Shoppers flocked to stores across Massachusetts in search of deals on Black Friday. These are a few of their stories.
About 10 people stood in line ahead of Joshua Andrews when he made it to Walmart in Saugus at 4 p.m. Thanksgiving Day. It struck him as unusual because he’s usually the first shopper in line when he arrives around that time for 1 a.m. Black Friday openings.
But many of the other shoppers were mixed up. They thought the store would open at 6 p.m., like in many other parts of the country. In Massachusetts, blue laws prevent retailers from opening on Thanksgiving.
Andrews, 25, of Saugus, smiled as the news spread among the crowd and most of the people in front of him left, unwilling to wait seven hours longer than planned.
“I’ve done this every year for the past six years,” he said. “I love the anticipation of the doors opening and me going in and getting what I want.”
* * *
Effie Fahey visited Boston for the first time 20 years ago and always hoped to return. This year she found the perfect reason to come back: Black Friday.
Fahey, 68, of Yateley, England, waited on standby for a ticket from Heathrow to Logan on Thanksgiving Eve and arrived ready to shop for her children and grandchildren.
“Huuuge bargains,” Fahey said, pulling a puffy vest out of an Old Navy bag and showing off the price tag. “This sort of thing at home, you’re looking at about 35 pounds [roughly $55].”
At the Old Navy store in the Cambridgeside Galleria, Fahey had found the vest marked at $29.94 — then had the price slashed in half by a storewide sale of 50 percent off. In all, she’d paid about a quarter of what she would expect to pay at home.
* * *
At the Burlington Mall, University of Massachusetts Lowell student Alex Woodard said he was taking advantage of a rare day off from classes. It was his first time shopping on Black Friday.
“I actually like the atmosphere,” he said. “It’s festive; they’ve got different seasonal items, tables giving out free stuff. If it’s like this every year, I’d totally come again.”
Woodard, 21, has been saving money from his part-time job at Market Basket for the holidays. He was sporting a “We are Market Basket” T-shirt left over from employee protests against a change in management at the supermarket chain last summer.
Woodard bought a modestly discounted pair of sheepskin slippers for his father and was on the hunt for more gifts for his family.
“I like to shop early so I don’t get someone a gift that another person already bought for them,” he said. “I’ll let other people work around me.”
* * *
If Patrick Shine was looking for the classic American shopping experience, this was it. The 56-year-old Irishman spent part of Black Friday on a bench in the Cambridgeside Galleria, baby-sitting a half dozen bags for his wife, Sara.
But Shine, who hails from Limerick and is chief executive of Shannon Aerospace in Clare, manned his post with a smile.
“I am the beast of burden,” he said, grinning. “That’s my role.”
He said he knew how much his wife loves to shop and, besides, the trip to Boston was her 50th birthday present. She came with three empty luggage pieces and a stack of vacuum-seal bags. At the end of their visit, she’ll ask hotel housekeeping to suck out all the air to maximize storage.
First, though, Sara returned to the bench with a reward for her husband’s patience — a hot cup of Starbucks coffee.
Taryn Luna can be reached at taryn.luna@globe.com. Callum Borchers can be reached at callum.borchers@globe.com. Dan Adams can be reached at daniel.adams@globe.com.