Where the Black Friday crowds were to kick off Modesto area holiday shopping

A somewhat lower-key Black Friday greeted shoppers this year as many in the region appeared to embrace the Thanksgiving Day bargain-hunting option.

With a relatively new opportunity sprouting up the last few years to shop on Thanksgiving before or after the annual feast, some appear to be splitting their deal-seeking between the two days.

At 6 a.m. on Black Friday, the line outside the Target on McHenry Avenue in Modesto was hardly a line, with just about a dozen people waiting. One of the people standing in that line was Judy Gomez, who said in a post on The Modesto Bee's Facebook page that it aided in a successful outing.

"It was the best Black Friday experience I’ve had. No rude people, no yelling, no pushing," Gomez wrote. "Nice and calm. In and out within 30-45 mins."

Heather Hunt said the lack of lines at Vintage Faire Mall meant bargains were being missed. "Went this morning at 10 a.m., went to VFM to go to Yankee Candle. Buy 3 get 3 on just about everything in store," Hunt wrote. "Not a line in that store, people are missing out!"

But another poster said things were hopping in fine Black Friday tradition just up the street at a shopping center on Sisk Road.

"The other Target on Sisk was crazy," commented Irving Cornejo Calderon. "It was so full and Best Buy’s line wrapped around to the back of the store."

Also posting on Facebook was reader Jim Cole, who wondered why Black Friday was even a thing anymore: "If the stores were open Thanksgiving night ... why Black Friday?"

There were plenty of Thanksgiving shoppers out on the holiday who seemed to agree, showing up at a variety of retailers in the Modesto area.

“Shop like you mean it,” read the fliers handed to shoppers lined up Thursday outside the Pink store inside Vintage Faire. They were for people who rearranged their Thanksgiving dinners so they could get a jump on shopping for Christmas.

“We do it by 1 o’clock so I can leave usually by 4,” said Leslie Ford of Denair, one of a few dozen people waiting for the opening of Pink.

The mall opened at 5 p.m. Thursday, as did the Modesto Toys R Us on Sisk Road. A couple hundred people waited for the 5 p.m. opening of the big-box toy store, which stayed open for 30 straight hours, until 11 p.m. Friday, to meet the demand for Barbies and bicycles and board games and more.

First in line was Haleigh Kitt, who had planned to buy a BMW toy car for her daughter but changed the plan after she got a text that someone else took care of that gift. Amber Holman, who works in human resources for Toys R Us, helped the staff usher a few people through the doors at a time. She expected demand this year for the likes of Little Belle dolls, Fingerling monkey toys and $39 bicycles.

This story was originally published November 24, 2017 at 1:37 PM with the headline "Where the Black Friday crowds were to kick off Modesto area holiday shopping."