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KELOLAND stores were packed from wall-to-wall when their doors opening late Thanksgiving Day for an early start to the Black Friday bargain bonanza.
Now that the holiday shopping season is here, something appears to have changed in Sioux Falls. With more stores rolling out their door buster deals before Black Friday, the morning hours of the big day have calmed compared to the memories of Black Fridays of the past.
"We've gotten trampled before. People bang our car doors with their car door, long lines and it looks like today [Friday] we can get what we want and not have to wait in line too long," Nicole Thedens said.
Thedens is a seasoned Black Friday shopper, she had planned to join the Thursday night crowd, but quickly changed her mind.
"Because my brother-in-law was up here at eight o'clock and it was a zoo, so we decided to come later," Thedens said.
She's glad she decided to start her shopping at five in the morning.
Lisa Bentley has a similar story. She started her Black Friday shopping on Friday at 5 a.m. But last year she ventured out at midnight.
"With all of the different start times and that kind of thing, I decided to sleep in a little bit this morning," Bentley.
For Bentley, Black Friday is a family tradition, she's even getting her ten-year-old daughter Allison into the mix.
"It's actually pretty good. She's a good shopper, so she enjoys the big sales as well. She goes as fast as I do," Bentley said.
Bentley's main objective is to get her hands on an iPod Touch. She says this game plan paid off, as she avoided the headaches of Black Friday shopping.
"I didn't have to worry about the crowds," Bentley said.
And that might just be a gift in itself.
Shoppers we spoke to early Friday morning did say some of the items they were looking for were sold out, but for the most part, they were still very happy with the selection on the shelves.
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