Stores open doors for deal-crazed crowds

By Jaedda Armstrong and Carolyn Shapiro

Tammy DeJesus wanted to be the first face shoppers saw as they entered Home Depot on Military Highway in Norfolk at 6 a.m. Friday.

"Good morning, everybody. Welcome!" DeJesus, 37, shouted to the crowd while passing out sales fliers showing $129 artificial Christmas trees for $49 and washing machines marked from $549 to $299.

"Hi, handsome; what ya looking for?" she asked as an older man walked in.

"Where are the $25 microwaves?"

She pointed to a huge display behind her. "Plenty to choose from. Buy two," she said with a smile as she patted him on the back.

Margaret White walked into the store around 6:25 a.m. looking for a pretty plant and Christmas decorations.

"Poinsettias - the pretty Christmas plants - are 99 cents," DeJesus told White. "They're usually $3.99, so you'd better get 'em while you have the chance.

"Feel free to grab me one, too. They're my favorite," she joked.

Retail workers all over Hampton Roads were on the front lines of another "Black Friday," which launches the holiday shopping season and has become one of the top sales days of the year. Up before dawn and fueled by the deal-crazed crowds, store employees described upbeat consumers picking out as many items for themselves as gifts for others.

"A lot of people are wanting jeans, and there are certain sizes that we've been running out of," said Chris Midgley, who works at the Old Navy clothing store at Lynnhaven Mall in Virginia Beach.

With retail industry groups predicting that 2009 holiday sales would hold steady - at best - from last year, the mood Friday suggested an improved outlook. Shoppers in Hampton Roads - and nationwide - descended on stores seeking discounts on everything from toys to TV sets. The enthusiasm contrasted with what Midgley described as a "pretty dead" 2008 season.

"This is still slow, compared to two or three years ago," said the 23-year-old law school student, who has worked more than three years for Old Navy.

Traffic was light, he said, but those in the store were spending more. "People that are here are actually buying."

Retailers offered extra encouragement, with gobs of customer service and deep discounts.

Some extended their hours to participate in the Black Friday frenzy for the first time. PetSmart, for example, opened at 7 a.m. this year instead of its usual

9 a.m., boasting 50 percent off all Christmas items, including holiday pet clothes and toys.

"We've never done it before, and it's a great way to advertise our Christmas items," said Sean Peter, manager of the PetSmart on Military Highway in Norfolk, as he welcomed about five customers outside the store at 6:55 a.m.

"We're not going to have lines like a Walmart or Best Buy. As the day goes on and shoppers leave those stores, they'll come over here."

At the Old Navy inside Lynnhaven Mall, Nyanda Heslop worked one of 10 cash registers as two lines of shoppers with arms full of $5 fleece pull overs and $15 blue jeans stretched to the back of the store. Despite the wait, Heslop said, few complained and many seemed eager to spend - and to save.

When she rang up their totals, many customers asked with surprise, "That's it?" the cashier said. "They see great deals. With the fleece $5, they can't beat it."

Old Navy in Virginia Beach opened at 6 a.m., along with the rest of Lynnhaven Mall's merchants. Most free standing Old Navys, including three in Hampton Roads, opened at 3 a.m. Friday - the earliest start ever. They also welcomed customers on Thanksgiving Day, from noon to 7 p.m., for the first time.

"Just to get a jump on the rush," said Shara Shanahan, Old Navy's district manager, of the additional hours.

Back at Home Depot, DeJesus was basking in the Black Friday glow. This is her second year on the job, and she said she couldn't imagine working anywhere else.

"I know how I like to be treated when I come into a store," she said. "They're up early, and I like them to remember that they had a good time when they shopped here."

Apparently, it worked.

At 6:45 a.m., White, the shopper DeJesus had directed to the poinsettias earlier, walked over.

"Sweetheart, you've been so polite and so happy," she said. "I want to give you this."

She handed DeJesus a bright red poinsettia in a flowerpot.

"Really?" asked DeJesus, giving White a hug. "You just made my whole day."

Jaedda Armstrong, (757) 222-5846, jaedda.armstrong@pilotonline.com

Carolyn Shapiro, (757) 446-2270, carolyn.shapiro@pilotonline.com