Stores prep for Black Friday shoppers

MARQUETTE TOWNSHIP — Black Friday shopping deals seems to start earlier each year, and one Marquette Township store is opening its doors on Thanksgiving for the fifth straight year.

Best Buy will be open at 5 p.m. Thanksgiving night, and people can start lining up for deals at 3 p.m. outside the store.  Employees give out ‘door buster deal’ tickets to shoppers in line to make the rush for deals go as smoothly as possible.

“What we’ve seen is a lot of people are coming out maybe not initially for the exact time we’re open for the rush, but they will come out that night it’s kind of a steady flow of customers coming in, which is nice,” Best Buy general manager Steven McCoy said.  “In our experience, from our customers they’ve told us is that they’ve been able to get in and out quicker.  It makes it easier on our employees in terms of having fun, which is ultimately our goal.”

McCoy said shoppers can prep for Black Friday by looking at the store’s ad, which is already posted online, to also make shopping easier.  One hot item that’s on a lot of people’s list is electronics.

“The want for electronics during the Black Friday weekend has increased over the years,” McCoy said.  “In particular I’d say the hottest items are tablets, televisions, gaming system software, as well as smartphones have been the hottest items that we’ve had year over the years.”

Best Buy is one of many stores in the Marquette area that will be open Thanksgiving night, including Kohl’s, Younkers, and Target.