The Paragon Outlets in Livermore opened at 10 p.m. last night and was packed with shoppers. Officials estimate they will park between 30,000 to 35,000 cars over the 24 hour period. Every single one of the 130 stores at the outlet is offering a special deal today.
In San Francisco, Macy's at Union Square opened its stores at midnight for the first time ever. At City Target on Mission, excited shoppers, filed through the front doors at 9 p.m. last night in hopes of getting the best deals. Overall things appeared pretty well organized by the Target employees. A few shoppers rushed to the electronics section.
Shoppers at a San Leandro Walmart found more than Black Friday bargains. Protesting employees handed out leaflets and held signs, last night, complaining of low wages and unsafe conditions.
One told ABC7 News that employees can't talk to Walmart management about things they don't want to hear.
"Any safety issues or anything that's against company policy, if we go to management then all of a sudden we'll have a target on our back. And Walmart will retaliate against us. And Walmart has a zero tolerance retaliation but we're still getting retaliated on," said Walmart employee Raymond Bravo.
Most of the shoppers seemed to ignore the protest. The charges of retaliation are the subject of a lawsuit before the National Labor Relations Board.
Unfortunately, waiting in line for a chance at holiday deals made at least one person snap yesterday.
A customer in line at a Sacamento Kmart yelled: "Stop the pushing here! Slow the f--- down! Any one of you push my kids I will stab one of you!"
The line started forming at least two hours before the 6 a.m. opening. Many of the shoppers complained about a lack of security and said the store employees seemed unprepared for the early sale.
