EAST RIDGE, Tenn. (WDEF)- Hundreds braved the cold this morning to begin their Christmas shopping.
Over 300 people were at the front doors of Bass Pro Shops early on Black Friday when doors opened on 5 a.m.
Some began waiting in line at 4 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day for a chance to receive gift cards up to $500.
Even with the rise of online shopping, some shoppers say that the thrill of hunting for bargains in person cannot be matched.
One shopper, Brooklynn, said, “It’s a tradition that we, I think this is our fourth or fifth year that we come out very early and Bass Pro Shops is always our first stop because we like to see if we can get all of our Christmas stuff done here.”
Some of the most popular items for shoppers at Bass Pro Shops include apparel, which many shoppers said was a priority.
Another shopper, Siera, said, “We usually try to get mostly men’s clothes ,I think my Nana got my Papaw some jeans for like $15.”
The National Retail Federation, America’s largest trade association for retailers, says they expect nearly 187 million people to shop between Thanksgiving Day and Cyber Monday.
The East Ridge Bass Pro Shop’s General Manager, Greg Norman, said, ” We do our best to keep the prices as low as we possibly can. We will not be beat on price at Bass Pro.”
He says that Black Friday is about more than just the shopping on Friday, but the deals that surround it throughout the week.
Norman said, “We have a lot of transition as most retailers due to emphasis on bringing Black Friday into the Black Friday week. So we’ve had our sales that started on Monday and have gone all week long, and then we have the Black Friday specific deals that bring people in here earlier this morning.”
Those we spoke with say they will continue to wake up early on Black Friday to ring in the holiday season.
Sierra said, “Black Friday is always like really hard for us because we end up spending more money than we normally would cause like we’re getting deals and getting more stuff so we just buying more than we… it’s not as much the deals it’s more just the experience.”
Brooklynn said, “I agree I think it’s cool to see everybody like come out at once and there’s like always so many people. It’s definitely a lot crowded here this year than we’ve seen in the previous years.”
