Extra-early turnout pleases Yuma retailers

Despite earlier opening times at Yuma retail stores this Black Friday, the community came out in droves to shop in 50-degree weather.

With a 3 a.m. start time last year, Kohl's moved its opening to midnight this year, which store officials say proved to be a good move.

“I don't think customers minded coming in at midnight at all,” said Kohl's manager Roger Varela. “It was probably the longest line we've had before opening. The line wrapped around the store.”

Varela noted that at midnight, the store was very busy, and all throughout the early morning hours was seeing customers arriving in waves.

“I am very happy with the turnout,” he added, commenting that initially they weren't sure if the shift in opening times would be beneficial or profitable for the store.

Yuma High School marching band and color guard students had a table outside of Kohl's, beginning at midnight as well, to wrap gifts for donations.

Yuma High sophomore Melissa Razo said it was the first time for this fundraiser because the group really needed money to travel to band competitions.

Razo, who plays clarinet in the marching band, said that they didn't find their endeavor to be very successful but were hoping to get more customers throughout the rest of the day on Black Friday.

Old Navy store manager Michael Moyer said the line before their midnight opening stretched past Sports Authority two stores away. “I couldn't see the end of the line.”

He commented that their store has been opening at midnight on Black Friday for the past few years, and even though other stores are joining them and opening earlier, they still had a good turnout.

“We're having a great time and the customers seemed to be having a great time as well,” he said around 5 a.m.

Over a thousand people were waiting outside of Target for its midnight opening, said manager of asset protection Kat Turner.

“It went well. There were a lot of guests outside initially but we had a pretty good plan in place to get everyone in safely.”

Turner said this was the first time their store had opened at midnight on Black Friday, but police officers at the store and guests both commented on how smoothly everything ran.

“Shoppers complimented us that the longest wait in the checkout line was 40 minutes.”

Some of the high-ticket items in their store this year, she said, ranged from TVs and game consoles to portable fire pits.

Rue21, a clothing and accessories store new to Yuma this year, also had a midnight opening on Black Friday with a great turnout.

Assistant store manager Jorge Aguilar said it was his first time working a Black Friday opening and he was surprised by the amount of people waiting outside.

“We opened the store at midnight and people just rushed in. Right away people started picking and grabbing what they wanted. It was pretty intense at first.”

Aguilar said that a big deal this year was the “buy one get one 50 percent off” bargain that drew out a lot of customers.

At Sports Authority, some customers had been in line since 7 p.m. the previous day. Shawn and Whitney Lucas waited outside Sports Authority at midnight for the 5 a.m. opening and were near the front of the line, they said.

Although they didn't get to purchase everything they were looking for this year at some other stores, they still walked out of Sports Authority with bags full of soccer equipment.

Erin McElhaney had been waiting outside of Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts since 3:30 a.m. for the 6 a.m. opening and managed to be the first person in line.

McElhaney, an avid quilter, said this was her first year shopping on Black Friday — the $1.50 deal for a year of fabric is what drew her out.

“I have a lot of friends that are having babies around Christmas time so I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone,” she said, noting that she has a lot of quilting to do this holiday season.

Milissa McCoy and Beverly Ward raved about the great service they received while at JCPenney and noted that the staff in the shoe department went above and beyond normal customer service.

“They were great,” said McCoy. “People like that are what brings us back.

San Luis High School junior Araiz Bobadilla was out shopping this year at Walmart, Old Navy and JCPenney with her fifth- and seventh-grade cousins Emma Estrada and Fabriely Bobadilla, respectively, and her aunts.

The girls agreed that they didn't really like the earlier start time this year at some stores because it took away from the time they got to spend with their family on Thanksgiving.

They did note, however, that they walked away from their shopping experience with some good deals that will make great Christmas presents for family.

Sarah Womer can be reached at swomer@yumasun.com or 539-6858. Find her on Facebook at Facebook.com/YSSarahWomer or on Twitter at @YSSarahWomer.