GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.– It’s nothing new to line up early ahead of Black Friday or Thanksgiving Day deals, but one family is determined to be first. It’s a family tradition.
It’s the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and Joy Ancton and her sister are camping outside Best Buy. They’ve been there since Saturday morning.
“Last year we had an unfortunate incident where, we were the fourth tent set up thinking we would be maybe sixth or seventh to get the tickets,” explains Ancton.
“But, the first tent let in like 25 people come in front of us and we ended up being 46th. So we were determined to not let that happen this year.”
Ancton runs her own business and can work from inside her car as she waits, and her sister took the week off. They are waiting to get deals on flat screen TVs and Dell laptop computers.
Ancton and her sister spend the night in their SUV, which is parked just steps from their tents. Just enjoying each other’s company helps pass the time.
“I’m with my family,” says Ancton. “My family’s here with me. Its bonding time for us. We enjoy it. We actually have fun.”
Ancton says they’ll even get to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner while they wait for the doors to open.
These women not only have a thick skin to put up with the cold, they also put up with the comments.
“You hear a lot of negative comments and things, you know ‘why would they be out here? They’re opening on Thursday,” recalls Ancton.
“But we think it’s fun. It’s fun for us and it is tradition and family for us.”
