OTTUMWA, IOWA -- Employees of Menards started their day at 3:30 Friday morning where already more than 80 people had secured their places in line for the store to open its doors at 5 a.m.
“It’s been pretty crazy. We had a better part of 1,000 people in line when the store opened at 5. The sales have been fantastic. It's always one of the busiest days of the year but it’s also one of the most fun days of the year too,” said Patrick Plaehn, General Manager of Menards.
Plaehn said in previous years the store has had bigger initial pushes first thing in the morning but the great thing about this year is how steady the crowds were all day.
And some customers had no intention of waking up early and standing outside in the cold.
“Yeah, we slept in. We didn't want to go fight the crowds and everything but we got the stuff that we needed to get,” said Tom Hallgren, shopper.
“I know Black Friday helps us because we thought oh we'll get some extra savings on what we had to buy for our house so we're buying some stuff for our house today. But we didn't really want to fight the crowd, so we came later and slept in this morning,” said Leah Hallgren, shopper.
“Yeah, it's kind of crazy. If I didn't work in retail, I’m not sure that I would. But at the same time, we've had some excellent savings available. To some people it’s really worth it -- get more bang for their buck,” said Plaehn.
And the hot items this Black Friday Plaehn said were the gun safes and infrared heaters. Both sold out very quickly.
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