Black Friday 2012: Roundup Of Early Shoppers Camping In Line Days Before Shopping Extravaganza [PHOTOS]
Many haven't even begun to plan their Thanksgiving meals yet -- let alone how to shop it off the following day -- but Black Friday shoppers have already begun lining up for 2012's best deals and steals.
On Wednesday, exactly nine days before Black Friday, Gizmodo reported two women -- Rhiannon Buckingham and Alicia Gomez -- were camped out in front of an El Cajon, Calif. Best Buy. The duo said they were so early in order to snag the best door buster deals.
"Last year, I came on Tuesday and I was 17th in line. They only had 15 TVs," Buckingham told 10News.
One Best Buy in Pembroke Pines, Fla. also had people beginning to pitch tents on Saturday but police forced them to leave. According to WSVN news, police forced several shoppers to pack up and informed them the earliest date lines can formulate would be Wednesday ahead of Black Friday.
For many, the process of standing in line early is actually a team effort. One shopper in Pinole, Calif. told ABC News he along with family and friends rotate.
"They're here, and because we met them, we'll rotate, and I'm gonna go to work tomorrow, and I'll come back and spend the night, and just keep doing that until that time, and then I'll be out here all day Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday," Jouzette Luster told ABC.
Shoppers waiting in line extra early even plan to have Thanksgiving while waiting for bargains. Tony Avitar said he lined up at the Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio Best Buy on Thursday and has done so for the past nine years. The father of five told Fox 8 he plans to have a turkey dinner with his family in the tent.
“When you have five kids and you have limited income what you want to be able to do is — is want to be able to provide for them and get them decent Christmas presents,” he said.
Others actually profit by standing in lines more than 100 hours before the Black Friday sales begin. One shopper in Arizona told The Daily Mail he expects to earn somewhere between $4 and $5 an hour to purchase a 40-inch flat screen television at Best Buy.
Some people treat it as a sport, like Angela Gransberry in Phoenix, Arizona who said she likes "being number one."
But another person in Delafield, Wisconsin who began camping six days early said Black Friday is a good time to socialize.
"We have so much fun out here. You meet all kinds of nice people," he told WXOW.
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