Black Friday Shoppers Wait Hours at Willowbrook

Clothes and electronics were the hot-button items of the first hours of the holiday shopping season.

Hundreds of people lined up outside of the Willowbrook Mall for hours, waiting for any number of the stores inside to open. It was the first time in its history, the entire mall, excluding some restaurants in the food court, opened at midnight on Black Friday. The entire mall, save for the food court, was open.

“This is what its all about,” said Hector Ramirez as he stood in the line for Old Navy. “Its great to spend time with your family but its also fun to come out and save some money too.”

Sears, one of the mall’s flagship stores, opened at 8 p.m. People waited the longest to get into the more well known retailers. Hundreds of people sipped coffee as they stood in lines to go into Victoria’s Secret, American Eagle Outfitters, Foot Locker, and Electronics Boutique. Sneakers, winter clothes, and Nintendo’s Wii U were what people were waiting to buy.

“I’ve never seen it like this,” said Kelly Stamford. “Everybody seems ready to shop and knows what they want.”

Stamford said she was mostly buying things for herself on Black Friday and not friends or relatives.

“You’ll never find better deals than you will today,” Stamford said. “Why not take advantage of them? So many people buy things online now with Cyber Monday and all, the stores have to offer better deals to get to come out and it works. Look at everyone.”

Christmas music filled the mall as people walked by the Christmas trees and deocrations hung throughout the mall. California Pizza Kitchen opened at midnight and served breakfast pizza to hungry shoppers.

Dozens of people waited in line for a chance to grab a Wii U at Electronics Boutique. Some people in Sears were looking for the item too. Dozens of people lined up outside Toys R Us Thanksgiving night for their chance to buy one of the consoles.

“I could remember when the Cabbage Patch dolls came out and how nuts people went over those,” said Sarah Smith. “There’s always that one item that everybody is going to want and only a few people are going to get. I’m just glad I got here in time to get mine.”

— Have a question or news tip? Contact editor Daniel Hubbard at Daniel.Hubbard@patch.com or find us on Facebook and Twitter. For news straight to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter.