Black Friday Pros, Amateurs Take To Stores - WMDT 47 News - Delmarva's Choice

SALISBURY, Md. - Black Friday, it's a shopper's delight, the never-ending game to find the cheapest items in the fastest time.    

It's the Summer Olympics for shopping athletes.

"We're on the prowl," said Mandy Mullins.

Her friend Darah Abbott responded back, "For the best sales."

For some shoppers, it's so much more.

"[It's about] family bonding," said mother Staci Morris. "[It's] kind of window shopping and just getting an idea of things she [my daughter Alex] wants for Christmas."

Her daughter, Alex Morris, said she "was like half-awake when we first got here."

Though many store-goers are Black Friday pros, some ventured out to the stores for the very first time.  Like this grandmother and grand daughter duo, the Willoughby family.  Grandmother Becky Willoughby said it's her seventh-time shopping on Black Friday morning and it has become a holiday tradition. 

She wanted to spend the time with her grand daughter Morgan Willoughby, who said her first initial reaction was "there's a lot of people."

As the Centre at Salisbury opened up at midnight, a flood of shoppers came rushing right through the doors, each trying to find the best deal.

"When we opened up the doors, I motioned to them 'wait one second so we can get the doors open,'" said Kathy Piasecki, store leader, JCPenney.  "We opened up the doors and whenIi told them to go for it, they came rushing in."

She added that customers were "very, very well behaved."

While businesses like Toys R Us and Target opened Thursday night, JCPenney opened at 6 a.m. Friday morning.

"Corporate decided they were going to honor the team members and customers and ask them to spend the Thanksgiving traditional day with their family and friends," said Piasecki.