Ready, set, shop

Whether it be familial tradition, the quest for a bargain, retail therapy or an effort to maintain tranquility in the household - plenty of eastern New Mexico residents found themselves out and about in the Black Friday shopping mix.

Since 1932, the day after Thanksgiving Day has signaled the beginning of the Christmas shopping season in America, with a vast number of retailers open early to offer promotional sales.

"No matter where we've lived, we've always hit the stores the day after Thanksgiving," said Clovis resident B.J. "Buck" Morales as he loading shopping bags into his SUV on the North Plains Mall parking lot. "It's a long-standing custom my wife and I established back in the 70s. We've lived in Maryland, Ohio, Colorado and now New Mexico, so even after we had the kids, the shopping thing continued to be a part of what we do. We're going to make a few more stops, then hunker down back at the house to chow down on some of the Thanksgiving Day leftovers. That has become my favorite part of the ritual."

The Burns Do It Center served as the first stop on Texico resident Martha Duncan's list, as she sought deals that would help with a few home improvement projects.

"We want to upgrade our second bathroom, spruce up the kitchen and get organized with a storage shed or something along those lines," she said. "I wanted to come by and see what the prices are like here, because a couple of my friends said it would be worth my time. When I've gotten out for Black Friday in year's past, it's been for clothes and electronics and the like. This is my first time shopping for home bargains, but so far, so good."

Other shoppers like Leah Hutchins of Melrose said the Black Friday experience provided another opportunity to get into the holiday spirit.

"I like to shop, especially at this time of year," said Hutchins as she walked into Big 5 Sporting Goods. "Shopping is therapeutic for me. It's relaxing, even when I'm not buying big ticket items. But when I'm out here with folks, mixing and mingling, hearing the Christmas songs and feeling the good vibes — it warms my heart. It's not hustle and bustle for me, because I'm in control of my pace."

Meanwhile, Sylvester Parsons said partaking of Black Friday is his way of contributing to a peaceful home environment.

"I learned years ago — happy wife, happy life," he said from Ashley Home Store. "That may sound trite, but I have found it to be true. The wife likes to get out and hit the stores after Thanksgiving. I don't care for it much, but I do like calm and restfulness in my humble abode. After all, isn't that what life should really be about?"

While people flooded area stores to take advantage of savings, reception of Black Friday was mixed for those shopping in Portales.

Floyd resident Ryan Bollema - who was shopping at Ace Hardware - recognized the use of buying heavily discounted items, but questioned whether Black Friday was healthy for those that participate.

He cited a Black Friday experience he had, in which people were "just going crazy over materialistic things, when they really were buying three of everything when they didn't even need one of the one thing that they were going for. It made me live my lifestyle different."

Conversely, Portales resident Bill Strong — also at Ace Hardware — said he enjoys every aspect of Black Friday.

"I enjoy the crowd, the feeling of excitement, and seeing everybody you know. It's Portales, so if you go down to Wal-Mart at Black Friday, you're basically going to see a lot of people you know," he said.

Strong has been taking advantage of Black Friday deals for several years, and uses it as an opportunity to purchase affordable Christmas presents.

"I've got nine grandkids. They're (Strong's daughters) going, 'How can we get all these kids presents?' The fact that it started early - it started at 6 o'clock (pm) yesterday - that helped, because before, you go to bed early, you get up at 11:30, you go get in line at midnight," he said. "If you're on a fixed income, and you really check out what's going on, you can have a really nice Christmas without putting yourself into debt until August or September of next year."

Jesus Vasquez of Dallas was shopping with his wife at Bealls for clothes, and had never participated in Black Friday before. While his wife was buying clothing, he said he was considering buying a television or video games.

"My wife, she's the one that's looking for some clothes. Normally, if I came on Black Friday, I could get electronics, stuff like that," said Vasquez.

Enrique Vargas and his daughters Evelyn, 10, and Emeile, 8, bought a television at Walmart, but not for themselves.

"We're mailing it to our family in Mexico," Evelyn said.

"They don't have a TV, and we have a bunch of TVs," added Emeile.

The National Retail Federation is anticipating 137 million Americans will patronize stores, according to a survey recently released by the organization.