Black Friday: 48 Hours Later

By 1 a.m. about 75 people had lined up in front Best Buy in Chesapeake Square Shopping Center and apart from taking part in the experience itself, many had one item on their mind.

"I plan on getting a few laptops," said Amanda Wagner of Halethorpe. She and her sister, Brittany, lined up at about 5:30 p.m. yesterday.

Their aunt placed chairs in front of the electronics store at around 5 a.m., putting them second in line behind Freetown resident Cory Tolver—who said he had been there since 8 p.m. Wednesday.

"I've been doing [Black Friday] for 10 years and doing Best Buy for the last five," he said.

Tolver said his main reason for lining up so early was about more than just getting good deals.

"It's for the atmosphere. It's fun. We played football and threw the baseball around," he said. "We all look out for each other. If someone needs to go get food or use the bathroom … we have a list of people to [remember] where they were in line."

Tolver, who had been in line nearly 24 hours before Amanda and Brittany Wagner arrived, said people toward the back of the line had offered him up $150 to take his place.

"You might think it's crazy but they're all jealous that they're not in my spot," he said. "Everyone calls me crazy, but when I'm on that laptop for $189 they won't have anything to say."

"If you had gotten here 30 minutes ago you would have seen us both asleep in this sleeping bag," Brittany Wagner said.

Though he planned to come out of the store without making any purchases, Tolver said knew that he would.

"I'm hoping nothing," he said when asked what was the deal that caused him to sit in line for nearly two days, "but I'm guaranteed everything because I'm first. I know I'll be getting whatever I want. I'll probably get a couple laptops."

But where do the overnighters sleep?

At midnight the parking lot of the Walmart on Chesapeake Center Drive was full and the store was packed with shoppers. Stacks of toys sat in the aisles and people searched through boxes of children's pajama sets that sold for $4.

The doors at Toys R Us in the Centre at Glen Burnie opened at 10 p.m. Thursday but at about 12:30 a.m. a line of people about the length of the building stood with shopping carts waiting for their turn to shop.

"They're only letting a certain number of people at a time in," said one shopper.