Tough economy adds to Black Friday's draw

Shoppers outside the Westbury Best Buy huddled in blankets and set up tents on a chilly Thanksgiving Day Thursday, waiting for the store to open and their chance to stretch every dollar.

"If you can try to save a penny, you're happy," said Al Carter, a Queens retiree hoping to save $600 in door-buster discounts on three televisions.

The scene in Westbury was repeated across Long Island Thursday outside big box chains and retail stores as bargain hunters got an early start on the traditional Black Friday discount bonanzas.

More than ever, the thrifty shoppers looking for deals reflected the tough state of the Long Island economy. The Island had 11,300 fewer jobs in October than it did the year before, the sixth straight month of year-over-year declines, according to state labor data. In an effort to nab early shoppers, more retailers took a page from Walmart by opening earlier this year, including Macy's midnight debut for Black Friday deals.

Just after 11 p.m., at The Arches Tanger Outlet Mall in Deer Park, the parking lots were full and there were lines of vehicles waiting to get in. Stores in the mall opened at 10 p.m. and an hour later several had lines of customers waiting to pay for items.

Right at 10 p.m., Nancy Hertel of Commack came into Neiman Marcus with a friend and her daughter and began looking at clothes for her future son-in-law. "It's our yearly outing -- just for fun," she said. "It's our favorite thing to do: shop." She figured she would be out until midnight or 1 a.m. and spend no more than $100.

The stores were busy but not crowded.

At the outlet stores in Deer Park, there were more than 400 people in line by 10 p.m. for the opening of the service office, where the first 200 households would get $10 gift certificates.

First in line was the Klein family of West Islip: mom Mary, husband Dan and their four children. The family planned to go to Old Navy to look for fleece sweaters and stop by Bed Bath and Beyond to look for candles. They figured since six of them were trying to get $10 gift certificates, it was worth the wait.

In Bohemia, the Benavides family of Yaphank was one of the last to leave the Kmart there at 9 p.m., happy with the toys for their two children but not so much with the size of the discounts. "We're watching every penny," said Crystal Benavides, shopping with husband Rafael. "You have to."

Still, they were grateful for the chance to make their first foray into Thanksgiving sales. In the past, they had no money so they waited until before Christmas to shop for deals, the couple said, but their year-old aerospace business is doing well and for the first time in 12 years, they can afford Christmas presents for each other. Joked Crystal, "We're like, 'Oh yes, a pair of socks.' "

There, Manny Philipose of Deer Park stopped by with his son Christian, 7, on Thursday, but not for any door-buster deal. "I ran out of baby food, but I'm also going to look at prices," he said. "If I see something that excites me, I will buy it."

Loretta Radford of Farmingdale wanted to get an Xbox 360 from the local Walmart, but she was trying to decide whether the $100 savings was worth the hassle of getting a claim ticket for the video gaming system and staying in the store until the Black Friday deals kicked off.

"It's a good deal," she said, "but I'm not sure I want to wait in line for three hours."