Las Cruces shoppers calm, polite on Black Friday

LAS CRUCES - Blame it on the rain or give credit to merchants for spreading out the start of Black Friday sales. Either way, in-store shopping Thanksgiving evening and Black Friday has been steady, organized, polite and in no way the panicked rush by frenzied shoppers to buy the first goodies of the season, according to shoppers and merchants in Las Cruces.

At Kohl's on North Triviz Drive, the drizzle didn't stop shoppers looking for good deals from lining up ahead of the 6 p.m. Thanksgiving Day opening, said Didi Ramondo, general manager of the store. Primarily, they were coming for electronics and televisions.

"They stood with umbrellas and were in good cheer," Ramondo said. "They moved single file through the store, no problems at all. Everything went smooth."

Shopping there continued until about 3 a.m. and picked back up at 6 a.m.

"No sleep for Las Cruces," Ramondo said.

For some, the tradition of trekking out  to begin holiday shopping after turkey leftovers are packed still holds a certain allure. For others, not so much.

"I've never been to a Black Friday in my life," Monica Alvin, a recent California transplant to Las Cruces said as she bought an Apple computer with a $200 discount from Best Buy mid-morning Friday. "But my dad in Alamogordo, his computer is a dog. I said 'Dad, you need a new computer.' But he said 'no.' I said I was going to participate (in Black Friday) this year because they weren't too crazy."

Alvin said she appreciates the area's laid-back, small-town feel and the absence of mayhem that often accompanies the opening of the shopping season.

Some national retailers, such as Kohl's and Best Buy, have started to open their doors on Thanksgiving Day, foregoing midnight or early-morning Black Friday openings.

The National Retail Federation expected about 30 million to shop on Thanksgiving, compared with 99.7 million on Black Friday. Overall, the trade group estimates about 135.8 million people will be shopping during the four-day weekend, compared with 133.7 million last year. It expects sales for November and December to rise 3.7 percent to $630.5 billion compared with the same period last year.

More shoppers are headed online. The federation reports 46 percent of shoppers will be doing so online, compared to 44 percent last year. For the first time, there's expected to be more people visiting retailers' web sites through their smartphones than on desktop computers or tablets during the first weekend of the holiday shopping season. Mobile traffic during the five-day start to what is typically the busiest shopping period of the year is expected to reach 56.9 percent of total traffic, up from 48.5 percent last year, according to IBM Watson.

Harry Day, manager of the Best Buy on Lohman, noted Friday morning crowds in-store are lighter than previous years.

"But shoppers are buying more. We're seeing smarter, more dedicated shoppers," he said.

Las Cruces Police Department Spokesman Dan Trujillo said no serious altercations or problems had been reported as of early Friday afternoon. However, given the weather, Trujillo urged all shoppers to beware of wet roads, allow extra time to shuttle between destinations and, above all, "be courteous," he said.

Shoppers spoke with their fists in at least one incident in El Paso.

El Paso Police arrested a man after a shopping melee at a Northeast El Paso Wal-Mart, authorities said. The dispute started over a TV and police responded when a woman customer cried for help.

Garcia refused to give up the television and got into an altercation with a police officer, authorities said.

Police said Garcia allegedly hit the police officer multiple times in the chest and ignored his commands. Police also said that Garcia allegedly choked the officer.

The incident was captured on video and shared to YouTube by user Lolee Love, who described the scene: "Crazy man swings on cop during black Friday 2015 in El Paso, TX...over a tv!!"

In Las Cruces, Maria Vasquez, a mom of three, said she has long been an early shopper, camping out for deals and marathon shopping through the night and into Friday. Not so this year. She said she has "fallen out of love" with the near-combative nature of some shoppers. This year, she waited until mid-morning Friday before heading out to knock a few items off her kids' wish-list — mostly clothes and some decor for the home.

"It's not as bad this year with stores opening Thursday," she said.

The shopping continues with Shop Small Business Saturday encouraging Santas to shop at locally-owned, independent merchants. And, Cyber Monday is expected to pump billions into businesses' coffers as shoppers go online to round out their shopping lists.

The El Paso Times and Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Jason Gibbs may be reached at jgibbs@lcsun-news.com. Follow him on Twitter @fjgwriter.