Black Friday shoppers show up at Premier

Hank Dewald, Herald Staff Writer

ROANOKE RAPIDS — Any doubts about shoppers showing up on Black Friday were dispelled before sunrise this morning.

Shoppers were waiting at the doors as employees began arriving at Premier Landing stores.

The parking lot in front of Belk had shoppers settling for far flung parking spaces as all close-in spaces were taken. Belk Manager Herb Eckerlin was both pleased and relieved to see the dedicated Black Friday crowd waiting at the door as he arrived long before the 5 a.m. store opening.

“So far so good,” said Eckerlin with a smile. “We’ve had a pretty good turnout. It’s a long Christmas season, so we’ll see what happens, but so far we’re pleased this morning.”

Belk Assistant Manager Tina Pennell was busy directing shoppers around the large center aisle at 7 a.m. “I got up at 1 a.m., to get here at 2:30 a.m.,” Pennell said. “We’ve been open since 5 a.m. and people were waiting at the door. I think it has gone very well so far.”

Outside, shoppers were both coming and going. Elizabeth Stahl and her friend Kayla Dixon were just arriving. “Actually, we were here at 5 a.m., but took a break to get something to eat,” said Stahl. “We started at Goody’s at 4 a.m. We’re pleased with what we’ve found so far.”

Kristen Spain and Connie Thigpen were loading several large bags into their SUV, on their way to their next stop. If some shoppers seem totally dedicated to be waiting for doors to open on Black Friday morning, these two set new standards.

“We left home yesterday at 5:30 p.m.,” Spain said with a tired smile. “We’ve been to Colonial Williamsburg, to the Prime Outlets. We left there at 4:30 this morning, and just decided to stop in here on our way home to Beulaville, out near Camp Lejeune.”

“I’ve just had to get out of my shoes, and put my bedroom slippers on,” Thigpen added. “My feet are tired!”

Across the street from Belk, the Collier Harley-Davidson parking lot was also busy with shoppers coming and going. Some of those also set new standards for dedication by showing up on their motorcycles.

 “We got here just before their doors opened at 6,” said Roxanne Hope, of Virginia Beach, who was strapping a set of new motorcycle bags onto her Harley Sportster. “The bags were much cheaper here and we got 25-percent off of that if you got here before 7:30.” Hope and her boyfriend Nate had ridden their bikes to Roanoke Rapids to spend Thanksgiving with Hopes mother, and wanted to take advantage of Collier’s early sale. Her new bags were also full of gifts for others.

Inside Collier’s, Parts Manager Michael Tromans said there were some people waiting as they opened the doors at 6 a.m. “We had an OK morning, but it was better last year. I guess we’ve seen about half of what we did last year at this time,” Tromans said. He was one of the few retailers in the center who reported less sales than usual.

Next door to Collier’s Harley-Davidson, at Starbucks, Manager Toni Dixon and her two employees were too busy to talk as Premier shopping Center customers took breaks for coffee. Once Dixon could take a break to clean off tables, she told The Daily Herald the store had been “bombarded.” 

“We opened up before 5,” said Dixon. “It has been a madhouse since, but now seems to be a slight lull. Before long, though, the crowd is really going to hit,” she said glancing towards the packed Wal-Mart parking lot.

Wal-Mart was buzzing like a huge beehive. A constant parade of cars was circling the huge parking lot as shoppers tried to find a coveted close-in spot. Most settled for any place they could find and walked almost a quarter-mile to the store.

“I knew it would be like this, but I felt I didn’t have any choice after reading some of the sales fliers yesterday,” said Gwen Taylor, who was in town visiting relatives for Thanksgiving. “If I waited until I got home, I would probably not find some of the items back home in Georgia.

None of the Wal-Mart employees are allowed to talk to the press, but several said they had never seen the store this crowded before. “What is really amazing is that this will probably last most of the day,” said one employee who was out front taking a break. “We probably won’t break any records today, but I would say management has to be pleased with this turnout.”