LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Before the turkey got cold and before the gravy started to get a bit lumpy, some shoppers were already hitting the big stores for holiday sales.
Black Friday? Why wait?
KCAL9’s Andrea Fujii reports that the early birds got the worms and a lot of great deals.
She talked to customers at a Best Buy in West LA where bargain hunters were doing their due diligence.
Fujii was there when the first shoppers entered the store — like runners crossing the finish line.
Some of the shoppers told her it was a competition of sorts — to see who could save the most money.
“I’m probably saving about $250, which is great for my budget,” said Bibi Samson.
To make sure there was no pushing or shoving, as is often the case in holiday shopping, Best Buy management handed out vouchers for some of the big ticket items — like the large screen Toshiba TV that’s half off.
Pearla Rubio spent the night camped outside the store to make sure she got one.
“The TV is $150,” she says, “for a 49-inch. So that was a really good deal. The original price is like $430 so it’s a good saving.”
Fujii said TV’s were the big sellers.
Anthony Ramos is dumping his old set and saving big on the new one.
“I still have a box TV,” he said, “so shout out to that box TV, you know. I’m upgrading, finally.”
Despite all the hype surrounding Black Friday, consumer experts say unless you’re the first people in the door, don’t bother standing in line.
“If you don’t show up early you don’t get the best deal and you’re stuck shopping for all of the other things that are either regular price or look like they’re marked down but aren’t really,” says Carmen Balbar, executive director of Consumer Watchdog.
Sherryl Tate said she did her homework when purchasing her new TV.
“We ate earlier,” she said, “so we said, ‘Let’s go shopping. Yeah, that’s why we’re here,” said Tate.
For most of the shoppers, they said to save big they didn’t even have to skip their turkey dinner.
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