Black Friday Starts Early in North Druid Hills-Briarcliff

I stopped by a few big retailers last night around midnight just to check out the lines. Hundreds were crammed in front of Best Buy in Northlake Plaza to get in the doors at midnight. The entire strip mall's parking lot was full as well. Trash on the sidewalks. People in camping chairs. A crazy but familiar sight.

I've included a couple photos from in as well. Things were a lot more calm there. You can only save so much on khakis and knit sweaters, I guess.

My cell phone camera died on me before I could capture on North Druid Hills Road. Maybe 100 to 200 people were lined up there for the midnight opening. Store employees let the line in in small groups to avoid those stampedes we've been seeing for years on television news. That said, an older woman fell on the cement as the store was opening, and emergency crews were responding as people walked inside to check out deals.

Black Friday news–good and bad–was already pouring in from across the country as early as 3am this morning. Here are a few choice headlines:

• Black Friday: Stores could see record number of shoppers
• Early bird Black Friday turns ugly with 'shopping rage' incident
• Black Friday shoppers answer the Call of Duty
• Target given 190,000 Black Friday protest signatures
• New research reveals the reasons we shop on Black Friday

And a few local links as well:

• Atlanta Black Friday complications
• Black Friday in Atlanta 2011
• Black Friday cranks up early