Black Friday Brings Big Desert Crowds
Bargain hunters started lining up as early as Thursday afternoon outside of Coachella Valley retail stores.
Black Friday brings out the shopper in penny-pinchers. A lot of people wait for Cyber Monday.
The Desert Hills Premium Outlets are always a madhouse the day after Thanksgiving, store owners said.
Jewelry was marked down to half-price, premium jeans flew off the shelves, and shoppers said they were willing to shell out the cash for a good deal even if they didn’t need what they were buying.
“I think everyone’s looking for a bargain,” said Ross Thayer, from Palas Verdes. “I know that’s what my wife was looking for: If it’s a deal and we can use it, she’ll buy it.”
There was a 20 minute wait to get inside the Armani Exchange at the Desert Hills Premium Outlets, and that didn’t include the line to get to the register.
“There’s been some good deals,” said Sar Stidham, from Phoenix, “but not as good as we thought. Last year was better, for sure.”
Still, the parking lot was full all night and all morning.
Buyers crammed sidewalks and streets, and all were toting bags, which may mean retailers are back in the black and so is the economy.
“You can just look at the lines,” said Kathy Pinder, from Corona. “The Ugg line is like out the door over there, and we stood in line for an hour and a half to get into Coach.”
The Desert Hills Premium Outlets in Cabazon weren’t the only one’s filled with customers. A large screen television and boxes and boxes of clothes were found in trunks of cars at the Walmart parking lot in Palm Desert.
“I got here a Nintendo DDS,” said David Cuniga. “We got some bikes for my nephew and this plasma tv.”
Cuniga said he drove two hours from Mexicali to the desert for a bargain and went shopping with his mother and sister.
They took cell phone video of the chaos inside the store.
“I actually got scared a little bit because I’m not used to it,” said Cuniga.
He said they stood in lines from 10:30 p.m. on Thanksgiving to well past 6 a.m., but he said it was worth it because he saved a bunch of cash.
“I’m kind of tired right now,” he said.
