COMMUNITY

Black Friday crowds thin in Alamogordo, nationwide

Holiday Shopping

Haley Gray
Alamogordo Daily News
Alamogordo's Walmart Supercenter was mostly empty early in the morning of Black Friday.

As for much of the nation, the Black Friday frenzy in Alamogordo began as soon as the turkey was cold. Crowds gathered at Kmart, J.C. Penny and Wal-Mart Thursday evening to start their holiday shopping, with no door-busting or shopping madness the following day, Black Friday.

Jimmy Slone, of Cloudcroft, visited Walmart both Thursday evening and in the late morning of Black Friday.

“Yesterday was crazy, there were so many people,” Slone said Friday. “I got here late (Thursday evening), I wasn’t even trying to get a deal … it was hectic, people were pushing each other. It wasn’t fun.”

Shoppers discuss electronics at the Walmart Supercenter in Alamogordo late morning of Black Friday.

Lindsay Kepel, a military mom from Colorado Springs, hit Wal-Mart early Friday morning to see what kinds of deals she could find.

Asked what she thought of the bargains available at the Alamogordo Wal-Mart, Kepel responded, “I’m going to Las Cruces later today – when the kids wake up.”

Kepel said she wanted to visit the Target and Old Navy stores there.

With few options for holiday shopping in Alamogordo, many prefer to shop online, side-stepping the crowds and avoiding making a long drive to either Las Cruces or El Paso.

“Honestly, this year I’ve done it all on Wish, it’s an internet site. I’ve done it all on that,” said Alamogordo mom and aunt Lesley Ledletter. “I refuse to come out on Black Friday because the people are rude and ugly and nasty.”

Ledletter said Alamogordo doesn’t have all of the retail options she would like, to boot.

“I would love to have a Target here, and a Hobby Lobby,” Ledletter said.

Black Friday crowds were thinner this year for retail giants like Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Target nationwide, according to a Reuters report. Best Buy and Wal-Mart stocks closed slightly lower than they opened Thursday, Reuters reported.

USA Today reports this has been the case for major retailers in the United States for the past five years, as investors anticipate smaller sales numbers for Friday. The increasing popularity of door-busting sales Thursday evening could be a cause of the thinner Black Friday crowds.

Shoppers wait in a long long line at Kmart Friday afternoon,