Afternoon shoppers find savings Posted On: Saturday, Nov. 28 2009 05:33 AM By Hailey Persinger
Killeen Daily Herald

Megan Surette celebrated a minor victory on aisle 5 at Toys R Us Friday as she pulled a set of boxing robots from the shelf and into the bright red shopping cart piloted by her father.

"$44 marked down from $88," she said, half announcing and half questioning the bargain. "I'm getting it."

The same scenario played out in the video game section where red tags boasted that customers could "Save $25!" on the Rock Band video game, the front of the store that announced that layaway is, indeed, an option this year and at the row of bicycles that left the youngest customers wide-eyed and ready to hit the road on two wheels.

Despite the store's midnight opening, by noon the conversations and victory dances of Friday's second wave of shoppers carried on in the checkout line that wrapped from the cash registers halfway across the store to the board games and, several yards down, poured into the aisle of video games.

In the midst of the organized chaos, waiting customers announced to no one in particular that "this is the craziest thing" they'd ever seen even though the morning's hectic pace had slowed.

For some, the bargains weren't worth battling the line.

As an empty-handed would-be customer walked toward the exit after taking a look at the line, he brushed past Pam Vitek and Allison Bragg, two-thirds of a shopping trio that had plans of browsing the store for deals.

But the Black Friday first-timers' nonchalance was no match for the veteran shoppers armed with coupons, newspaper inserts and detailed lists of gifts they weren't leaving without.

"We might not make it all the way out the store," Bragg said, laughing in disbelief as she looked from the entrance to the yards-long line.

Vitek, a grandmother who said the shopping trip was her idea, joined Bragg in the U-turn they made just a few minutes after walking in.

"I'll just wait," she said. "I'll come back and pay the extra five dollars."

But for others like Surette and her father, David Merckling, the line was no deterrent. Surette said the long wait was worth the low prices and given the opportunity, she would have hit the stores early like she has for the past three years instead of waiting until the sun had risen.

"This is our first attempt out today," she said. "I should have gotten up at 4 a.m. and done this."

While the duo missed out on the sale price of Surette's top gift – a Disney Ultimate Buzz Lightyear Talking Action Figure – she said she was sticking around to cross some more things off her list.

As she rounded the corner to find the next red tag and score the next big deal before hitting the mall, she turned to her father.

"I'm feeling the buzz," she said. "I got it."

Contact Hailey Persinger at haileyp@kdhnews.com or (254) 501-7568.