What's your best find? Black Friday shoppers share their deals with us
Black Friday might not be the kickoff to the holiday shopping season anymore, but people nevertheless found plenty of deals. Some shoppers shared their best finds with us.
Disney deals
The Disney Store at Chicago Premium Outlets in Aurora called Black Friday "Magical Friday" and Krystal Kifer of Lisle got in on the abracadabra.
She and her husband, Adam, snagged a bedazzling deal on a supersized Mickey Mouse stuffed animal for their son - only $16 and the toy was bigger than the boy himself.
Kifer works at Chicago Premium Outlets and stayed there overnight after arriving at 9 p.m. Thursday. "We just got so much stuff," she said nearly 12 hours later.
Making mom happy
Ricky Shah of Des Plaines was a gold-medal son on Black Friday; he said his best deal of the day went to his mom. Inside the GUESS Factory store at Chicago Premium Outlets in Aurora, he grabbed her a nice, new handbag for only $40, when on any other day, he estimated it would have run him at least $100.
Carting around the bag and lots of other shopping sacks from an excursion that began at midnight hadn't tired Shah by midmorning.
"It's shop till you drop, I guess," he said.
Second wave
Best friends Jen Gesiakowski of Aurora and Vida Ignatonis of Joliet took advantage of a "lull" in Black Friday morning shopping at Chicago Premium Outlets in Aurora to unload and refresh.
Into the car went some of the early finds from a trip that tipped off at 4:30 a.m. ("Our hands were hurting," Ignatonis explained) and into their hands flowed newer deals, like a Columbia winter coat for $89 and an Old Navy vest for $15.
Though feeling a bit pooped, the pals were pleased with their dash for discounts.
"It was perfect timing," Gesiakowski said.
Free gifts
Amy Waddell of Arlington Heights efficiently hit all the stores she wanted to at Schaumburg's Woodfield Mall Friday morning.
But because she maintained the discipline to stick to the list she'd made in advance, she resisted the lure of additional Black Friday bargains to buy anything more than she came for.
The most pleasant surprise of her visit, therefore, was the free little Santa set the Lego store gave her with the purchase of the Lego pet shop set she'd bought as a gift.
Ready for the Caribbean
Not far from Santa's Ice Palace at Woodfield, Palatine resident Lynn Olszewski's thoughts were on her family's upcoming trip to the warm Caribbean.
She took advantage of the regular half-off bargains at Lord & Taylor, along with the 20-percent discount coupon she had with her, to pick up two sundresses for the vacation for only $10 each.
Something old but new
Earle and Veelynn Bain of Libertyville typically avoid the Black Friday crowds, but they tagged along with their teenage daughter who wanted to visit Hawthorn Mall in Vernon Hills with her friends.
Stopping by the Gamers World store, they thought the Nintendo version of the classic board game Monopoly looked like a cool new take on the familiar.
Though they believed the whole family would enjoy playing it, they bought it as a gift for their 11-year-old son, a true Nintendo enthusiast.