Black Friday deals so hot, buyers suffer through cold nights

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- It may be Thanksgiving Thursday, but Black Friday fever has already arrived all over the Central Valley.

The fever peaked at 5 p.m. at Best Buy.

A line about 150 yards long included people who lined up more than 40 hours early. They braved the rains on Tuesday night, the cold Wednesday night, and they told us they were delirious by Thursday morning, but it'll all be worth it once they get 49-inch TVs for $150.

Smaller deals were good enough for a lot of the shoppers we found around town Thursday. Checkstands got busy early Thanksgiving morning at the Clovis KMart.

Doors opened at 6 a.m. and in came the carts, pushed by cold people looking for hot deals.

"It was about 151 people in line," said manager Luis Bauelos."It was, like I said, smooth."

"What's the draw? Why'd you come out today?" an Action News reporter asked shopper Esperanza Flores, of Kerman.

"That's a good sale," she said, pointing to a $99 freezer.

The famous blue light is back and pointed shoppers to deals on the hour, but a lot of the best bargains were right there on the ad pages.

And for a lot of these people, this was just the first stop.

"We're doing our first Black Friday, starting this morning, of course," said Monica Peraza, of Fresno. "Then we'll do our Thanksgiving and then hit the other stores tonight."

The doors of Fashion Fair stayed closed until 6 p.m., but on the other side of the metal bars, Forever 21 opened early for a 37-hour Black Friday sale. 50-percent off sales brought a few buyers, while others just needed a Thanksgiving outfit.

"I opened really early or got off really early and realized I forgot to get an outfit for today," said Maria Lopez, of Fresno. "I just thought hopefully something's open."

And then there are the diehards -- camped out under umbrellas, crammed into foldup chairs, and stuck in front of Best Buy for hours.

The Black Friday doorbuster deals may be too good to pass up. But at the front of the line, the misery is too much to repeat.

"I'm never doing this again," said the 26-year-old at the front of the line who asked to remain nameless.

A lot of the Best Buy early birds told us they planned to get home in time for Thanksgiving dinner, but a few said they'd just head to other stores for more deals.