Black Friday: Cold, snow doesn’t deter shoppers from waiting for deals

While some people were sitting around the table with a turkey and the fixings, some Northern Nevadans were sitting in line waiting for the Black Friday sales.

Several Carson City establishments started Black Friday on Thursday. Employees at Big Lots opened at 7 a.m. Thursday with their Black Friday deals, and employee John Brooking said they had people lined up to get deals on discounted furniture.

People even started lining up in front of Best Buy nearly 12 hours before the opening time. There were nine people standing in line in front of the store by noon, despite the cold temperatures.

Steven Cibrian of Dayton was the first in line at 4:30 a.m. to try to get a 49-inch television for $149. This is his second year participating in Black Friday, and when asked what his tips were for the day, he said to wear lots of jackets and remember to bring chairs.

At noon, all of the people in line had been there since at least 8 a.m., all waiting to get the discounted TVs.

“Christmas presents are more important than food right now,” said Dayton resident Chris Yarrow. “We want to save some money because times are still tough.”

Yarrow said that though he was standing out for the TV, he disagreed with the stores opening on Thanksgiving.

“I think it’s messed up that the stores are doing this and opening now on Thanksgiving,” Yarrow said. “Before it was just on Black Friday, but now they are bumping it up to Thanksgiving.”

Layered with hats, jackets, and mittens, the line-holders said they were sad to miss the football games and talked about how the wait would be worth it in the long run.

“I kept telling myself that it will all be worth it in about a week,” said Josh Wood. “My family is only three people, so I am not really missing much (for Thanksgiving).”

“I need a new TV and it will look really good next to my PlayStation,” added his friend Neil Parrish.