WMass Black Friday shoppers get early start in CT

ENFIELD, Conn. (WWLP) - It's the state's blue laws that prevent Massachusetts stores from opening on Thanksgiving. But that's not the case in Connecticut. Stores in Enfield Square started opening at 8 Thanksgiving night, and plenty of Massachusetts shoppers couldn't resist the earlier deals.

Veteran Black Friday shoppers know it's best to pull into that mall parking lot with a plan. And the planning begins before the Thanksgiving feast is even served.

“We made lists of which places we're going to go and how much everything costs and compare them all. That's what we do all afternoon,” said Kellie Beaulieu of Granby.

Now most Black Friday shoppers do at least wait to digest their Thanksgiving feasts before they head to the mall. But those who wanted one of the first spots here at Sears were in the parking lot around 3 o'clock this afternoon.

I was on my way home and I was going to come late but when I drove up here I saw the sign and nobody standing there so I said I might as well just stand and wait. If it was colder I probably would have thought twice about it but seeing as its pretty nice out it wasn't too bad,” said Rob Lawson of Enfield, who was first in line at Sears.

It wasn't hard to find Massachusetts shoppers here in line at Sears in Enfield. The Black Friday bargains, available even before kick-off, were simply too tempting.

“I wasn't going to do 1 o'clock, 12:30 in Massachusetts. Not happening,” said Nathalie Mendez of Springfield.

“We go out Black Friday shopping every year and we just love it. This is the first time we've come to Connecticut. We found out they opened at 8 so we decided to come here first,” said Zach Crowley of Chicopee.

Those Enfield shoppers may have been more eager, but the holiday spirit was still in the air. A group of shoppers mistakenly started lining up at the wrong entrance, and when they realized where they were supposed to go they all moved over in the same line order.