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Crowds of shoppers out early for Black Friday sales
  
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By DIANE TEZENO
Hundreds of Fort Bend County shoppers formed lines outside of area stores to take advantage of Black Friday sales.
Some shoppers camped out all night outside of local stores, including the SuperTarget in Missouri City and the Circuit City in Sugar Land.
Among them Victoria Thomas, 23, who arrived at 8 p.m. Thanksgiving Day to be the first in line outside of SuperTarget.
“I sat out here, went to sleep, went to my car,” Thomas said.
The Missouri City resident had her eye on a $399 LexMark combination copier, scanner and printer advertised by the store as well as several other items for her parents.
Gerald Robinson, 24, joined Thomas in her shopping adventure to ensure her safety.
“She got out here at 8 and I got out here at 9 to protect her,” Robinson said.
The prospect of great sales brought 36-year-old John Jackson out to the Missouri City SuperTarget.
“It has been pretty quiet,” Jackson said, who arrived at around 4 a.m. to be the first in line for sales on cameras and TVs.
A five-year-resident of Quail Valley, Jackson said the drop in gas prices was an incentive to join the early morning crowds despite the downturn in the economy.
Nineteen-year-old Mario Perez was drawn to the retail store by sales on TVs and movies and agreed with Jackson.
“Gas did drop and that left a little change in the pocket,” Perez said.
At 5 a.m. about 200 shoppers were lined up outside of the SuperTarget in Sugar Land.
By 6 a.m. the line of shoppers wrapped around the side of the retail store and included an estimated 300 to 400 shoppers.
A store employee at the retail store was not surprised at the crowds.
“We do really well every year on Black Friday, it’s one of the busiest stores in our district and we have great sales,” the employee said.
Circuit City in Sugar Land, one of the locations to remain open despite closings of Circuit City stores nationwide, opened its doors at 5 a.m. and was filled with shoppers looking for deals on various electronics.
“Probably about 300 people were outside before the store opened,” said one of the store’s managers.
“A lot of shoppers are looking for laptops and computers.” she said.
Sugar Land resident Bruce Darkis, one of the early shoppers, arrived at the store when the doors opened, looking for a HP computer.
“I’m out here trying to catch a good deal on a computer,” Darkis said.
The 29-year-old said the slumping economy did not deter him from joining other early morning shoppers.
“If there weren’t any good deals I wouldn’t be out here,” Darkis said.
Jessie, a first-time Black Friday shopper, joined her mother in search of discounts on toys.
The 25-year-old and her mother arrived at 4:50 a.m. and said concerns with the economy motivated her to take advantage of advertised sales.
“This is the first time I have ever done this before, but I thought, hey there are sales out there and the economy is bad, so let me take a shot at it,” the Sugar Land area resident said.
The pair left the Toys R Us in Sugar Land with a shopping cart filled with toys headed for another local retailer for a second round of shopping.
“We are headed to Target now, for more toys.” said the Sugar Land resident.
Similar crowds of shoppers flocked to the First Colony Mall in Sugar Land to take advantage of Day After Thanksgiving Deals.
The parking lot of the shopping mall was filled with cars as early as 5 a.m. and inside shoppers could be seen scurrying from various stores, loaded with bags, in search of holiday shopping deals.
Some shoppers camped out all night outside of local stores, including the SuperTarget in Missouri City and the Circuit City in Sugar Land.
Among them Victoria Thomas, 23, who arrived at 8 p.m. Thanksgiving Day to be the first in line outside of SuperTarget.
“I sat out here, went to sleep, went to my car,” Thomas said.
The Missouri City resident had her eye on a $399 LexMark combination copier, scanner and printer advertised by the store as well as several other items for her parents.
Gerald Robinson, 24, joined Thomas in her shopping adventure to ensure her safety.
“She got out here at 8 and I got out here at 9 to protect her,” Robinson said.
The prospect of great sales brought 36-year-old John Jackson out to the Missouri City SuperTarget.
“It has been pretty quiet,” Jackson said, who arrived at around 4 a.m. to be the first in line for sales on cameras and TVs.
A five-year-resident of Quail Valley, Jackson said the drop in gas prices was an incentive to join the early morning crowds despite the downturn in the economy.
Nineteen-year-old Mario Perez was drawn to the retail store by sales on TVs and movies and agreed with Jackson.
“Gas did drop and that left a little change in the pocket,” Perez said.
At 5 a.m. about 200 shoppers were lined up outside of the SuperTarget in Sugar Land.
By 6 a.m. the line of shoppers wrapped around the side of the retail store and included an estimated 300 to 400 shoppers.
A store employee at the retail store was not surprised at the crowds.
“We do really well every year on Black Friday, it’s one of the busiest stores in our district and we have great sales,” the employee said.
Circuit City in Sugar Land, one of the locations to remain open despite closings of Circuit City stores nationwide, opened its doors at 5 a.m. and was filled with shoppers looking for deals on various electronics.
“Probably about 300 people were outside before the store opened,” said one of the store’s managers.
“A lot of shoppers are looking for laptops and computers.” she said.
Sugar Land resident Bruce Darkis, one of the early shoppers, arrived at the store when the doors opened, looking for a HP computer.
“I’m out here trying to catch a good deal on a computer,” Darkis said.
The 29-year-old said the slumping economy did not deter him from joining other early morning shoppers.
“If there weren’t any good deals I wouldn’t be out here,” Darkis said.
Jessie, a first-time Black Friday shopper, joined her mother in search of discounts on toys.
The 25-year-old and her mother arrived at 4:50 a.m. and said concerns with the economy motivated her to take advantage of advertised sales.
“This is the first time I have ever done this before, but I thought, hey there are sales out there and the economy is bad, so let me take a shot at it,” the Sugar Land area resident said.
The pair left the Toys R Us in Sugar Land with a shopping cart filled with toys headed for another local retailer for a second round of shopping.
“We are headed to Target now, for more toys.” said the Sugar Land resident.
Similar crowds of shoppers flocked to the First Colony Mall in Sugar Land to take advantage of Day After Thanksgiving Deals.
The parking lot of the shopping mall was filled with cars as early as 5 a.m. and inside shoppers could be seen scurrying from various stores, loaded with bags, in search of holiday shopping deals.
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