Deals attract crowds for Black Friday

Precious Grundy, The Lima News, Ohio
·2 min read

Nov. 24—LIMA — The day after Thanksgiving is a time for consumers to prepare for the next holiday season. Although some stores were closed on the holiday, Black Friday did not fall short of eager holiday shoppers.

Menards was packed full of customers getting ready for home projects and the perfect stocking stuffers.

"It (Black Friday) has been fantastic," Menards Manager Don Pope said. "You could not have asked for a better day weather-wise. The lines were good this morning. We got everyone in safely within five to 10 minutes."

Pope said the store opened at 6 a.m. It will remain open until 9 p.m. Friday evening and reopen with the same deals on Saturday. Pope also said he anticipates more sales and consumer buys.

"We have stuff for everybody here," Pope said. "All of our Christmas is fully stocked and down on the floor. The shelves are full and ready to be shopped. The Black Friday ad is something that's going to be available online starting tomorrow as well. There is a lot of online shopping. That's getting bigger and bigger every year — we have stuff for everyone's stocking stuffers and even grocery gift ideas."

Customer Ann Daley said she typically does more shopping online for holiday gifts. Daley decided to stop at the stores just to grab a few items.

"I could not believe it when I pulled in and there were not any carts or anything," Daley said.

The parking lot was full of customers at Menards with little to no available parking spots.

For Meijer, the deals began the Sunday before the holiday.

"We did not have too many lines this morning but we did have direct traffic from Menards," Meijer Manager Steve Cope said. "We opened a little bit early and people were checked out pretty quickly — customers got what they needed to check out electronics then continued shopping throughout the store."

Meijer also opened its doors at 6 a.m. Friday morning. Cope also said the crowds were about the same as last year. Shoppers' go-to gift items seemed to favor electronics. Cope said the Meijer staff was fully prepared for consumers to make technology the first purchase on their list.

Reach Precious Grundy at 567-242-0351.