Business & Tech

It's A Black Friday Bonanza in RSM

Thousands gather in line and get a jump on Christmas shopping even before Black Friday arrives.

Black Friday is now, apparently, a lot like Christmas. Just as some people celebrate on Christmas eve with an exchange of gifts, people now are fully prepared to commence purchasing those gifts on the eve of Black Friday.

That was the case Thursday in Rancho Santa Margarita as thousands lined up outstide stores—most notably, Target—and waited for the doors to open.

Some scored big, walking away with 50-inch flatscreen televisions for $350.

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Bob Singh, who had a pallet of booty headed toward his car less than 30 minutes after the 9 p.m. opening, described buying "anything I could find."

First out of the store, and with a long night ahead of them, were Rachel Gonyea of Rancho Santa Margarita and her friend, Mey Hayes of Long Beach. They were trying to fit their 50-inch television into Gonyea's sedan.

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"They told us we were the first ones out of the store," Hayes said. They arrived four hours before the store opened and were in the "fourth group" of people in line.

While many were streaming in and out of Target, Tina Miner of RSM and Kelly Gullett of Mission Viejo were the only ones at the doorway of Bath and Bodyworks. Miner said she was looking for candles. She saw the line at Target at 8:30 p.m., and that made up her mind for her.

"That line was like, 'No way,' " she said, instead opting for the 10 p.m. opening at Bath and Bodyworks.

Linda Robert and her daughter, Ornella, were third and fourth in line at Tilly's, along with a college and younger age crowd. Why?

"The boys want shoes," Linda Robert said. "Jack Purcell."

Like Miner, Sharon Updike of Trabuco Canyon was scared away by the line at Target. Instead, she settled into the first spot at Kohl's by about 8:50 p.m., for its midnight opening.

One enterprising teen, Vince McKay, 19, of Ladera Ranch, set up an L.A. Fitness tent outside Kohl's.

Instead of selling goods, he was selling memberships. With a steady stream of traffic, it seemed like a good idea. After all, people were in the buying mood.


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