12:30 AM, Dadeland Mall All retail stores were expected to open at midnight. But as of 12:30 a.m., neither the Apple store nor jewelry stores Tous or Mayors were open. Nearly 150 people were waiting outside of Apple.
According to Guest Services, stores that were not open by midnight would be fined.
Meanwhile, the rest of the mall buzzed with eager families and couples. Many shoppers were already sporting bags from Macy's, Victoria’s Secret, Express and Abercrombie & Fitch.
12:06 AM, Dadeland Mall Dadeland Mall officially opened at 12 a.m., and by 12:06 a.m. a group of young girls were already walking out of the mall with Victoria’s Secret bags in hand.
As the doors opened at Abercrombie & Fitch, people shouted to get in. Some yelled "Hallelujah" as others tried to push their way through.
Friday, midnight, Sawgrass Mills After a moderate start, the pace picked up at Sawgrass Mills. By midnight the mall was packed. Human traffic jams made walking through corridors challenging. Parking lot spaces were gone by 11 p.m., and people were being sent to the BB&T center and shuttled over to the mall. Food courts were doing brisk business as shoppers grabbed a quick bite to refuel.
10:30 PM, Sawgrass Mills If you timed it right you could walk into BrandsMart less than an hour after opening with no waiting.
"It was good compared to last year," said Carrie Ebenks, 36, of Pembroke Pines. "They moved much faster."
Ebenks and her sister Bonny Bush arrived about 8:30 p.m. and were inside before 9:30 p.m., only 30 minutes after the store opened. But they still missed out on the 40-inch TV for $147. They settled for a 32-inch for $247.
10:22 PM, Dolphin Mall The line to the Michael Kors store was 120 people long. The deal: 20 percent off the whole purchase, with some merchandise already marked down 40 percent. So the typical $250 purse would sell for... $120.
"Aren't you glad wallets don't cost this much?" nutrition manager Robert Sherman said to a reporter from his spot near the front of the line. It took him an hour to get there.
His wife, Lorie, was there to pick out her first Kors purse. "This is her Christmas present," Sherman said. Then the attendant parted the plastic guard rail and the Shermans slipped inside.
9:45 PM, Coral Gables At the Sears in Coral Gabes near Miracle Mile, which opened at 8 p.m., shoppers got an early start on the deals. And in most cases, they were there to buy a bigger, better TV.
Shoppers began arriving at around noon at the store to get a ticket for the early entry DoorBuster deals. Among them was Graciela Nodarse, 40, of Miami, and her teenage son, Mike, who were there for the advertised 50-inch HDTV for $299.
They had arrived at the store at around 5 p.m., landed a ticket, scurried inside and purchased the TV.
By 9 p.m., they were in the merchandise pick-up area waiting for their names to be called, along with other shoppers who came for the early deals.
"The wait wasn't so bad," Nodarse said. "I think if we had gone to an electronics store we would still be in line until midnight. Here, once we got in it was easy."
9:35 PM, Sawgrass Mills Craig Karpe arrived at Target at Sawgrass at 6 p.m. to get the 32-inch television for $147. He was one of the first 20 people in line. Target opened at 9 p.m., and he was done in just over 30 minutes.
"I give Target a lot of.credit; it was really organized," said Karpe, 46, of Tamarac. "The TVs were already in carts down the aisles for you to grab and go."
Black Friday in South Florida: Dispatches from the front of the line
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Black Friday in South Florida: Dispatches from the front of the line
