Southern Utah not immune to Black Friday, shoppers queued; Photo Gallery

Black Friday queues just before midnight in Washington City, Utah, Nov. 22, 2012
Stock Image

WASHINGTON CITY –After over 33 hours of camping out on cold cement, Jessica Wheatley and her family were let into a local electronics store at midnight Thanksgiving, to join the Black Friday battle against other shoppers for deals on laptops, games and other electronics. All across the city devoted bargain hunters jostled for position to cash in on similar deals as part of the annual Black Friday sales.

Black Friday queues just before midnight in Washington City
Black Friday queues just before midnight in Washington City, Utah, Nov. 22, 2012 | Photo by Chris Caldwell, St. George News

“If you want to do this bring a lot of warm clothes and food,” Wheatley said. “And bring a lot of family, because it helps to switch so you are not stuck.”

Wheatley, her parents, and siblings traded off holding the first spot in line at one store, while the other family members snagged deals at other nearby stores. Dozens of retail locations in the city have had lines forming over the last few days, and as the deals surpass previous years so do the lines of people waiting to get them.

According to a study by the Consumer Electronics Association 37 percent of American adults will be shopping as part of Black Friday, and a startling 57 percent will purchase a gift over the shopping weekend. In 2011 the expected amount was only 47 percent.

Furthermore, the amount of money spent over Thanksgiving weekend has grown steadily over the last few years. According to the National Retail Federation spending hit a record $52.5 billion last year, and is expected to be even higher this year.

Black Friday queues just before midnight in Washington City
Black Friday queues just before midnight in Washington City, Utah, Nov. 22, 2012 | Photo by Chris Caldwell, St. George News

Despite the growth and the number of people who enjoy the frenzy and excitement of Black Friday, some people are not as enthusiastic. As stores began sales as early as 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, opponents of Black Friday claim it is taking away from a family-oriented holiday. Although shoppers are out for the enjoyment and thrill, many employees are subjected to longer shifts, odd hours, and the obvious influx of customers.

One of the many stores under attack by protesters is Target. Nevertheless, despite frequenting the crosshairs of people against Black Friday, Target has remained one of the leading retailers in the nation. Executives of Target attempt to put the controversy at rest in a recent blog post.

“When we made the decision to open our doors at 9 p.m. on Thanksgiving, the first thing we did was reach out to all of our store leaders and ask them to have discussions with their team members and seek volunteers wanting to work,” Tina Schiel, Executive Vice President Stores for Target, said. “We had so many team members who wanted to work on Thursday that hundreds of our stores are now keeping lists of volunteers who want to work if shifts open up.”

According to the statistics, they might just need them. Consumers expect to be approximately 30 percent done with their holiday shopping by the end of the weekend. Experts continue to stress the importance of being safe and treating others kindly as you race to complete your holiday shopping this season.

Black Friday queues just before midnight in Washington City
Black Friday queues just before midnight in Washington City, Utah, Nov. 22, 2012 | Photo by Chris Caldwell, St. George News
Black Friday queues just before midnight in Washington City
Black Friday queues just before midnight in Washington City, Utah, Nov. 22, 2012 | Photo by Chris Caldwell, St. George News
Black Friday queues just before midnight in Washington City
Black Friday queues just before midnight in Washington City, Utah, Nov. 22, 2012 | Photo by Chris Caldwell, St. George News
Thanksgiving night before Black Friday Wal-Mart in Washington City, Utah 2012
Thanksgiving night before Black Friday at Wal-Mart in Washington City, Utah, 8 p.m. Nov. 22, 2012 | Photo by Marshall Connelly, St. George News

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @STGnews

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2012, all rights reserved.

 

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!

8 Comments

  • HunnerWoof November 23, 2012 at 8:42 am

    Seriously? What’s with all the slobs in the last photo? So, they sit out there for days to save a few bucks and leave behind a huge mess that’s someone else’s responsibility to clean up. And we wonder why people are writing into this site to get advice on how to deal with their 40 year old who has moved home and won’t help around the house.

    • Kris November 23, 2012 at 11:34 am

      I completely agree! How shamefully lazy on their part. I’m usually not one to judge, but this is ridiculous.

  • Kris November 23, 2012 at 11:30 am

    I find it hilarious (ironic, not haha) that people have others save them a spot in line so they can go get drinks and food but can’t have somebody hold their spot so they can throw away their trash!

  • ken November 23, 2012 at 1:48 pm

    Truly appalling, disgusting people leaving their trash cause they are lazy. I keep forgetting that the majority of people around here are all about themselves!

  • Lenny November 24, 2012 at 7:52 am

    So who’s to blame for the mess and the frenzy and the self-centeredness? The slobs themselves or the generation that “raised” them?

    • Alvin November 24, 2012 at 2:31 pm

      Who’s to blame? Why the retail stores themselves for whipping all these idiots into a frenzy with all their “alleged” bargains and making folks wait in lines just like animals. If any one is to blame it would be this Black Friday phenomenon that has been created to change regular folks to behave like animals.

      • ken November 24, 2012 at 4:08 pm

        The stores whipped these “idiots” into a frenzy? Animals wait in lines? Created to change “regular” folks to behave like animals.

        Alvin you are all over the place with your comment. First people are idiots then they are animals then they are regular folks behaving like animals. The only blame lies with the people themselves. This little used phenomenon called personal resposibility!

    • Rancid November 28, 2012 at 5:04 pm

      Generation ‘Y’doesn’t give a F%&$!!

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.