Mass. Shoppers Head To NH For Early Black Friday Deals
NASHUA, NH (CBS) - With no blue laws in New Hampshire, many Massachusetts shoppers headed north to get a head start on Black Friday deals.
In this competitive season for retailers, some stores like Kmart and Walmart opened up early Thursday morning.
"We came looking for specials," said Jaime Stakermann.
Stakermann, along with his wife and five children, came up from Lawrence to feast on doorbusters before feasting on turkey.
"We shop in the day and eat at night," said Stakermann.
Catherine Salaam of Haverhill isn't eating her Thanksgiving meal until the weekend. She's heading to work in the emergency room.
"I'm going to go and save lives today," said Salaam.
But first she was taking her three kids on a shopping spree for some holiday bargains.
"I told them they could have one gift before Christmas," said Salaam.
The bargain hunting had some shoppers running late for Thanksgiving meals with their families.
"We're supposed to be at my daughter's right now," said shopper Bruce Cook. "We're a little late."
Despite some critics who says stores should not be open on the holiday, the store manager of the Kmart in Salem, New Hampshire says he is seeing more Thanksgiving Day traffic than last year.
"If people didn't want to shop on Thanksgiving, we wouldn't be open," said Steve Perkins.
Employees say they're finding ways to balance work with pleasure.
"I have family members coming in and then they bring me food," said Kmart worker Yashira Valdez. "But overall I'm spending it here--it's money before the holidays, you need it."
