Earlier hours draw many shoppers

Shoppers hunting holiday deals were out so early this morning the birds complained.

The frenzy began at 3 a.m. when the Holiday Village Mall opened its doors. At the time, only Herberger's and The Athlete's Foot were open. But that didn't seem like too big of a deal to the scores of people who waited for the doors to open to get at those prices.

Louis and Maureen Stappler were two of those waiting. They drove down from Medicine Hat, Alberta, on Thursday to do some shopping today and over the weekend.

Just before 3 a.m. Maureen Stappler was one of a few people waiting outside the door, though the parking lot was full of people waiting in their cars.

Not long after mall doors opened all of the registers, including some impromptu checkout stations set up for the sale, had lines at least eight customers deep.

Stappler came out with a plan, a pre-meditated surgical strike.

"A couple of days ago, I looked online, looked at all of the fliers," Stappler said. "I got a good head start."

And she wasn't the only one.

Sonja Fox had never participated in the Black Friday frenzy but wanted to do her best on the first try.

"We wanted to see if it was as good as people say," Fox said. "We came in two days ago to scope it out."

In that strange time between bars closing and breakfast places opening, different people came up with different strategies to make it out safe and with the best goods.

Neeko Bigby took what he described as a "quick nap" the night before the sales.

His friend Jessie Huggins said he'd been up since Thursday morning.

Before heading to the mall, many like Huggins had stayed up and gone to Wal-Mart, which was open all night, for the partial deals that went out at midnight. Though most of the prices didn't rollback until 5 a.m.

Wal-Mart staying open allowed customers to wait for the discounts inside. Just after 4 a.m. customers with empty carts had already lined up the length of the store, waiting for the black-plastic-wrapped islands of mystery items to be torn open at 5 a.m.

And just after they were, the entire front of the store was congested with customers trying to checkout at 15 checkout counters, which were then operating.

Though lacking the violence and injuries of some Black Fridays past, Christmastime has come to Havre.

Shoppers hunting holiday deals were out so early this morning the birds complained.

The frenzy began at 3 a.m. when the Holiday Village Mall opened its doors. At the time, only Herberger's and The Athlete's Foot were open. But that didn't seem like too big of a deal to the scores of people who waited for the doors to open to get at those prices.

Louis and Maureen Stappler were two of those waiting. They drove down from Medicine Hat, Alberta, on Thursday to do some shopping today and over the weekend.

Just before 3 a.m. Maureen Stappler was one of a few people waiting outside the door, though the parking lot was full of people waiting in their cars.

Not long after mall doors opened all of the registers, including some impromptu checkout stations set up for the sale, had lines at least eight customers deep.

Stappler came out with a plan, a pre-meditated surgical strike.

"A couple of days ago, I looked online, looked at all of the fliers," Stappler said. "I got a good head start."

And she wasn't the only one.

Sonja Fox had never participated in the Black Friday frenzy but wanted to do her best on the first try.

"We wanted to see if it was as good as people say," Fox said. "We came in two days ago to scope it out."

In that strange time between bars closing and breakfast places opening, different people came up with different strategies to make it out safe and with the best goods.

Neeko Bigby took what he described as a "quick nap" the night before the sales.

His friend Jessie Huggins said he'd been up since Thursday morning.

Before heading to the mall, many like Huggins had stayed up and gone to Wal-Mart, which was open all night, for the partial deals that went out at midnight. Though most of the prices didn't rollback until 5 a.m.

Wal-Mart staying open allowed customers to wait for the discounts inside. Just after 4 a.m. customers with empty carts had already lined up the length of the store, waiting for the black-plastic-wrapped islands of mystery items to be torn open at 5 a.m.

And just after they were, the entire front of the store was congested with customers trying to checkout at 15 checkout counters, which were then operating.

Though lacking the violence and injuries of some Black Fridays past, Christmastime has come to Havre.