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For Many, Early Shopping A Time For Togetherness

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By D'ANN LAWRENCE WHITE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 28, 2008

BRANDON - Nichole Addessi and her boyfriend, Jesse Blankenbiller of Riverview, were at the Westfield Brandon mall by 5 a.m. today with their eyes on two items.

"I know it's selfish, but we're shopping for ourselves," Addessi said as the couple stood in a long checkout line at Sears. "We got this great five-piece luggage set at JCPenney for $40, and now we're buying this DVD home theater system for $150."

This is their first Black Friday shopping spree as a couple.

"We saw the price of this home theater system, and it was too good a bargain to pass up," Blankenbiller said.

For sisters Myra and Alissa Stringfella of Brandon, getting up at 3 a.m. for a shopping spree is a holiday tradition. They spend Thanksgiving poring over advertising fliers, deciding where to go and what to buy.

At 5:30 a.m., the sisters were at Sears in Westfield Brandon with their first Christmas gifts: CorningWare for their mother – they got the $59 set for $49, and then Myra had a $10-off coupon. While there they also found an accessory set, originally priced at $19.99, for $4.99.

Outside Radio Shack, a crowd was awaiting its 6 a.m. opening. At the head of the line was Rose Exum of Brandon. She hoped to save $60 on a digital camera with free printer.

Exum makes it a point to shop early every Black Friday. She scopes out stores beforehand, asking clerks what's going on sale

"Then I map out where I'm going," she said. "You have to be very consumer-conscious nowadays. Last year I saved $1,500 by early shopping."

Jason Howard and his girlfriend stayed up all night before driving from their north Tampa home to the Brandon mall, where they split up and began power shopping from a list they made during the night.

At 5:45 a.m., Howard was waiting for Radio Shack to open so he could buy his girlfriend a Motorola Bluetooth for $10 – a $50 value. Inside his Disney Store bag was a Barbie hairdresser set; he paid $25 for the $40 item.

"I saved a little money so it was worth it," he said. "I'll probably do this every year."

Kristen Dittmer of Brandon dragged her mom out of bed to take her to the mall for one reason: She had to have Victoria's Secret Very Sexy cologne and the gift bag that came with every $60 purchase. Dittmer was eagerly awaiting the store's 6 a.m. opening; her mother eagerly awaited her chance to go back to bed.

Mother and daughter Jeanne and Pasha Meimann were wide awake as they sipped lattes at Starbucks, although they'd been at the mall since 4 a.m. Jeanne, 76, of Temple Terrace and Pasha, 44, of New Tampa have been getting up at the crack of dawn and shopping together on Black Friday since Pasha was in high school.

"It's just a family tradition," Jeanne Meimann said. "We like to save money, but more than anything we just have fun doing it together."

Reporter D'Ann Lawrence White can be reached at (813) 657-4524.

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