Crowds flock to area stores

Published 9:15 pm Monday, December 5, 2005

VALDOSTA — More than 1,000 people were waiting outside Target Friday morning for the store to open at 7 a.m., said Len Lewis, assets protection team leader at Target.

The line of customers stretched back at least to Pier 1, he said.

Lewis said at 11 a.m. Friday, there were still some specials left at Target. Lewis has been with Target for six years and said Friday was the busiest day he’d seen after Thanksgiving, and it was also the smoothest.

The large gathering at Target wasn’t an isolated event, as shoppers waited outside area stores to take advantage of the sales on the biggest shopping day of the year.

Belk, located in the Colonial Mall Valdosta, opened up its three entrances to shoppers at 6 a.m., Bubba Campbell, Belk store manager, said.

Campbell, who has been the store manager for 12 years, said that judging from the crowds, he didn’t think the economy had been affected that much from last year’s events on 9-11.

“By 9 a.m., we were ahead of last year,” Campbell. “Based on all indications, this will be a good holiday season. Each year it continues to grow.”

Friday may be the biggest day of the year for shopping because of Christmas, but Debbie Sadler from Valdosta had already finished most of her Christmas shopping before Friday. She had picked up a few Christmas gifts, but most of the gifts she carried out of Sears at Colonial Mall were for her husband’s upcoming birthday and her grandchildren’s birthdays next year.

Everywhere there were groups of shoppers who were predominantly women. Among those groups of shoppers, several generations were represented.

The head of one group was Linda Bruce from Lakeland. With her were her daughter, Terry Outler, and her daughter-in-law, Kim Bruce. Her 82-year-old mother and sister were also there, but in another store shopping, she added. The women consider it a “girls’ day out,” Linda said.

“This is when we do most of our Christmas shopping,” she said.

She was very excited about this particular shopping spree, and for good reason. Her 8-year-old granddaughter, Allison Outler, was joining the group for the first time. Allison appeared to be as excited as her grandmother about the shopping spree, and it appears to guarantee another generation of shoppers to carry on the tradition of girls’ day out.

Not everyone in the Bruce family shares their enthusiasm. Last year, Kim said her father-in-law accompanied them for the shopping trip. It was his first and only time, she said, laughing,

Frank Billera, manager of Friedman’s Jewelers, opened his store at 7 a.m., and the business was steady, he said. He was expecting the business to increase after 1 p.m., he said.

“You look out and see a lot of people with packages,” Billera said. “They seem happy, and there are no grumpy people.”

Friday’s shopping in Valdosta wasn’t limited to local customers or those from the surrounding area. Robin Smith from Mayo, Fla., normally starts her Christmas shopping the day after Thanksgiving and was at Target with her mother and sister, she said. Both she and her sister work, and Friday is the only time they have time to shop together. It’s a day the three of them can go shopping and spend time together, she said. She has been shopping in Tallahassee, Fla., but prefers Valdosta because it’s a friendlier and small town atmosphere, she said.



To contact reporter Rip Prine, please call 244-3400, ext. 237.