Deal hunters come out

CELINA - At precisely 6 a.m. Friday, Menards Manager Donald Baumstark unlocked the front doors of the store on Havemann Road and stepped back to allow the crowd of anxious shoppers into the store.

The first through the entrance was Lynn Schweitzer, Wapakoneta, who admitted she was not the first into the parking lot when she arrived at 4 a.m. but was the first to get out of her car to get into line.

"I had never been first. I've always been second or third, but I've never been first," she said. "It was fun to start the stampede. Everybody got out of their cars when I got out. I got out at 4:30 on the dot. I was looking at my watch."

The atmosphere at the front of the line was good as shoppers chatted and compared shopping lists with one another.

"The people are always friendly. I've never had a bad Black Friday. Never," Schweitzer said. "And the Menards people are tops."

Customers filed in continually for 10 minutes after the doors opened until everyone in line was in the store.

"That's the largest crowd we've ever had when the doors opened," said Baumstark, who had anticipated the time would be closer to 5 minutes.

Shopping lists varied widely.

"My husband wants a three-level metal shelf," Schweitzer said.

Jeffery Dietsch and Jennifer Dotson of Van Wert said they were looking to buy bath sets as well as cookie sheet sets. Other items mentioned by shoppers near the front of the line were gun safes, pet toys and rock salt lamps.
"We have all sorts of things," Baumstark said. "It spans the gamut. Drills, ladders, Shop-Vacs, $99 queen mattress on sale, I think some of those items are going to go super fast."

The old stereotype of mean, competitive shoppers ready to fight and claw to get what they want was nowhere to be seen on Friday morning.

"I'm having a blast. I'm talking to people I've never met before," Schweitzer said. "I've been doing this since I was 10 years old. That would be 50 years. I'm a pro."

Shoppers filed through the door in an orderly but quick fashion. The only things slowing shoppers as they hurried into the store were the people stopping to grab a sale flier, get a store map or a pick up a shopping cart. As the last few people entered at 6:10 a.m., customers were already loading purchases into their vehicles in the parking lot.

Preparation for Black Friday actually began just after last year's sale, Baumstark noted, with corporate personnel planning the next round of sale items. Local employees worked hard just prior to Friday's sale, setting up snow fencing to organize the line of shoppers, making sure enough workers were scheduled for the big day, preparing and pricing the many pallets of merchandise that would be placed on display and readying the cash registers to handle the extensive crowds, not only for Black Friday but also for the entire Thanksgiving weekend.

Black Friday is traditionally the biggest day for retailers in the United States in terms of foot traffic, despite many stores also offering Thanksgiving Day sales. Baumstark said the policy of waiting until Friday to begin the big sales will continue at Menards.

"We're closed on Thanksgiving. In retail, it's becoming a select group of stores who still do that," he said. "It's something we're very proud of - to be closed on Thanksgiving for our guests and our team members to be able to spend the holiday with their families. We're super happy we keep that tradition alive."