Best Buy's Black Friday opening was more than 57 hours away when Caliista Getchell and Monica and Ruben Alvarado Jr. pitched a canopy in front of the Elk Grove store.
The youngsters were continuing a tradition started by their parents. They arrived at 8 p.m. Tuesday and will wait in line over several days to get the bargains offered at the store's day-after-Thanksgiving sale.
So what motivates people to sleep in cold, rainy weather for more than two days. "Really good deals," Getchell said. "This is like Toys 'R Us for big kids."
And they really like being at the front of the line. "We just wanted to be first," Getchell said.
Devin Diamonon and his four friends showed up at Best Buy at 10 p.m. Tuesday, and were surprised to see someone already in line. The line usually doesn't start until Wednesday, he said.
"The line usually snakes down to the Holiday Inn," said Diamonon, pointing across the parking lot.
The 18-year-old said he has been camping out at Best Buy for Black Friday bargains since 2005, when the Playstation 3 was the "doorbuster" sale item.
At 3:30 a.m. Friday, Best Buy staffers will start at the beginning of the line to hand out a limited number of vouchers for the doorbusters, as well as store maps.
"The challenge is not to have unhappy or disappointed customers," said Daniel Whitney of Best Buy. The store opens at 5 a.m., and shoppers have until 9 a.m. to use the vouchers.
On Wednesday afternoon, Diamonon and his friends played cards under their canopy. The teenagers were after laptops, big-screen televisions and desktop computers. They'll enjoy home-cooked Thanksgiving meals while waiting, as their parents make special deliveries.
Getchell and her group are even more prepared. Until their parents deliver their Thanksgiving meal, they'll take turns watching TV or playing with a Playstation in a van in the parking lot.
"We know how to set up," Getchell said. "We've done this before."
Call The Bee's Diana Lambert, (916) 478-2672.
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