Ann Toney's Thanksgiving began about 2:45 a.m. in a mostly empty Kmart parking lot.
Toney, a 62-year-old billing manager at a local hospital, arrived at the chain's sole Little Rock location on Rodney Parham Road more than 3 hours before its special 6 a.m. opening. The retailer, inching up its Black Friday promotion a full day into the wee hours of the holiday, promised doorbuster pricing on items ranging from board games to toasters to huge-screen televisions.
Toney was there for a pair of $39 tablets she knew her two nephews would want for Christmas. And she didn't mind cutting into her Thanksgiving to guarantee she could get them.
"If you like bargains and you like coupons, you do what you have to do," she said, standing first in line outside Kmart's front doors a few minutes before opening. "And since I don't have to cook Thanksgiving dinner, what better way to start?"
Toney wasn't the only one out looking for deals as dawn broke on Thanksgiving morning. About 50 others were in line when Kmart, the first of the large chain retailers to open Thursday, unlocked its doors at precisely 6 a.m. And a handful of shoppers, most seeking Beats by Dre headphones advertised for $100 off, were on hand when RadioShack opened its doors at 8 a.m.
Best Buy in west Little Rock won't open until 5 p.m., but several customers were already waiting there.
Fourth in line behind two tents and a man in a sleeping bag were 36-year-old Christopher Benson and his wife. The couple arrived a little after 6 a.m. and set up a pair of folding chairs on the sidewalk to begin the long wait, which started with temperatures hovering in the upper 30s.
"5 p.m. is a long time from now," Benson said. "But it's nothing major. It's almost like people hunting sitting in a deer stand. If you really want something, you'll wait it out. It's hunting deals instead of deer."
Benson, and his wife, 36-year-old Kandi Benson, said they hoped to save at least hundreds of dollars on a variety of electronics. Best Buy's doorbusters included a 50-inch television for about $200 and $100 discounts on all iPad Air 2 models.
"You don't just want to stand out here for a couple of bucks," Christopher Benson said. "Hundreds is good, thousands is better. But you take what you can get."
Reta Douglas, 59, was among the several dozen in line at the Kmart. Douglas, a retired Malvern resident, has been getting up early and seeking deals on or before Black Friday for at least 15 years.
On Thursday, she brought along her 14-year-old granddaughter for the first time and was showing her the ropes.
"She's slow at it, but she's getting there," Douglas said as the two picked out board games in a relatively-uncrowded toy section. "She's got to move faster. If you're going to get some of the bargains, you're going to have to move faster. This morning it's a little slower, but tomorrow morning it's not going to be like that."
