Published: December 01, 2009 08:56 am      

Black Friday: Some lines for deals form before midnight

A photo gallery of Black Friday photos. Email newsroom@times-news.com to include photos of your experience.

CUMBERLAND — Black Friday shoppers lined up outside Naylor’s ACE Hardware store on Industrial Boulevard three hours before manager Joe Delosier opened the doors at midnight, hoping to be the first to get the best deals in town.

“There isn’t really one item” shoppers seemed to be after, Delosier said. Instead, it was a mix of wants and needs for Allegany County residents, ranging from a kids’ pop-open play tent for just $14.99 to a 12-gallon Shop-Vac for only $19.99 after a $10 mail-in rebate.

Bob Saville of Cresaptown and his brother John took only a few minutes to pick up a Shop-Vac and a cart full of other gadgets for repair projects around the home. Saville said he had a list of items he wanted to purchase for his grown children but there also were a few items he wanted for himself. Saville said he is an experienced Black Friday shopper.

“It’s always a lot of fun,” Saville said. “We always start out with the earliest store (opening).”

Saville said the lull between Naylor’s midnight opening — its first since the store opened in Cumberland in 1984 — and store openings at the Country Club Mall in LaVale, which began at 4 a.m., would cause the two to enjoy a coffee break.

Nearly 100 people lined up at Naylor’s before the midnight opening.

Edith Albright of Cumberland was first in line.

“I’m crazy,” she said.

But not without purpose. Albright aimed to take advantage of available discounts on tools. She started the line but was soon joined by five other family members, many of whom enjoyed the free coffee and doughnuts offered by the hardware store. Delosier, a former operations manager for Prime Outlets in Hagerstown, still is in his first year as an employee at Naylor’s. He said he wanted to bring Washington County’s successful “Midnight Madness” event to Cumberland.

Officers from the Cumberland Police Department were on hand at the store’s opening but there didn’t appear to be a need for their services. Things were quite calm, said shopper Crystal Warnick, of Cumberland.

“It’s nice and orderly,” Warnick said. “I thought it was great.”

Delosier said when Prime Outlets considered the idea four years ago, he offered that people were up anyway after finishing watching football games on television. Instead of going to bed for a few hours, tossing and turning all the while, “why not open?” Delosier said.

“We got everything,” Delosier said. “We’re not just a hardware (store).”

Delosier acknowledged some store employees thought he was “nuts” — Naylor’s is the only ACE store in a 50-mile radius to open at midnight.

Warnick said she’s been ill much of the past two years but felt well enough to stand inside Naylor’s front entrance and watch as family members shopped. She didn’t seem to be bothered when others asked her for a bit of space on either side of her shopping cart.

“I’m here for the coffee and doughnuts,” Warnick said. “Life is entirely too short to be in a hurry.”

Warnick said she hopes that Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving Day for which retailers lower prices, helps the economy.

After Naylor’s, Warnick said she and her parents were headed to Walmart in LaVale. She hoped to purchase a new computer, complete with a Web cam, that would help her stay in touch with family in Virginia, Florida and a son serving in the Air Force stationed in Japan.

Twelve-year-old Billy Van Meter waited with his parents, Bill and Tina Van Meter, at Naylor’s. But the Cresaptown preteen was anxious to get to Walmart. He had his sights set on Madden 2010, the newest football game in a long line of highly desirable pixilated products from EA Sports. He hoped to play the game on his X-box 360 console, which he received for Christmas last year, by late morning.

For Christmas this year, Van Meter said he hopes to get a laptop computer. At Country Club Mall in LaVale, security chief Mike Wade said additional staff was on duty to handle the expected crowds at various stores, the earliest of which were scheduled to open at 4 a.m., including Sears and Bon-Ton. Anchor store Walmart, not under Wade’s supervision, hired Maryland State Police troopers to work security. Nearly half a dozen marked and unmarked state patrol cruisers were visible along the storefront’s multiple entrances. The global retailer is stepping up safety efforts this Black Friday after last year’s tragedy in Long Island, N.Y., in which a part-time employee was trampled to death. LaVale store manager Jeff Corbett declined to answer questions and referred all media questions to the corporate office.

“Every store runs their own way of doing it,” said Wade, in his sixth Black Friday at the mall. “From the mall’s aspect, we’ve brought additional officers on. We have a security vehicle out in the parking lot. It’s more of a crime prevention” approach.

At JC Penney, dozens of people lined up at the storefront inside the mall, ready to make a run toward their preferred merchandise. Store manager Jim Deppe said he expected the fine jewelry counter to be busy. The store opened its doors about 10 minutes early and at 3:52 a.m., the counter was full of customers.

“Everybody works today,” Deppe said of the additional staff ready to meet the demands of patrons. “We’ve got some great door busters.”

Deppe said despite the difficult economic conditions, the store expected to have sales be “as good as last year or better.”

Contact Kevin Spradlin at kspradlin@times-news.com.