Black Friday shoppers wait for Tanger Outlet Stores to open.
For both stores and shoppers this Black Friday was all about strategy. The game plan for retailers: entice consumers with incredible deals. The game plan for shoppers: stick to the plan.
"First come, first served. Early bird gets the worm." That's how Wes Howell of Myrtle Beach explains his Black Friday shopping plan.
Shoppers on a mission showed up at Best Buy in Myrtle Beach several hours, even days before the doors opened.
Manager Stan Kilp said, "Of all the years, this is the biggest line I've ever seen. It took a lot of time to get everyone into the building." Twenty-eight minutes to be exact.
"The lines came here and wrapped all the way around the building," Erica Richardson told us.
Many were patiently waiting for the moment to rush and snag the items they came here to get.
"We're going to get a Nook, the E-reader," Andrew Wildes said.
"The 32 inch LCDs are blowing out the door. Wii systems are blowing out the door," Kilp told us.
However, it was Best Buy's big break on laptops that enticed most of the hard core shoppers to show up. But there's a twist.
"It was already sold even though the doors didn't open until five but they were giving tickets away," Richardson said. Proving retailers really did get a jump start on one of the busiest shopping days of the year.
Those who showed up earlier than early will remember how this year's Black Friday frenzy paid off.
Wildes adds, "This is my first time doing this and I've always wanted to and we finally had a good reason. I'm probably going to do this again."
Others who left empty handed may just as well try and forget.
"It's been a nightmare. I had to remind myself, not re-remember, but remind myself why I don't go out on Black Friday," Richardson said. Her friend added, "I've never been out on Black Friday before, but I'll never do it again."
If you weren't able to get that item at a discounted price Friday, here are two words that might have you try again - Cyber Monday.
