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Going for Broke -- and Bargains
Bargain shoppers, many facing frigid temperatures, woke up before dawn Friday to snap up specials on items from cashmere sweaters to flat-screen TVs and digital music players as the holiday shopping season officially got under way.
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"It's controlled mayhem," said Ed Pizzarello, who runs the Tysons store and three others in the Washington area.
The staff of about 15 had arrived at 6 a.m. to start cooking: 2,300 slices of bacon, 3,200 burger patties and 1,200 servings of fries. By 10 a.m., Pizzarello said, hungry customers began to nose around the stand. He began serving a few minutes later, nearly an hour before normal opening time.
By noon, the burger-making had taken on assembly-line perfection. Two people did nothing but grill patties; two more crisped the fries; others handled the dressings; and one guy with a big voice called out to customers when orders were ready.
Pizzarello said he was on track to beat a $15,000 daily sales record.
"We're ready to do $60,000 by Monday," he said. "We're ready. Whether or not people come, that's another story."
Eric Kulczycky, spokesman for the Macerich Co., which operates Tysons, said that some retailers were reporting traffic increases of as much as 25 percent by early yesterday afternoon.
At Westfield Shoppingtown Montgomery, Radio Shack had opened at 4 a.m. and was still bustling with shoppers. One salesman urged a reluctant Salisbury State college student to "Hurry! There's still 59 minutes for our early-bird specials!"
Agitated and overwhelmed by the crowded store, Stephanie Failor excused herself, leaving her mom behind.
"I thought it was going to be a lot more fun, but every store you go into, the salespeople attack you," said Failor, 21. "I just have to get out."
The Target store in Rockville had opened at 6 a.m., with 300 to 500 people waiting, many of them for a 15-inch LCD TV at $188, store manager Jim Cioffi said. The 300 TVs were gone in 45 minutes.
"They were professional and civil," Cioffi said. "They all had their ads and they were ready to roll."
4 p.m.: Winding Down
Jessica Taylor, 33, was a late bloomer: She didn't arrive at Tysons until about 9:30 a.m.
