Mall shoppers hunt
bargains

Lafayette, IN - "Black Friday," the day after Thanksgiving, marks the start to the holiday shopping season. The Tippecanoe Mall opened at 5 a.m. and quickly became a busy place. It doesn't close during the shopping season until 11 p.m.

"I got a 230 dollar set of luggage for 40 dollars," reported Jill Edwards.

"We've really hit good at Old Navy. They have some really good deals, and we're going to head to the rest of the mall, see if we can find anything else," said Pat McIlrath..

"Sale papers, looked them over good and picked out some key things to choose, picked out those and hopefully we got the deals we wanted," said Vaughn Garpow.

Those who wake up early, and hit the stores before the crack of dawn on Black Friday -- like Fonda Synesael -- are a breed of their own. "Got up at 2:30, met at 3:30 at Dennys," said Synesael. "Had breakfast. There's about 6 or 8 of us from work that all get together every year for probably the last six or seven years. And we shop until we drop about eight o'clock tonight," she said. Synesael, like most Black Friday shoppers, look for great deals. She found her bargain: a portable DVD player for 49 dollars. But she said there was still more shopping to come. "Follow everyone else around, and eat lunch and dinner. And I have to pick my granddaughter up. She's a month old and she'll start shopping with us this year. I have a sling for her, and we'll go."

For many, Black Friday is just the start to the Christmas shopping season.