The store had been open almost an hour, but the line was still very long to get in. It took about 20 minutes to get to the front entrance.
Once inside, I found that most of the "door busters" were already out of stock. However, I found a great deal on a Harman Kardon AVR-147 Home Theater Receiver for $199 (regular shelf price is $399). As a side note: I actually had the opportunity to review the AVR-147 previous to this posting and liked it a lot (see short review). However, I am required to return review units a the conclusion of the review process. On the other hand, at a great Black Friday price, I had no qualms purchasing one off the shelf. I will be using it as a comparison receiver in other product reviews.
Having now been in the store for about a 1/2 hour looking around, I finally got in line for the cashier. The line started at the back of the store. The time to cashier should have 2 hours, but ended up at 4 hours. The reason: Computer system problems.
Next stop; Best Buy. When I arrived at about 11:00AM, the inital crush was over. However, the store was still very busy. Most of the "door busters" were gone, but I claimed a pair of Klipsch Synergy F-2 speakers for $170 each ($340 a pair), half of the normal shelf price of $340 each ($680 a pair).
The cashier line was very short and it only took me about 10 minutes to get out.
The next stop on my Black Friday rounds was Circuit City. The store was very busy and the cashier lines were slow, but many doorbuster deals were still available. There was an especially good deal on a Polk Audio PSW10 powered subwoofer for $99 (regular shelf price $199) - I couldn't resist.
Last stop: Walmart. Walmart always seems to be busy everyday of the year, and, of course, it was busier on Black Friday, but not as busy as Fry's was during the initial rush. I didn't find anything that inspired me to depart with my remaining cash.
I ended up back at home at about 12:30pm.
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