Penney walked away with tiny Mickey Mouse snow globes. And hundreds flocked to Wal-Mart for discounted 27-inch televisions.

``People were yelling and just cutting,'' said Tina Saliba, who had amassed several Christmas gifts by 8 a.m. ``They had things roped off.''

Several shoppers said they were reducing holiday spending slightly this year. Saliba, who works at the women's clothing store Chico's, said business has been slow the last month.

``I've noticed the sacks are smaller this year,'' Carlile said.

Another early shopper, Fabor Orosco, said it was worth it to wake up before dawn to get the bargains. She started her day at 5:40 a.m. and was at J.C. Penney at 7.

She joined the day-after-Thanksgiving shopping ranks three years ago.

``Before that, I thought these women were crazy,'' she said. ``But if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.''

Orosco and her shopping partners were looking for all things related to boy wizard Harry Potter.

``And we're always looking for cologne _ because it's on sale,'' she said.

Orosco was one of dozens of people hanging out in front of Dillard's before 8 a.m. Clerks at cosmetic counters and the shoe department braced themselves as the glass doors slid open and the crowd rushed inside.

Shoppers looking for bargains on DVD players and other electronics were standing in the chilly air outside Best Buy before its 6 a.m. opening.

Some stores stayed open all night, which was ideal for Debbie Harrigan, who got off work taking reservations for Southwest Airlines at 3:30 a.m. She went to Garden Ridge first for home-decor deals, then fought the mob at Wal-Mart.

Her sport utility vehicle was full by 7:30 a.m.

Harrigan wasn't sure what to think of her first experience with pre-dawn holiday shopping.

``It's crazy, just packed with people,'' she said, loading her car in the Wal-Mart parking lot.

Nearby, Keeva Perkins was stuffing a printer and baby toys into the family sedan. She had to go home and unload the car before heading to Target and a mall.

``That's the plan,'' she said.