A line formed of more than 200 customers who started showing up as early as 3 a.m. to make final preparations for the busiest shopping day of the year.
The first 250 customers through the doors when it opened at 5 a.m. received a gift card worth at least $10 and as much as $500. Everyone in line was offered free hot chocolate.
Giveaways drew a crowd to the Target store in Beavercreek starting in the late evening on Thanksgiving.
“We actually just came by to see if there was a line. We were it so we stayed,” said Virginia Nesbit.
She and her husband, John, arrived about 8:30 p.m. after finishing their holiday meal.
They unpacked chairs and some blankets and decided to make a night of it despite sub-freezing temperatures and a lack of resources.
“We went to the Speedway to use the bathroom. It was the only thing open,” said John Nesbit.
Behind them, Beavercreek residents London Huling and Elijah Babin, along with their friend Joy Stott of Schenectady, New York, took turns holding spaces in line as people left to use the facilities, grab food or warm up in their cars for a little bit.
They arrived around 9:30 p.m. Thursday with iPads, Thanksgiving leftovers and a portable heater in tow hoping to get one of the 100 gift totes Target was handing out.
By 4 a.m., newcomers were counting people in line to see if waiting was worthwhile.
Ten of the totes held premium giveaways including $100 gift card, a Ninja slushie machine and Beats Solo 4 headphones.
Huling, Babin and Storr said they passed the time waiting for the 6 a.m. opening talking, sleeping and meeting the people around them.
“A lot of it has just been spent under our blankets,” Babin said.
Springfield’s business district was busy Friday morning, with many looking for deals on holiday gifts.
Linda Smith, of Springfield, has gone Black Friday shopping early in the morning since she had small children, enjoying the “hustle and bustle” and finding good deals. Now with 10 grandkids and three great-grandkids, Smith said she didn’t plan to go out this year, but after buying poinsettias at Lowe’s, she figured she might as well head to Marshall’s to find some gifts.
“I started last week in the stores, and they were really good deals,” Smith said, noting that items used to be cheaper, but she is willing to pay more for quality.
Rayanna Trego of Springfield doesn’t typically shop on Black Friday but decided to do some holiday shopping before work while her kids stayed at home with their dad. At Five Below, she said many of the deals were the same she’d seen the previous week.
“I think Black Friday might be going out the door because of all the online shopping and the Cyber Monday and stuff like that,” Trego said.
The mother of five said she likes shopping in person more than online sometimes to find items she may not have previously considered.
Grant Roy of Springfield said his decision to go Black Friday shopping typically depends on what deals he sees ahead of time and how much he needs. With five grandkids, he said he planned to look for toys at other stores but was at Academy Sports + Outdoors looking for some items for himself.
Roy said when he and his wife go Black Friday shopping, it’s typically to the stores on Bechtle Avenue. He said he had found some pretty good deals.
Stephanie Dodd of Fairfield said Black Friday shopping is a tradition that started with her mom, and others in her family, after she separated from the Air Force in 2008. In addition to her mom, her daughter Bailey was included in the Black Friday tradition as they walked around Bridgewater Falls.
The day started at Mendards in Fairfield Twp., “because they always have a bunch of cheap, fun gifts,” Dodd said, and continued east down Princeton Road to Bridgewater Falls Shopping Center.
There is some strategy before heading out to shop, she said.
“We go through the ads, and we try to get the best deals we can for what we’re looking for,” Dodd said.
Credit: Michael D. Pitman
Credit: Michael D. Pitman
Some of the go-to stores they try to hit include Target, Ulta and Walmart.
There weren’t as many people as Dodd and her daughter had anticipated for a day when big shopping deals are offered. She believes online shopping has a lot to do with that, as well as a weekend filled with deal-shopping that includes Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday.
“People aren’t waiting in line at midnight, like we used to,” she said. “I remember sitting in a folding chair, freezing my behind off with 30 blankets at Toys-R-Us in Colerain.”
A record 186.9 million people are expected to shop between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday this year, up more than 3 million from 2024, according to the National Retail Federation. Most, 130.4 million, were expected to go out on Black Friday.
Total holiday spending is projected to surpass $1 trillion for the first time, growing between 3.7% and 4.2% over 2024.
