Shoppers Get A Big Jump On The Holidays Early Birds Catch The Bargains On Busiest Day Of The Year

By 6:15 a.m. Friday, 1,000 Wal-Mart shopping carts were gone.

Shoppers at the Spokane Valley store were loading them with inexpensive TVs, VCRs and bread makers.

With its 6 a.m. opening, Wal-Mart was the first stop for hundreds of day-after-Thanksgiving shoppers who hit the stores, searching for bargains.

“The first three hours, we were double our traffic from our grand opening,” said Wal-Mart Manager Joe Hawkins, sounding like a proud father.

From the Valley to NorthTown Mall, downtown Spokane to Coeur d’Alene, the retail faithful turned out in force for the traditional kickoff of the holiday shopping season.

Cathy Stephens and her mother practiced a divide-and-conquer strategy.

They split their shopping list to cover more territory. While Stephens waited outside Wal-Mart, her mother was next door, in line at the brand-new Toys R Us. The goal was the same - buying Christmas presents for Stephens’ three children.

“They had Nintendo Game Boys on sale,” Stephens said, clutching the $49.99 toy like a hard-won prize. “They were already down to eight when I walked back there.”

When Wal-Mart’s doors opened, shoppers entered from both sides of the 130,000 square-foot store, creating a bottleneck as they pushed through the single entrance inside. Shopping carts formed a metal gridlock in the middle of the store, where sale items were stacked high.

Shoppers snatched four-head VCRs for $99, combination television-VCRs for $199, bread makers for $49.97.

“We just came out for the special. We thought if we came at 6 a.m, we’d avoid the rush. Boy, were we wrong,” said Michele Cook of Spokane, a first-time day-after-Thanksgiving shopper. “It was bumper to bumper carts.”

Some shoppers laughed nervously when asked about waiting in line at 6 a.m. They wanted the bargains, but felt a little silly when asked why.

“I feel stupid. My family thinks I’m stupid. They’re home in bed,” said Barbara Phinney of Liberty Lake as she left Kmart at 6:30 a.m. with an early-bird gift box. But she said, “It’s not for the joy. It’s to save money.”

Other shoppers are drawn to the experience. They gather newspaper ads the night before and plan their routes, noting stores, locations and sale items. At the stores, they stand in line, making friends and sipping lattes.

Huge numbers of shoppers rush to stores that offer free gift bags.

About 300 people waited at Target on East Sprague, which offered early shoppers a plastic shopping bag adorned with a cartoon snowman. Inside were samples of toothpaste, aspirin, silver polish, makeup, Chex Mix, tea and chewable breath drops.

“It’s silly,” Debbie Cook of Spokane admitted sheepishly. “I bought something just to make it look like I wasn’t just going for the free stuff.”

A similar scene played out in Coeur d’Alene’s Silver Lake Mall, where shoppers gathered well before the doors opened at 6 a.m. They all wanted the free gift bag - containing a beanbag toy - offered to the first 500 people in line.

“We missed that line, so we hurried over to this one where they’re giving out free coupons for breakfast with Santa at Granny’s Buffet,” said Sharon Bilte, who made the early morning trip from Newman Lake with her daughter.

At Silver Lake and NorthTown Mall, Kay-Bee Toy and Hobby Shop was the star of the show.

Lines snaked out the stores and through the mall, formed by people eager for deals. By 10:30 a.m., Jody Meyer of Spokane had already waited an hour, and had about an hour to go, to buy the eight toys she found on sale.

“The Batmobile, that’s what brought me in,” Meyer said. “I’ve got 14 nieces and nephews so I can always use toys.”

“Oh man, we’re going crazy,” said Phil Thompson, manager of Kay-Bee at Silver Lake. “This is the best response we’ve ever had to our early opening. In the first 30 minutes, it felt like we’d been open eight hours.”

At the Spokane Valley Mall, Linda Langer of Post Falls was ready for a break by 11:30 a.m.

“We need a breather,” she said, as she relaxed with her daughter, after three hours of shopping. At her feet sat bags stuffed with blazers, shirts and baby outfits, ready to be slipped into boxes and under the Christmas tree.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 color photos Graphic: Holiday gifts: A financial decision

The following fields overflowed: BYLINE = Alison Boggs Staff writer Staff writers David Gunter and Angie Gaddy contributed to this report.