photos by dale dombrowski/viewPatrons waited in line more than an hour before the doors opened for holiday bargains at Best Buy, 611 Marks St. in Henderson.
Top, a sea of humanity descends on the Best Buy Store at 611 Marks St. in Henderson on Black Friday. The store opened at 5 a.m. to officially kick off the holiday shopping season. Above, parking lots around the anchor stores at the Galleria at Sunset mall, 1300 W. Sunset Road in Henderson, were congested during the pre-dawn hours as merchants opened early for the Black Friday crowds. Right, customers push flatbed carts stacked with computers, printers, digital picture frames and more through the security checkout at Best Buy.
photos by dale dombrowski/viewPatrons waited in line more than an hour before the doors opened for holiday bargains at Best Buy, 611 Marks St. in Henderson.
Top, a sea of humanity descends on the Best Buy Store at 611 Marks St. in Henderson on Black Friday. The store opened at 5 a.m. to officially kick off the holiday shopping season. Above, parking lots around the anchor stores at the Galleria at Sunset mall, 1300 W. Sunset Road in Henderson, were congested during the pre-dawn hours as merchants opened early for the Black Friday crowds. Right, customers push flatbed carts stacked with computers, printers, digital picture frames and more through the security checkout at Best Buy.
Top, a sea of humanity descends on the Best Buy Store at 611 Marks St. in Henderson on Black Friday. The store opened at 5 a.m. to officially kick off the holiday shopping season. Above, parking lots around the anchor stores at the Galleria at Sunset mall, 1300 W. Sunset Road in Henderson, were congested during the pre-dawn hours as merchants opened early for the Black Friday crowds. Right, customers push flatbed carts stacked with computers, printers, digital picture frames and more through the security checkout at Best Buy.
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Lines in Las Vegas are a way of life. Go to a buffet, stand in line. Go to a show, stand in line. Go to the grocery store, stand in line.
But shopping on Black Friday brings the concept of lines to an entirely different level. One might say it's three times as bad. First, you must stand in line just to get into the store, and then, in many cases, you must brave a second line just to get to the counter where the merchandise you want is located. Finally, there's always the checkout line.
The line at Best Buy, 611 Mark St. in Henderson, was a snake of humanity on Nov. 23.
It stretched across the front of the store, turned the corner to wind between the parked cars and all the way to the back of the building.
There, the line made a sharp right and continued all the way down the delivery road behind the building, stretching past the loading dock.
Dan Jergens and his family from Las Vegas were at the head of the line.
Their goal was to purchase laptop computers, digital cameras and picture frames, primarily for presents.
To make sure they accomplished their goal, Jergens said they arrived at 9 p.m. Wednesday, more than 32 hours before the store opened.
The family feasted on ham and turkey sandwiches for their Thanksgiving dinner, and, because they didn't have a television to watch football, had their own football game in the parking lot.
Karen Gonzales from Las Vegas and her father, Victor, up for the holiday from Los Angeles, were right behind the Jergens family, having arrived an hour later as the store was closing for the day. They were looking for computers, televisions, printers and digital picture frames.
Best Buy general manager John Ream and his team began distributing tickets for Doorbuster specials at 3 a.m., along with a map showing where items were located. Employees were stationed in key locations to guide customers along the pathways of blue tape on the floors.
Surprisingly, when the doors opened at 5 a.m., and in the following 20 minutes it took for everyone in the line to make their way into the store, everybody fit.
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