Christmas Chaos
Shoppers swarm some area stores, others don't fare as well

Shelby Lefthandbull looks into a display case at T&R Market in the Rio West Mall Friday morning. Lefthandbull was helping her aunt, Marybell Jim -- who's visiting from Hawaii -- pick out jewelry to take home. [Photo by John A. Bowrersmith/Independent]

Independent Staff and The Associated Press

GALLUP — A too-much-turkey hangover didn't stop shoppers from hitting the stores early Friday.

And it was all some area merchants could do to keep up with customers' verocious appetite for bargains.

Despite having been open for nearly 12 hours, sales clerks and managers were breathless trying to keep up with customer demands at JC Penney in the Rio West Mall late Friday afternoon.

"Very busy, busy, busy," said JC Penney employee Mae Witmer as she watched two young men behind a horseshoe-shaped counter in the men's department scramble to serve customers lined up six-deep at each of the two registers.

JC Penney, which had been open since 5 a.m. on what is traditionally the busiest shopping day of the year, was operating with its full staff. It was barely enough.

But to store manager Robert Reynolds, the crushing crowds were a joy.

"Sales are very good," Reynolds said. "We're having some great sales and we're having a lot of fun.

"It's going to be a great Christmas."

On the other side of the mall, Margaret Mecale wasn't so optimistic.

The manager of FYE said the store, which specializes in CDs, DVDs and video games, wasn't receiving the number of customers it had on the Friday after Thanksgiving a year ago.

"We're not doing a well as I thought we would. It's a lot slower than last year," Mecale said. "The people who are coming in are buying, but the volume of people is down."

FEY opened at 8 a.m. and the majority of the early shoppers were parents and grandparents shopping for youngsters, Mecale said. By 4:30 p.m. the store was filled with teens and only a handful of adults. Most were trying in vain to find this year's high-demand item: An XBox 360 video game player.

"We don't have any," Mecale said, explaining that the machines were in limited supply and it would be late December or January before her store would receive an order.

Still, those who did come in the store were opening their wallets and purses, she said.

"They're buying everything really: Games, CDs, DVDs. ..."The parking lot at Rio West Mall was already more half-full by 5 a.m. with shoppers hoping to snatch up bargains. But shoppers in the Four Corners area weren't the only early birds.

By 4 a.m. Friday, Jennifer Prosise of Hobbs had spent more than $600 on tools, blinds, two bikes, a TV, a VCR, a remote control Hummer, a printer/scanner/copier, board games and a doggie door.

"I have four kids and four dogs, so I have to do a lot of shopping," she said.

The day after Thanksgiving has become somewhat of a holiday for bargain hunters and stores alike. Even small savings can draw a crowd.

Hundreds of people lined up outside Sears in Albuquerque before its 6 a.m. opening in hopes of being among the first 200 shoppers who would get a $10 gift certificate.

Employees at Dunlap's Department Store in Hobbs, clad in Santa hats, threw open the entrance just after 7 a.m., allowing 250 customers to speed walk their way to the back of the store.

Within 10 minutes, employees handed out 250 plush plaid bears with matching gift bags.

The shopping day is known as Black Friday because retailers traditionally use special offers to go from losses (red) into profits (black).

The National Retail Federation, which tracks shopping trends, has predicted holiday sales will increase by 6 percent this year, bringing revenues of about $439.5 billion for the holiday season. Last year, shoppers spent $22.8 billion the weekend after Thanksgiving, the federation said.

Retailers plan year-round for the official start of the holiday shopping season, stocking shelves to meet customer demand.

And what attracts many shoppers is a good buy.

That was the case with mother and daughter Marlene Nunez and Charmaine Regensberg, who teamed up to mix gift buying and other shopping.

At 4:45 a.m. Friday, they were waiting outside KB Toys in Coronado Mall, with their strategy ready.

"We always have a game plan," Nunez said.

Dedicated shoppers plan ahead, mapping out the places with the best bargains and lining up before sunrise with the crowds.

Pam Penick's map included a 4 a.m. visit to Wal-Mart, followed by a 5 a.m. visit to JC Penney's and then a 5:45 a.m. vigil at the indoor entrance to Dunlap's.

"This is a tradition," said Penick of Hobbs. "My daughter and I do this every year. It's not as much the thing as the principle."

By mid-morning, lines in most stores shifted to the cash registers, and shoppers were crammed shoulder to shoulder. They came armed with cash and credit cards, ready to spend as much or more as the year before.

Robert Adams, manager of Penney's in Hobbs, said the store hired 12 extra staff members for the Christmas season.

"This will be our biggest or second-biggest day of the year," Adams said. "It's always close between the day after Thanksgiving and the Saturday before Christmas."