Southwest Riverside Black Friday shoppers wake up for early morning sales

Southwest Riverside shoppers hunting for holiday bargains hit the stores as part of Black Friday, although the chaos some expected did not materialize.

It was daybreak and only a handful of shoppers walked the courtyards of the Lake Elsinore Outlets.

Slowly trickling in and out of big name outlet retailers, just a few shoppers lugged bags filled with deals.

It wasn’t that the sales were the kind one could pass up, said an outlet security guard, it has to be the effects of the economy.

The Lake Elsinore Outlets, like many other retailers, opened its doors at 10 p.m. Thursday night for its Black Friday Moonlight Madness events, giving shoppers a head-start on the race for deals on the biggest shopping day of the year.

Stores such as PacSun had 50 percent off bargains on trendy apparel and Toys”R”Us had stock-fulls of this year’s coveted toys neatly stacked on its shelves.

“I definitely blame the economy,” said Wildomar resident Stephanie Ostrom. “There are even fewer people shopping here than there was last year. It’s a little sad.”

Completing her sixth year of Black Friday shopping, Ostrom, trudged the outlet center for more than an hour with her visiting shopping accomplice from Norway Kirsti Bergmann. The two were among the small number of big spenders walking out with more than six shopping bags each at the center.

While it was Bergmann’s first Black Friday shopping event, her experience was far from lacking.

Since finding parking was a cinch and the lines at retailers lasted no more than the regular wait time of an average shopping day, it wasn’t stressful at all, she said.

“It’s fun doing this. Things are much less expensive,” Bergmann said of her first time. “Plus it’s nice to be able to shop on a day like this when there are less people.”

Ostrom said the center had far more shoppers two years ago on Black Friday and the dwindling of retail consumers along with the economy, may also be the reason why the outlet center has lost some of its shops.

“There are only so many storefronts left here now,” she said of the shopping center.

The outlet center has 12 larger retail shops and more than 40 other factory stores.

“There are plenty of big name stores left, but there are far too many shops that are gone,” Ostrom said. “I’ll keep coming back here on Black Friday, I like what they have and I don’t have to worry about the crowds. It works out, but now we’re off to the mall (The Promenade at Temecula).”

At the Promenade Mall, Kathy Crawford took a break from her Black Friday shopping spear to relax on a second-floor bench. Crawford, a Murrieta resident, arrived at 5 a.m. and spent the first few hours buying for herself and others and needed a few minutes to catch her breath.

“I don’t know if it’s worth it,” said Crawford, surrounded by several shopping bags from, among other stores, the NFL Shop and Sears. “Getting up so early; I don’t know how I’m going to make it through the rest of the day.”

A San Diego native, Crawford had always wanted to make it to Black Friday and take advantage of the early-morning specials, but the Murrieta resident could never wake up in time. She was awakened by her husband’s daughter and was able to make it this year.

Crawford said the traffic and parking were not too bad and the crowds were bearable. There is a strategy to a successful Black Friday shopping spree, Crawford said, including checking where the best sales are and when the stores are opening.

“You put together a plan,” Crawford said. “You map it out.”

A short distance away, Tony Baker and a group of Boy Scouts from Troop 43 in Hemet are hoping the crowds begin rolling in. They are offering free gift wrapping and asking for a donation as a fundraiser for the troop.

“We just got here,” said Baker, one of several parents staffing the booth. “We are going to be here all day.  It looks busy.”

James and Ryan Fratzke of Murrieta decided to use Black Friday as the time to open their graphic photos business.  The twins manned a table near one of the entrances and spent the morning trying to drum up business.

“There have been plenty of people asking about what we are doing,” said James, 18, who turns 19 next month. There had been no sale as of 9 a.m., but the young entrepreneurs are optimistic.

James said they knew there would be lots of foot traffic at the mall on Black Friday, so it made sense to open.

“We are very excited,” James said.

Tags: Black Friday, hemet, Hemet Boy Scouts Troop 43, James Fratzke, Kathy Crawford, Kirsti Bergmann, Lake Elsinore, Lake Elsinore outlets, Murrieta, NFL Shop, PacSun, Ryan Fratzke, Sears, southwest riverside, Stephanie Ostrom, SWRNN, Temecula, the promenade mall, Tony Baker, Toys "R" Us

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