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November 23, 2007

Black Friday starts when it's still dark

PROVIDENCE -- For some, it was done by 6 a.m

As the sun rose, a few shoppers dotted the streets with brightly colored bags from stores at Providence Place mall.

One shopper, who asked to remain nameless out of guilt for shopping on Black Friday-- so-called because it can be the day when heavy shopping puts retailers' accounts in the black -- said she couldn't sleep, so at 4 a.m., she hit the stores.

And workers who prepared for the early-morning openings were met with a small crowd. The mall never shuts its doors, allowing about 100 shoppers to start buying the moment the stores opened.

But Kelly Allard was one of the luckier employees.

Her store isn't set to open until 8 a.m. She and a co-worker were unusually bubbly for 7 a.m., chatting and laughing as they rode an escalator to the top floor.

"This is one of the funnest days to work," she said to a reporters amazement.

"You've got mothers, 10 sisters, nephews, brothers ... it's a family day."

By 7 a.m. there were more than 500 people looking for sales on goods for the holidays and, no doubt, for themselves. It's 50-50, her co-worker said, taking on the voice of a Black Friday shopper. "One for you, one for me."

"It's not like Christmas Eve," Allard said, when the pressure is on to find something -- anything.

But working on Dec. 24 does have advantage over today, she said.

"We know, after that, it's all over."

-- projo.com staff writer Brandie M. Jefferson

Posted by Brandie Jefferson  at 7:38 AM | Permalink

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