Black Friday Shoppers Already Setting Up Camp
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PLANO, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - With Christmas just a month away, and it's not yet Thanksgiving, many retailers are getting a jump on Black Friday by offering Thanksgiving Day specials. And some people are camping out to get them.
When you're Best Buy and you have both Thanksgiving afternoon and Black Friday deals you may start drawing an early crowd. Like six tents already pitched at the Plano Parker Road-US 75 store. Jorge Gomez came yesterday morning.
Jorge and his buddies are tag-teaming for a Thanksgiving Day special. "I want to get a Panasonic 50-inch TV. It's actually only $200, so that's pretty cheap," according to Jorge.
He and his fellow campers expect to get special vouchers at 5 o'clock good for only a few hours Thursday, that'll be enough, he believes. "I've done it for a couple of years and I'm used to it. It's a good experience because you actually get to spend some time with your friends."
Down in Dallas, at the I-30 Cockerell Hill Best Buy, a big-screen TV is also the lure for three generations of Lakisha Smith's family. But they're waiting for Black Friday deals. And they've been camping out at this Best Buy since last Thursday.
"I bring the grill, we bring food, we bring bread, peanut butter. You know, just the things you could live on to survive outdoors!" said Lakisha. Her mother, Denise Ladd added, "It's a lot of planning. You don't just get up and come," she said.
And it takes support from Best Buy for things like restroom breaks or demo video games to keep Lakisha's kids occupied; they've been here since school let out Friday.
Best Buy General Manager says it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without Lakisha's family.
"Lakisha is always first in line. She started camping out last Thursday. She's a die-hard, she's like one of the family."
So planning is the watchword here...along with precautions, according to Denise Ladd. "Make sure your tent is closed at night. Have mace. Some lady tried to unzip my daughter's tent the other night!"
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