Sales bring families together

Angela Martin, who waited outside Best Buy all Thursday, redeemed her lack of Thanksgiving with a family shopping spree at midnight Friday morning.

Martin's father brought her food after work, as he had promised her. Martin's dad brought more than just dinner: he brought her dog, a toy poodle, her mother and himself to wait with her in line.

"Everyone was hugging (the dog,)" she said.

The family outing turned out much better than Martin initially expected. She had come to wait in line hoping to save $200-$300 on a laptop to use for school. In the end, the family bought two TVs, two laptops and stacks of movies - an estimated savings of $1,000.

The first TV was meant for Martin and the second for her aunt, who is incredibly grateful, she said.

"My aunt's like, 'Oh my gosh, thank you!'" Martin said.

Despite missing the Thanksgiving meal, Martin was still able to spend at least seven hours with her family on Thanksgiving. Her mother, who she said was not pleased with having her daughter miss Thanksgiving, was feeling chipper.

"She's a lot better this morning," Martin said Friday.

Brooke and Corinna Davis live in India and are visiting Carson for the holidays, the two were shopping with Patty Davis at JCPenney late Friday morning. Brooke and Corinna were stocking up on clothes, food and toys for their trip back.

"We can't find a lot of stuff there," Corinna said.

The expatriates said they plan on loading up their suitcases, much of it bought on Friday, for the flight back to India. As part of the expatriate community, Corinna and Brooke have lists from their fellows abroad of clothes and food to buy and bring back.

"We're hitting the sales for everybody," Corinna said.

The commerce works both way. The pair brought back cashmere scarves, jewelry and novelty items. The problem with clothes they can buy in India is the quality and how long the clothing lasts.

When they fly back, it will be with the few things they brought over for themselves and then everything bought in the U.S.

"We'll be loaded up," Corinna said.

Although all three Davises were able to navigate JCPenney easily, and able to move through the line quickly, when the doors opened at 6 a.m., the line snaked all the way down to the Burlington Coat Factory.

"In the first 10 minutes, they sold out," Store Leader Frank Alcaraz said about the appliances. He predicted as much on Wednesday, along with the boots.

"Those went really quick," he said.

Mobile cashiers, armed with IPads and IPod Touches were able to check out customers paying with debit or credit to alleviate the lines for the cashiers. Alcaraz had five employees with the devices rotating around the store, switching them out when one lost its charge.

The Associated Press reports that technology company ShopperTrak estimated that sales on Black Friday will be up 3.8 percent to $11.4 billion this year.^