Cold temperatures don’t stop Black Friday shoppers

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) — Cold temperatures and an early wake-up didn’t keep shoppers from lining up for doorbuster deals this Black Friday.

Inez Mathis and Katherine Smith bundled up and were among the first people in line at Best Buy in Henrietta. They got there at 3 a.m.

”When we got here we were the only car in the parking lot,” Smith said. “And then people slowly started coming, but I was expecting a lot more people.”

By 5 a.m. when Best Buy opened, there were more than 60 people waiting in line. Many of the people in line told News10NBC’s Emily Putnam that they weren’t necessarily looking for a specific item, they just wanted to see which deals looked good. Mathis and Smith wouldn’t say which item they were there to get.

”Hopefully we can get it,” Mathis said. “Hopefully they have a lot in stock. Once we get it, we’ll let you know, but not now.”

They walked out of the store empty-handed revealing that they were hoping to get the new Play Station 5, one of the most sought-after items this Black Friday. They said the store didn’t have any in stock, so they were heading back to bed.

David Cunez also left empty-handed. This was his first time experiencing Black Friday in the United States.

Cunez: "It’s kind of weird for us actually coming here and see the line, you know, even it’s very early in the morning so it was really nice and really funny for us.”

Emily Putnam: “Was it worth it, getting up this early?”

Cunez: “No! No.”

A lot of stores are encouraging customers to place orders online ahead of time and utilize curbside pickup to minimize the number of people inside, but after exclusively shopping online throughout most of the pandemic many customers were excited for the opportunity to shop in-person.

”It was just a good experience to come out here,” Smith said. “It’s our first time actually doing this. It’s cold but it’s been really fun.”