Published: November 23, 2007 10:44 pm      

Hoosiers face cold, long lines for shopping across the state

Promise of huge savings lures shoppers to wait outside in the cold

Long drives in the predawn darkness, hours spent in the cold in outdoor lines waiting for stores to open and some retailers unlocking their doors even before their scheduled midnight openings were all part of Friday’s shopping frenzy across Indiana.

Donna and Bill Stoll of Portage were first in line early Friday at a Circuit City store in northwestern Indiana’s retail hub in Hobart, having arrived at 2 p.m. Thursday. The couple prepared for the night, with tents and warming packs in the shoes, and planned to buy computers, televisions and an XBox.

“We’re going to save over $1,000 today, so it’s worth it,” Donna Stoll said.

Workers at a nearby Best Buy store came outside just before 5 a.m. with balloons and cheers to get the line of nearly 300 shoppers ready to go.

“Are you guys feelin’ it?” Doug Menclewicz, a Best Buy supervisor, yelled to the shoppers, who entered the store to find more cheering store employees and the Guns N’ Roses song “Welcome to the Jungle” blasting from the audio section.

At the Edinburgh Premium Outlets center in central Indiana, Midnight Madness began 45 minutes early as retailers took pity on bundled-up customers standing in mid-20s temperatures.

“We saw people out and about, OshKosh opened across the street and we thought we’d capitalize on the idea,” said Sheila Horton, manager of the Nine West Outlet store. “It took about 10 minutes and people just flowed in. It was unreal.”

One of the longest lines there was outside the Coach Outlet store.

Ashley Cunningham of Bloomington said it would be worth it. She planned to buy several purses at half off “until they start denying my credit card.”

Joe Mitchell of Evansville said he started out with his wife and other family members before 6 a.m., hoping to buy a Microsoft Zune MP3 player at a suburban Indianapolis Radio Shack, where they were on sale half-off at $99.99.

Mitchell joined a line of about 30 people at the counter, only to have a clerk announce the store was sold out when he was the second person from the front. The family is still hoping to snap one up soon despite their Black Friday disappointment.

“We’re going to go online and try to find it on Cyber Monday,” Mitchell said.

Sharon Rees left her home in the southeastern Indiana town of Versailles about 4:30 a.m. to start her annual shopping day with her daughter and niece in Indianapolis. They began hitting stores such as Target, Kmart and Kohl’s in the suburbs about 6 a.m. before moving late morning to the downtown Circle Centre Mall.

Rees did not start her Christmas shopping with many must-haves for her four grandchildren — ages 5, 6, 7 and 15.

“I can’t think of any toy that they don’t already have,” Rees said. “Usually there is always something that everyone is ready to just about fight for.”

Rees said her family would likely spend a little less on Christmas gifts this year, favoring some dinner outings with friends over buying presents that will be forgotten.

“I think everyone is looking for a bargain with gas the way it is,” Rees said.

Around 4:30 a.m., members of Calvary Chapel and Northeast Christian Church in Fort Wayne took a wagon up and down the line outside a Best Buy store, handing out free hot chocolate to the hundreds of people waiting for its 5 a.m. opening. Bryan Haas said he had been out for only 15 minutes serving hot chocolate and it was nearly gone.

Store employees handed out tickets during the night to people to present at the checkout lanes to guarantee an item.

“We got the Xbox and the camera,” said Jenna Stucky of Fort Wayne, who had been standing in line with her twin sister, Nicole, since midnight. “We didn’t get the computer. We were hoping to get the computer.”