Miami-Dade

Black Friday

Black Friday in South Florida: Dispatches from the front of the line

 

Real-time updates from South Florida stores as Black Friday begins. Follow our writers on Twitter by using #HeraldShop.

 

Yamilet Guerra, Uglis Boscan and Juan Romero are the first in line for the Black Friday deals at BrandsMart USA in Kendall Thursday, Nov. 22, 2012.
Yamilet Guerra, Uglis Boscan and Juan Romero are the first in line for the Black Friday deals at BrandsMart USA in Kendall Thursday, Nov. 22, 2012.
LUISA YANEZ / MIAMI HERALD STAFF

Miami Herald Staff

10 AM Aventura Mall If you’ve just about had it with Black Friday shopping and your body and mind feel like they’re about to explode, the Spa at Turnberry Isle Miami wants to let you know they’re there for you, poor shopper.

The spa, across the street from Aventura Mall, is offering a “Shoppers Recovery Spa Ritual”: a 60-minute reflexology and 30-minute “extra-bliss” half-body massage along with an energy smoothie infusing fresh ingredients from the onsite chef’s garden. The spa wants to “relax and soothe sore areas associated with shopping by targeting key stress points including the feet, hands, and back.” But it’ll cost you: $165, plus gratuity. But being this is Black Friday and all, that price translates to more than a $100 savings. Call 305-933-6930.

9:36 AM, Merrick Park mall, Coral Gables The jammed parking garages, the lines at checkout, the packed aisles. It’s all a distant holiday memory at this upscale mall, which looks relatively quiet this Friday morning.

Said one Pottery Barn clerk to one of nine customers inside: "We won’t get busy until the afternoon. Mornings are for electronics."

9 AM Aventura Mall The mood at the Aventura Mall was calm and orderly. By 5 a.m., the parking garages started filling up. But some customers arrived after Thanksgiving dinner with most of the early activity centering around the Apple Store.

“I have been in line since 11:30 p.m.,” said Danny Pierce, 23, a salesman at Carmax in Fort Lauderdale, who was the first of about 100 eager shoppers waiting patiently in line outside the mall’s Apple Store on Black Friday. “I offered to sell my spot for between $500 and $1,000 but no one wanted it.”

Instead, Pierce settled for a new iMac for his grandmother as a Christmas present.

Dennis Obando, 22, of Fort Lauderdale, was the second person in line and thinks it was worth the wait to get his hands on a new second-generation mini iPad.

“It was worth standing here all night because it is way cheaper than buying it online,” he said.

“Just the way we girls like it,” said Liz David, 21, of Coconut Creek, an aspiring chef at Le Cordon Bleu, as she squeezed into a pair of jeans inside JC Penney as her friends provided cover. “There aren’t too many men here.”

David, who arrived with five friends, said that she did her “homework” and put JCP first on her list because the jeans were only $10, scarves were $5, and shoes were 30 percent off.

“We are very pleased with the turnout,” said Raul Rincon, the JCP store manager, who added that the store had some “amazing deals.”

“As you can see, the customers are very appreciative.”

7 AM Aventura Mall Some customers from China rushed into Abercrombie — and stopped in shock upon seeing a shirtless man greeting customers.

“We don’t do this in China,” said Sherry Guo, 29, as her friends giggled.

5:45 AM Aventura Mall Macy’s was open but the entrance to the mall from the department store was closed. The mall opens at 6. Customers could not get into the Mall from Macy’s before 6 and had to walk outside to one of the mall entrances. Cars started backing up on the mall perimeter road, but plenty of parking spaces were still available. Around the corner from the mall, three Aventura police cars, lights flashing, were stationed next to a sign warning drivers to wear a seatbelt or face a ticket.

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