Many brave cold and crowds for Black Friday sales

SLIDESHOW: Black Friday shoppers 2009

CLINTON -- At 3:30 a.m. Friday, a pile of blankets sat propped up against a cement column in front of Kohl's.

Inside was a family who told of their enjoyment of spending the entire night shopping together, braving the cold, long waits, crowds and even disappointment.

"We came at like 1 (a.m.) and there was nobody here so we came back," said a voice from beneath the blanket.

The voice belonged to 19-year-old Chelsey Mezenen, who was lying across her mother's legs.

The family's wait began after a much longer wait at Toys R Us in Layton, bearing evidence that recession or not, shoppers were willing to spend when the right items were available for the right price.

The family had gotten in line at 8:30 p.m. Thursday, anticipating the midnight opening.

But the long wait didn't pay off at that store.

They were hoping to purchase some Zua Zua Hampsters.

"They had like 100 of them and we were 106," said Ryan Mezenen, who was leaning on his mother's other side. He said store employees handed out tickets for purchase of the hot-ticket items but the workers didn't quite get to his family before they ran out.

The North Ogden family said they couldn't believe the crowd at Toys R Us, where they purchased some games and other items when they didn't get the toy they'd come for.

"If it would have been a single-file line, it would have been forever," Ryan Mezenen said.

Mother Tonya Christopherson said the family visited Wal-Mart in Clinton while waiting to stand in line at Kohl's.

They planned to head to Newgate Mall after Kohl's.

At the same time, Heidi Dare of Roy was spending the same amount of time shopping but she and her family were staying in the same store..

Dare and her mother, Debbie Alvey of Bountiful, said they began shopping at the Clinton Wal-Mart at 9 p.m. Thursday.

Dare's bloodshot eyes offered plenty of evidence that she, in fact, had been shopping that long.

It's been a 14-year tradition in their family, the two explained.

"Every half hour or so, something new would come out," Dare said, explaining that a number of items were advertised for sale at 5 a.m. but were put out earlier by employees.

She was purchasing a host of $2 towels, $4 blankets, $2 movies, pajamas and other items for her children.

Dare said she wasn't there to fight over hot, advertised items.

She was in line by 4:30 a.m. with everything she wanted to buy as crowds waited elsewhere in the store for employees to release sought-after merchandise.

By 5:15 a.m. check out lines ran nearly the entire length of the store.

Dare said she spent her time mostly finding toys and other items that were advertised for sale at other stores that Wal-Mart would price match.

The mother and daughter each spent about $250 for their carefully selected items.

But first-time Black Friday shopper Nate Haws of West Point reported a much different experience as he was leaving the Layton Staples store just moments after the retailer opened Friday with two $40 office chairs.

"Two days ago, I was looking at this chair for $100," he said. "I figured I'd buy it for $40."

It was the price, he said, that caused him to decide he needed one for home as well as for his work as a salesman at Burton Lumber in Layton.

Haws said he got to Staples 10 minutes before it opened and stood in a short line from the front doors to the side of the store and walked straight to where he thought the chairs would be.

"As soon as I got mine, the whole pile was gone," he said.

Reuben Adame, assistant manager in apparel at Kohl's in Clinton, said shoppers were very excited to be in the stores Friday.

But he said they weren't randomly looking. Shoppers knew exactly what they wanted and went for those items.

"A lot of people are looking for value," he said, explaining how his store offered coupons and other discounts on top of one another.

He said the shoppers' excitement over electronics and toys also was evidence on how they were looking for value.