By RANDY GRIFFITH
JOHNSTOWN — After more than two decades on the sales floor at Sears, Barbara Lodolinski of Richland Township swore she would never succumb to Black Friday shopping madness.
But grandchildren make a person do funny things.
Lodolinski and her daughter hit the stores about 4 a.m., lining up separately at different Richland Township retailers to buy laptop computers for two of Lodolinski's grandsons.
Both struck out on the computers, but the shopping continued with Lodolinski joining tens of thousands of shoppers in Johns-town-area retail centers looking for bargains and holiday gifts.
Picking up various grandchildren and great-grandchildren along the way, she shopped her way through Claire’s Accessories, Sears, J.C. Penney, Gymboree, American Eagle Outfitters, Radio Shack, Victoria’s Secret and Boscov’s in The Galleria and Toys R Us across the parking lot.
“I need a break,” Lodolinski said just before 11 a.m. from her seat in The Galleria food court. “My feet are tired.”
Electronics are the big sellers again this year, Sears manager Rick Gibson said, standing between two metal cage bins brought out from storage rooms to speed Black Friday distribution.
“Televisions, GPS, cameras, camcorders – just about everything in here is selling,” Gibson said.
Shoppers and employees alike have been excited about the Christmas shopping season, he said.
Doorbuster bargains and special Black Friday hours had many families combing through newspaper advertisements with their Thanksgiving dessert. Sometimes the biggest decision was: Which store to hit first?
Amanda Mock of Salix and her sister-in-law, Amanda Blough of Johnstown, decided to line up at Wal-Mart at 2 a.m. for laptop computers.
They got the computers, but by the time they got to Toys R Us, the princess babies were sold out.
Not to worry – the two found plenty of gifts for their family.
“I can’t get another thing in my Jeep,” Blough said, loading up outside Toys R Us.
Though the first numbers will not be available until today, early reports indicated bigger crowds than last year, with people buying more and even throwing in some items for themselves.
It was an encouraging sign for retailers, who have suffered through a year of sales declines, and perhaps also for the broader economy, which could use a kickstart from consumer spending.
Local retailers say they are seeing a rebound from last year’s dismal Christmas shopping season.
“Yesterday morning and this morning we had over 400 people lined up waiting to get into the store,” manager Rick Bausher said Friday at Boscov’s.
Many customers are taking advantage of Black Friday sales to invest in their homes, manager David Tomko said at Wolf Furniture on Scalp Avenue.
“We have a lot of people who are furnishing their homes for the holidays,” Tomko said. “This has been busier than last year. We are looking for a good season.”
Country Son gift shop owner Barbara Plummer sees signs of recovery in this shopping season.
“It is not like it was 10 years ago,” Plummer said. “But it is better than it was last year.”
Sue Bopp of Moxham and her daughter, Michelle Snare of Alexandria, Huntingdon County, shared some family time while shopping at The Galleria.
“My husband and I are moving into the electronic age,” Bopp said. “We got ourselves a (Nintendo) Wii for Christmas. Now we need a 10-year-old to teach us how to use it.”
