The guy in the tent and the guy behind him said they'd arrived at the Dedham Best Buy at 10 p.m. on Wednesday to pick up some stuff for their families, in particular, AirPods and Playstations. At 11:45 p.m. on Thursday, the line, such as it was, didn't even reach to the end of the front of the store, unlike in years past, when it would stretch along the side of the building and curl around the back. Read more.
The first people we could speak to in line at the Dedham Best Buy tonight only got there around 5 p.m. - to get an Xbox and to, as one of them said, meet some new people and enjoy the cold weather. They were the ones behind the guy scrunched up in the tent, who had no desire to speak to a reporter.
Outside the Walpole Walmart, 11:50 p.m.
Normally, the lines outside the Walmart in Walpole and the Best Buy in Dedham for the Black Friday sales start Thursday morning and stretch way, way back around the sides of the building.
Tonight, though, most of the twisty lanes Walmart created with barriers to slow the hordes went empty. Read more.
David Parsons watched the horde sweep into H&M at South Shore Plaza early on Black Friday.
Ed. note: We went in the afternoon, when things were a bit calmer. But much of the second floor smelled overwhelmingly of stale popcorn butter - like a popcorn butter truck had exploded and they hadn't finished cleaning it up. Also, Lord & Taylor had a DJ at their first-floor entrance playing "Uptown Funk" cranked to 11 - who knew the store's demographic had changed so much.
Photo copyright David Parsons. Posted in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.
Worker tells crowd where the hot deals are.
The doors opened at 1 a.m. at the Walpole Walmart. Workers let in 10 to 15 shoppers - the earliest of whom had been there since 4 p.m. - at a time.
Just in case, four of Wapole's finest were on hand: Read more.
This guy was first in line at the Walpole Walmart tonight. He says he got there at 1 p.m. to make sure he could get some video games, a game controller and a TV stand for his mom. What about Thanksgiving dinner? He said his dad cooked dinner early so he could eat with him and still have time to get to the Walmart.
The next people in line were all sitting in chairs and mostly bundled up completely, like those mountain climbers with their own mini-tents.
The people at the front of the line outside the Walpole Walmart around 11 p.m. were in no mood to talk about when they got there or what they were going to buy or do much of anything besides huddling inside their cocoons.
There was a similar scene outside the Dedham Best Buy, although the overall line there was a lot shorter.
This guy was first in line at the Walmart. He reports he got there at 2 a.m. to make sure he got an Xbox and some games. Also some oranges and grapes, he joked. Bathroom breaks? Around the corner, at least until the line extended back there.
Not refugees. Walmart customers.
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