Across the nation, first-day Christmas retail sales were widely predicted to be among the bleakest in decades as the economy continues to walk through mud and consumer confidence is flagging.
But at Missoula's Best Buy on Friday morning, a throng of shoppers who had braved the 22-degree cold to wait for the doors to open at 5 a.m. was madly dashing for 49-inch HDTVs, PlayStation 3s, digital cameras and laptops, all deeply discounted for a brief few hours.
“Her Christmas list says, ‘Wii,' and three lines down it says, ‘Wii, pretty please!' ” said Nokleby.
The Wii was a huge seller on Friday. This is the first holiday season in which Nintendo's hyper-popular video-game console was widely available.
That wasn't the only popular item. Plasma and LCD televisions walked out the door for hundreds of dollars less than retail. Cameras, games, DVDs and computers were similarly slashed in price.
Peggie Noffsinger was about 30th in line with a Yamaha digital piano keyboard for her son.
“He has three guitars and a trumpet, and now a keyboard,” said Noffsinger, who drove in from Hamilton. “And now he wants a violin.”
Best Buy was elbow-to-elbow crowded during the first hour, as was the Target store next door and Wal-Mart Supercenter across the street.
“So far, it's been civilized,” said Noffsinger. “I saw some people with walkie-talkies and phones. I kind of wish I had someone here - do a team thing.”
Noffsinger's husband, however, was busy in the woods killing large animals instead of getting killer deals.
Next door at Target, where a line had formed around the building, Wendy Magera was just finishing up her holiday shopping - at 6:30 a.m.
The Helenan, in Missoula for Thanksgiving, got up at 3:30 a.m., was at Herberger's in Southgate Mall at 4 a.m., and made Target her fourth stop.
All that shopping takes planning and strategy.
“You take all the papers and see which stores are open first,” said Magera. “Then you make a list and you run - fast.”
As the clerk rang up her purchases, Magera appeared a bit frazzled.
“I'm done,” she sighed. “We're going out to breakfast.”
She could have gone to Southgate Mall, where nearly all of the stores were open for business at 7 a.m. She could have even gotten a bite at Bob's Pizza Plus, which was serving up slices at a time normally reserved for eggs and orange juice.
After all, it definitely was breakfast time - if not earlier.
“I'm going to head to Old Navy,” said Darla Nokleby, with the Wii. “And then I'm going back to bed.”
Reporter Jamie Kelly can be reached at 523-5254 or at jkelly@missoulian.com.
The quotable consumer
Top 10 comments overheard at Missoula's Super Wal-Mart, 6-6:45 a.m.:
10. “Did you really get ‘Frequency' for two bucks?”
9. “Do you have money for me? Because I'm, like, out. I spent $450 in two minutes.”
8. “I'll be exhausted before we get to the checkout counter.”
7. “It used to be so easy when kids just played with toys.”
6. “Fine ... other than being trampled on in electronics.”
5. “Push the cart, drag the cart, push the cart, drag the cart ...”
4. “This is just nuts, bringing the kids.”
3. “Then don't buy it if it's not on sale.”
2. “Hey, where's ‘Kung Fu Panda'?” “What???” ” ‘Kung Fu Panda!'” “Oh, it's over there by the baby food.”
1. “OK, well, I'll just buy it all and worry about it later.”
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