11 p.m.
Judy Bible of New Carlisle was one of hundreds who lined up at Kohl's in Beavercreek tonight. "By the time I get done tonight I'll have probably 90 percent of my shopping done," she said. Hot ticket items sold out within 15 minutes when the store opened at 8 p.m.
7:45 p.m.
Reporter Natalie Jovonovich said the line outside Kohl's has swelled to a couple hundred people with 15 minutes until doors open.
7 p.m.
Shoppers started lining up at the Kohl's in Beavercreek at about 5 p.m. and there are now about 50 people waiting for that store to open at 8 p.m. The hot items? Dyson vacuums and Keurig coffee makers.
5:50 p.m.
The line at the Miami Township Best Buy, which opens at 6 p.m., stretched the length of the shopping center. Meanwhile at the Dayton Mall, which is slated to open at 8 p.m., there were no shoppers lining up to get in.
5:30 p.m.
Doors opened at 5 p.m. at the Toys"R"Us in Miami Township and more than a hundred shoppers were quickly filing up their carts with toys.
4:45 p.m.
Retailers are taking steps to make the wait for deals more pleasant. Associates at the Toys"R"Us near the Dayton Mall handed out bottled water to waiting shoppers this afternoon. At the Best Buy in Springfield portable toilets had been set up for the convenience of those camped out.
4:30 p.m.
About 30 minutes from doors opening the line outside the Miami Township Toys"R"Us swelled to more than 100 people. Employees started handing out balloons to every 50th person so they could keep track and let in 50 at a time once the store opens at 5 p.m.
Earlier:
Lines outside of the area's big retailers opening their doors Thanksgiving evening started to rapidly grow at about 4 p.m. today.
About 50 people were in line at the Toys'R'Us by the Dayton Mall and 60 were lined up around the corner at Best Buy. Only about 10 early birds had braved the morning cold and been there all day.
Some shoppers got a very early start, lining up as early as 5 a.m. That's what time the first person arrived at the Target in Springfield. He said he thought it would be more crowded but the next person in line didn't show up until 1:30 p.m. This afternoon there were about a dozen shoppers waiting there and a decent-sized line at the Best Buy in Springfield.
Lori Cramer brushed aside temperatures in the low 20s to arrive at Meijer in Kettering at 5:15 a.m. Thanksgiving morning.
The 50-year-old Centerville mother of two teenagers wanted plenty of time to pick what she wanted to buy as holiday gifts just before the deals started at 6 a.m.
"They had certain things on sale that I was interested in getting before they sold out," she said, as a guitar and winter jacket and Xbox controllers were plunked in her shopping cart. "I don't have to fight the mall traffic."
She expected to hit Wal-Mart at 6 p.m. Thanksgiving Day, part of her plan of action on shopping over the next three days prior to Christmas. On Black Friday, she vowed to return earlier to Meijer for more deals. "You just map you day and your time, that's all," she said.
The Xbox 360, iPad Air and iPad Mini were a couple of the most popular items during the sale, said store director Mike Burkhart.
"When I got here at 5 o'clock this morning we had lines developed already for these key items," he said.
A long line wound through aisles in the electronics section of the store just after 6 a.m. as customers waited for low price deals on items like Xbox One and Beats by Dr. Dre headphones.
Greg Kain, 47, of Kettering, was on his second trip through the line to get a $50 off gift card to buy Dr. Dre music headphones that were popular with his children. He didn't get what he wanted the first time, he explained.
"My wife has a nice set but the kids are always taking them," he said.
About the Author