Myrtle Beach stores see less frenzy but stay busy on Saturday

Elinor Neill said she may circle the parking lots, but traditionally, she’s not going to set foot in stores on Black Friday.

The Grand Strand resident did just that at the Tanger Outlet Center off U.S. 501, around 2 p.m. on Friday. What Neill found was an abundance of parking spaces, but none of them empty.

Instead, she was at Myrtle Beach’s Coastal Grand mall around lunchtime on Saturday to begin her holiday shopping. There were plenty of parking spots this go-around.

“We’re not into the bargains,” Neill said about the draw of Black Friday.

The National Retail Federation estimated that 152 million people were expected to shop either online or in stores this weekend, starting on Black Friday. And while crowds along both the Grand Strand and the country were huge, not everyone felt the need to head out to stores in the wee hours of the night.

Many retailers, like Target, Best Buy and Kohl’s, opened their doors at midnight. Others, like Wal-Mart and Toys “R” Us, got a jump on the competition by starting Black Friday sales on Thanksgiving night.

Cheryl McAteer, who was out shopping Saturday with Neill, said the plan was to hit up local stores on Black Friday, but the large crowds were too much to handle.

“I don’t mind getting a bargain, but I don’t want to fight for one,” she said.

Fighting is just what some around the country did on Black Friday.

A shopper in Los Angeles pepper-sprayed her competition for an Xbox at an area Wal-Mart, leaving 10 with minor injuries from the spray. She surrendered to police on Saturday.

Near Muskegon, Mich., a teenage girl was knocked down and stepped on several times after getting caught in the rush to a sale in the electronics department at a Wal-Mart. She suffered minor injuries.

And here in Myrtle Beach, police continue to search for the two men in a shooting that happened at 1:13 a.m. Friday in front of the Osaka Japanese Steakhouse on 794 Oak Forest Lane.

Fifty-five-year-old Tonia Robbins, of Marston, N.C., had just finished Black Friday shopping for Christmas presents with her sister and son at Wal-Mart in Myrtle Beach when she was shot in the foot during a robbery in the steakhouse parking lot.

No other such incidents were reported in Horry and Georgetown counties, although the Myrtle Beach Police Department’s website indicated several were arrested on shoplifting charges on Black Friday. That included someone allegedly stealing four tape measures from a North Kings Highway Kmart, and a man taking an almost $90 Polo shirt from Dillards at Coastal Grand Mall.

Things seemed quiet, yet active, at the Grand Strand’s shopping hubs on Saturday. The parking lots of Myrtle Beach’s Toys “R” Us and Target stores held heavy volumes of vehicles.

At Coastal Grand, the yuletide shopping season was definitely in the air. A volunteer with the Salvation Army – dressed in a suit and hat that seemed tailor made for a limousine driver – was busy ringing a bell outside the entrance to the food court.

Inside, hordes of shoppers browsed the stores as food service workers passed out free samples of frozen strawberry yogurt.

The holiday atmosphere was further augmented by the multitude of greenery and lights hanging throughout the mall.

For Bill Stubbs, Saturday’s trip to Coastal Grand represented a late start to his holiday shopping.

The Latta native was down in Myrtle Beach this weekend with his wife for a little rest and relaxation after a family-filled Thanksgiving holiday. The two own a local timeshare.

Like many others, Stubbs doesn’t like the Black Friday crowds and opts not to join them. On Saturday, while he was retrieving something from the car parked in the mall’s parking lot, his wife was busy inside finding some good bargains.

“We’ve got 13 grandchildren,” Stubbs said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.