KGW (NBC Portland) 5 p.m. news open - 2006-11-24 (Black Friday)

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:03] Put away the leftovers and take out

[0:05] those credit cards to kick off the

[0:07] holiday shopping. We'll take you to

[0:09] Corvallis where a nail-biter of a Civil

[0:12] War just ended and does using the

[0:14] internet to diagnose your illnesses

[0:16] actually work?

[0:21] >> From KGW, where the news [music] comes

[0:24] first. This is Northwest News Channel 8

[0:27] at 5.

[0:28] >> [music]

[0:31] >> It's exciting until you see all the

[0:32] lines, then it's like crazy, so [music]

[0:35] yeah.

[0:36] >> Long lines, early openings and cold

[0:38] temperatures did [music] not keep

[0:39] die-hard shoppers from the deals. Black

[0:42] Friday jump-started holiday shopping and

[0:44] in some places things got [music]

[0:45] downright ugly. Good evening, I'm

[0:48] Stephanie Strickland. Joe and Tracy are

[0:49] off tonight. We have News Channel 8 team

[0:52] coverage of the shopping frenzy. Drew

[0:54] Mikkelsen has the mayor's push to get

[0:56] Portlanders spending downtown, but we

[0:58] begin with Pat Dooris who spent today at

[1:00] local malls. He is now live in Sky 8.

[1:03] Pat, I bet that's the farthest you've

[1:04] been away from the crowds all day.

[1:06] >> It is indeed. If we take a look down off

[1:08] the nose of Sky 8, we're over Washington

[1:09] Square and you can see that there is

[1:11] still quite a bit of a shopping being

[1:13] done out here. Although there are some

[1:16] spots still available.

[1:18] But for the most reports, this is the

[1:20] time when stores opened well before dawn

[1:23] and lots of folks came out. The stores

[1:24] were offering huge discounts to get

[1:26] shoppers in the door and that strategy

[1:28] works.

[1:31] >> It's just before 5:00 in the morning at

[1:32] the Johnson Creek Fred Meyer and lots of

[1:34] people have been here for an hour or

[1:36] more. Billy Gallant is first in line.

[1:39] >> There's a TV that I want and they only

[1:41] have 12.

[1:43] >> So that's your work?

[1:43] >> And

[1:44] Best Buy was insane.

[1:45] >> Anna Cash has the tired look of a

[1:47] bargain shopper.

[1:49] >> Actually, I haven't even slept today.

[1:51] >> This is Anna's second store.

[1:53] >> But we were at Best Buy and there was

[1:55] like 4 or 500 people already when we got

[1:57] there at 2:30.

[1:58] >> Finally at 5:00 a.m. the manager opens

[2:00] the doors.

[2:01] >> All right Fred Meyer shoppers, let's get

[2:03] the doors open and let the party begin.

[2:08] >> From Sky 8 we found other early bird

[2:10] shoppers at Clackamas Town Center.

[2:11] Pre-dawn shoppers jammed the parking

[2:14] lot.

[2:14] By noon time malls like Lloyd Center in

[2:16] Northeast Portland were relatively busy

[2:18] but not packed.

[2:19] >> Everybody's pretty friend friendly. I

[2:21] think if we were out in the suburbs it

[2:23] might be a little bit worse but here

[2:24] Lloyd Center it's fine.

[2:26] >> Across town at Washington Square foot

[2:28] traffic was up and retail expectations

[2:30] are too.

[2:31] >> We had a great indicator our Veterans

[2:33] Day looked very strong and so based on

[2:35] what I've talked to retailers today

[2:37] shopping is up.

[2:38] >> Black Friday is typically a day of heavy

[2:40] traffic and shopping although not

[2:42] necessarily buying. More products were

[2:44] bought on the Saturday before Christmas

[2:46] but this annual tradition brought out

[2:48] thousands around the greater Portland

[2:49] area. It's an experience many will

[2:51] remember with a blend of emotions.

[2:54] >> It's exciting until you see all the

[2:55] lines then it's like crazy so

[2:58] Circuit City was really crazy early this

[3:01] morning.

[3:01] >> Oh yeah we heard there were big lines

[3:02] there this morning. Back live in Sky 8

[3:04] now over Washington Square. You can see

[3:06] the parking lot's thinning out a little

[3:07] bit which brings just one more line and

[3:10] that is the line

[3:11] to get onto the freeway again. Back to

[3:13] you guys.

[3:13] >> Well at least everything's orderly if

[3:16] you have to be in a line. Thank you Pat.

[3:17] You know shopping was not as orderly at

[3:19] other stores across the country. In

[3:20] North Carolina at 1 minute after

[3:22] midnight look at this people jammed