Black Friday: Lines grow as shoppers search for bargains

3:00 p.m - Temple Gentry, from Benton, Tenn., was shopping this afternoon at Kohl’s near Hamilton Place mall with her two sisters.

She said her family lost their home this year, and that the tradition of finding Black Friday deals with her sisters now is more important than ever.

“Even if I didn’t have a dollar, I’d still come out to shop,” she said.

Kohl’s afternoon shoppers faced an hour-long wait to check out, according to an employee.

1:15 p.m - People were lined up at 4:45 a.m. this morning to get into the Office Depot on Battlefield Parkway when it opened at 6 a.m., Department Manager Michael Johnson said.

Within 20 minutes after opening, all three of the company’s advertised notebook computers were gone, he said.

Black Friday is “huge” for his store, he said, “but we spend weeks getting ready. It’s literally the day you train your staff for.”

Customers also have been scrambling to buy GPS systems, he said.

Noon - Debra Palley has no intention of visiting any mall today. Instead, the Florida resident, in Chattanooga to visit her in-laws, was shopping along Frazier Avenue in North Chattanooga Friday.

About noon, a healthy crowd of shoppers was patrolling along Frazier, hitting the boutiques, art galleries and other shops on the street.

Sherra Lewis, owner of the Go Fish clothing and gift shop, said she expected her store to be totally packed by early afternoon.

Black Friday is her shop’s best day of the year in terms of sales, she said.

Lines wound around nearly every major aisle in Target at Hamilton Place from 6:30 a.m. past 7 a.m.

The store opened at 5 a.m. but was still the second or third stop for some shoppers.

8:30 a.m. - Vicki Davis and her daughter Jessica Davis were leaving the store with a full shopping cart just after 6 a.m.

The pair from Cave Spring, Ga. had met another friend, Olivia Shipp of Chattanooga at the mall to shop J.C. Penny’s and the Belk clothing stores before 5 a.m.

With gifts piled high in the back of their minivan the team moved down their 11-store checklist to find more deals.

A few miles south in Fort Oglethorpe, Ga. shopper Wesley Steele had just returned to Office Depot to pick up a laptop computer at half price. He’d been at the store at 4:30 a.m. for the pre-sale tickets on selected items, which allowed him to head over to Walmart for savings on a Global Positioning System before Office Depot opened at 6 a.m.

“(Walmart) was kind of bad, really crowded,” he said.

5:30 a.m. -A Best Buy store manager said shoppers camped out starting Wednesday for deals on computers, games and other electronics.

Josh Marshall, assistant store manager, said today is the busiest day of the year and the store plans for months in advance.

Tiffany Trindle of Rossville, Ga., was first in line and had collected 10 flyers for special flyer-only deals.

Her friend, 13 year-old Julie Motley has shopped Black Friday for six years. Ms. Motley said, "Most likely this was the one day I'll be up this early all year."

4:30 a.m. - Shoppers took advantage of warmth and food as they circled the stores and food court of Hamilton Place Mall at 4 a.m.

Becky Djernes met with two friends for her first Black Friday this morning. Her friends, Lisa Calloway and Julie Pragnell started the day at Toys 'R' Us, and planned to shop until they tired. Ms. Djernes said she was having fun, "but it was mostly about the company," that made the early morning shopping enjoyable.

3:30 a.m. - Some stores opened earlier, but a line of more than 300 people stood outside Old Navy at The Terrace, near Hamilton Place, just before the store's opening at 2:55 a.m.

At the front stood Jerry Haught. He'd waited there for his wife, Michelle, since 11:20 p.m. Mrs. Haught waited at Toys 'R" Us for the midnight opening.

Mr. Haught said this was his first Black Friday, but it is something his wife does every year. When asked why he came out, Mr. Haught laughed and said, "I don't know, I'm stupid."