Fueled by the lure of a great deal, adrenalin and perhaps a little coffee, shoppers flocked to local stores Friday morning.
Beverly Brown had visited five stores by 6 a.m. She skipped sleep and started at Toys R Us at midnight, then shopped at Walmart, Best Buy, Gordmans and J.C. Penney.
"I’m going to crash and burn, but I’m getting some great deals,” she said.
The last time she got up early to stand in line for a Christmas gift was a few years ago during the Furby craze, she said. This year, she snagged an iPod touch for a relative.
Penn Square Mall was bustling early. Shoppers waited for the doors to open at 5 a.m., some wrapped themselves in blankets or wore Snuggies, others pushed sleeping children in strollers, said Audrie Thompson, the mall’s general manager.
By the end of the day, some strollers would be full of shopping bags and the children would be in arms or walking, Thompson predicted.
When the Norman Super Target opened at 5 a.m., it was like the running of the bulls, with focused shoppers — maps and fliers in hand — rushing into the store to get their hands on a flat-screen television or other coveted item.
Hundreds of people formed a line that snaked across the front of the entire shopping center and wound west toward the interstate.
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