Black Friday Bargain Hunters Descend on Dixon

Dixon resident Kevin Burr isn't usually out shopping at 4 a.m., on a chilly Friday morning — but this was no run-of-the-mill Friday. Burr and bargain hunters from as far away as San Francisco congregated at Dixon's Wal-Mart Supercenter to take advantage of Black Friday deals on a variety of hot-ticket items at the store.

Wal-Mart is open 24 hours a day, according to staff, but on Black Friday, the deals began as early as midnight. Store staff handed out special orange-colored wristbands to shoppers to guarantee specific hot-ticket items to them and to track how many of each item was available for purchase.

Burr, 34, a supervisor at Bellingham Marine Services in Dixon, arrived at the store at 11:30 p.m., Thursday, to be among the first to be able to buy a Nintendo DS for $89, he said.

"You know what, I mainly came out for the DS," said Burr, who wore an orange wristband that ensured he would be able to buy one. "My son's birthday is on Sunday. It's a good deal."

But after realizing the other bargains at the store - Wal-Mart workers handed maps out to Burr and others pinpointing the deals – Burr and his wife put a few more things on their shopping list he said including a 32-inch Emerson LCD HDTV for $198.

Burr was by no means the only bargain hunter out on Black Friday. Suisun City resident Frank Wright said part of his strategy to avoid large crowds Friday was to drive to Dixon.

"We came up here because we thought Dixon would be out of the way," he said. "I was here at 2 a.m."

Wright's shopping list included an eMachines 15.6-inch laptop computer that was going for $198. He waited patiently near a display of RCA portable televisions for the store to begin selling the laptops as San Francisco resident Sharon Holmes, a radiology technician at UC Davis Medical Center, cheerfully talked with fellow bargain hunters. Holmes said she's been a Black Friday bargain hunter for 22 years.

"It's just an adrenaline rush when I am out here," Holmes said. "I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't do drugs - this is my high."

Holmes commutes from her San Francisco home to her job in Davis each day and said that she was off to work after her Black Friday shopping spree was over with. She said her shopping list included a laptop computer, a portable TV, DVDs and a computer router for her nephew.

Davis resident Ricky Lopez, who is a firefighter for the U.S. Forest Service, and his brother Daniel, a senior at Davis High School, made two trips to Dixon's Wal-Mart – one at 10:30 p.m., Thursday, the other at 3 a.m., Friday.

On the first trip, the Lopez brothers picked up some Playstation 3 video games, NBA 2K11 and FIFA Soccer 11, Friday's shopping excursion had them returning for a RCA portable television.

When asked why he chose to drive to Dixon instead of shopping in his hometown Ricky Lopez said "There's Target, but the better deals are out here at Wal-Mart."

 "We have been doing this (Black Friday shopping) as long as I can remember," he said. "If you are going to get your stuff, you might as well get it today."