T.G.I. Black Friday
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By Jordan Muhlestein
Standard-Examiner staff
Shoppers, stores grateful for day-after-Thanksgiving sales
RIVERDALE -- Lines of eager shoppers snaked through parking lots in the early-morning darkness Friday as residents waited for a shot at some of the weekend's best day-after-Thanksgiving sales.
One man was cited for assault at Wal-Mart Supercenter in Riverdale, after an altercation over a battery-powered, ride-in toy Jeep.
"A lady had hold of it, and a guy came up behind her and grabbed her by the arms," said Riverdale Police Officer Nolan Geilmann.
"He tried to take it away from her and ended up dragging her down an aisle and assaulted her at some point."
The woman didn't realize she'd been hit at first, Geilmann said, but witnesses saw the man strike her. Police were called and gave the man a citation.
The lack of patience ended up ruining the pursuit of the Jeep for all parties involved, Geilmann said.
"The manager took it away from both of them," he said. The names of the shoppers were not released.
Pre-dawn crowds at retailers' doors were a common sight across the country Friday, as shoppers lined up for early specials and clutched their circulars in search of good deals.
The biggest shopping frenzy of the year, the day is known as Black Friday. It sets the tone for retailers' biggest selling period and is typically the day when retailers' bottom line turns black for the year.
As many as 132.9 million Americans were expected to have hit the stores Friday, with 55.1 million of them expected to have shopped, according to a National Retail Federation survey.
Friday's traffic along Riverdale Road was busy, but still better than expected, said Cory Pope, director of the Utah Department of Transportation's Region 1.
"It was almost like a typical Saturday," he said. "Riverdale Road had been a hot spot, but nothing out of the ordinary. Hill Field Road in Layton was also busy."
Pope said UDOT tweaks signal timing on heavy days, but also relies heavily on local law enforcement.
As for today, he said, the department is ready to handle heavy traffic, but he expects it to be similar to Friday -- busy but manageable.
The priority will be on the freeways, Pope said. Signals will be timed to make sure traffic is not backing up on exit ramps, which may cause some increased delays on surface streets.
During Friday's shopping craze, firefighters were called to extinguish flames in fire pits, started by shoppers trying to keep warm behind Best Buy, 4177 Riverdale Road, Geilmann said. In addition, he said, some Black Friday shoplifters were caught.
The line at the Super Target in Riverdale ran from one of the store's entrances along the entire front of the store and down the side, all the way to the back of the store before the doors opened at 6 a.m.
People started lining up about 8:30 p.m. Thursday, said Jackson Felt, the store's assets protection manager. He estimated 3,000 people were in line when the store opened.
He said he was excited for the store to open at 6 a.m., as he had been outside managing the crowd since 4:30 a.m.
"We'll get the folks in here, and we can get warm," Felt said.
Ashlee Hyden, of Ogden, and Cherie Hinchcliff, of Driggs, Idaho, were looking for bargains.
"We want electronics," Hyden said.
"I just don't think they'll have enough for all of us," Hinchcliff said, pointing down the line.
The pair, who met in line, had been waiting for nearly an hour in the 25-degree weather.
"We did this last year and came back," Hyden said.
Luring shoppers may become even more critical this year because many stores were hurt by unseasonably warm weather in September and October. Over the past two months, quarterly profit forecasts have been declining at a higher-than-normal rate, Retail Metrics' Ken Perkins said in a report earlier this month.
On Tuesday, Target Corp. reported an unexpected drop in its third-quarter profit after sluggish sales in home and apparel items. Macy's Inc. has said that fourth-quarter sales may fall short of its original forecast.
J.C. Penney Co. and Kohl's Corp., among others, have also lowered their outlooks for the rest of the year.
After a failed bid to lure upscale shoppers for its apparel and home merchandise, Wal-Mart has said it will return to its strategy of offering lower prices this holiday season, especially in light of macroeconomic concerns that have hurt its low-income consumers.
Wal-Mart in October cut prices on more than 15,000 items -- 20 percent more than last year -- and began its unofficial Black Friday specials three weeks earlier this year.
Information from Standard-Examiner news services is included in this article.
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