Shoppers jam area stores in search of bargains

Erika Ruff braved the rain and cold weather early yesterday morning for her maiden excursion of Black Friday.

The Chesterfield County woman hit a variety of stores and waited in long lines as did hundreds of thousands of shoppers across the nation, looking for deals on TVs, toys and digital cameras.

Ruff decided to go out so early -- typically the busiest shopping day of the year -- because she wanted to take advantage of the bargains. The recession, high unemployment and other economic woes of the past year have made her much more cost-conscious.

"I've been trying to watch what I spend and to be a little more careful with my money," she said, adding that she began putting aside money two months ago for the shopping trip.

Other bargain shoppers packed area stores and malls yesterday, buoying retailers that hope this year's holiday selling season will be better than that of 2008, when the nation's retailers overall reported a 3.4 percent drop in sales for the first time in decades.

In an effort to lure shoppers, many retailers offered deep discounts and extended hours yesterday, traditionally the start to the holiday selling season.

"It was what I expected," Ruff said of her Black Friday experience. "I thought there were going to be some good deals, and I found them."

She began her day at 3 a.m. at the Old Navy store at Chesterfield Towne Center and then moved to electronics and appliance retailer hhgregg's store near the mall.

At hhgregg, the first person got in line about 9:30 p.m. Thursday. By 4 a.m. when the store opened, about 300 people were in line.

But some shoppers avoided the mad rush and came out later in the day.

"This is the first year I haven't got up at 4, 5 in the morning. I didn't think the sales were that spectacular," Nicole Palmer said after a mid-morning browse at the Best Buy on South Laburnum Avenue in eastern Henrico County.

Even so, retailers in all sectors reported strong crowds, with high-definition TVs, laptop computers and winter coats among the most popular items, according to the National Retail Federation. Yesterday's cool weather -- it reached a high of 53 degrees in the Richmond area -- also helped put people in the holiday shopping mood.

The trade organization said members reported brisk sales, but it won't have official results until tomorrow. The group predicts sales this holiday season would drop 1 percent from last year.

Early reports from electronics retailer Best Buy and mall operator Taubman Centers, which owns Regency Square in Henrico and Stony Point Fashion Park in Richmond, offered some encouraging signs that crowds were larger compared with last year.

Toys 'R' Us CEO Gerald Storch said about 1,000 people on average stood in line at each of its stores for the chain's midnight opening.

"So far, we are seeing that consumers are willing to spend a little more than what was on their intended list," said Marshal Cohen, chief retail-industry analyst at NPD Group, a consumer and retail research firm. "This is a big gift for retailers. It was missing from the equation last year."

Dana Broadus, lugging a 2-foot-high box of dishes to her car from the J.C. Penney store at the Shops at White Oak Village, began shopping at 4 a.m. at the Wal-Mart in Tappahannock, where she lives. She worked her way down the highway toward Richmond, looking for more bargains.

"I didn't get my TV," she laughed.

But she picked up lots of clothes. And, she said, she still had more shopping to do.

At the Wal-Mart on Midlothian Turnpike in Chesterfield, shoppers queued up as early as midnight for discounted big-screen TVs and $78 Blu-ray players that went on sale at 5 a.m.

At Best Buy on Commonwealth Center Parkway in Chesterfield, police responded after an argument that was described as a "cutting-in-front-of-me-in-the-line kind of thing." While area police did not report any major troubles in the Richmond area, a Wal-Mart store in California closed for several hours after some shoppers began fighting over bargain merchandise.

Kathie Strauss, marketing manager at Prime Outlets Williamsburg, said about 1,500 customers were at the outlet center when it opened at midnight. Traffic remained steady throughout the day, she said.

"People have been very much focused on bargains and deals," she said.

At Short Pump Town Center in western Henrico, customers began lining up at 6 a.m. for one of 500 gift bags with coupons, gift cards and sample products. The bags were gone in 30 minutes.

At Regency Square on Parham Road, parking spaces were at a premium.

Buying a couple of pillows at the J.C. Penney there, Lisa McDonald of Goochland County had been out early, stopping at Tractor Supply Co. in Powhatan County to buy a dog crate and toy wheelbarrow.

With the big turnout at stores -- and the long lines at cash registers -- Omar Ruiz wondered if talk of an economic slowdown was overblown.

"You see all these people lining up and you wonder if the economy is as bad as everyone thinks," Ruiz said.

Ruiz, an early-morning shopper at the Wal-Mart on Midlothian Turnpike, waited in line for 90 minutes to buy a TV.

Graham Jones, a vice president of merchant accounts for PriceGrabber.com, said the Web site has seen a spike in traffic since Thanksgiving Day as consumers looked for deals and less expensive items. The most searched item on its Web site was the Nintendo Wii Console.

"We've seen an increased demand for products but at lower price points," he said. "People are eagerly searching for deals."

Contact Louis Llovio at (804) 649-6348 or .

The Associated Press and staff writers David Ress and Tyler R. Whitley contributed to this report.