SAN ANTONIO – Turkey dinner took a back seat to Thanksgiving Day shopping for some people in San Antonio. They chose hot deals over hot meals, spending their holiday waiting in line for the stores to open their doors.
Juan Parada was among a group of eight, all members of Colombia’s military who were far away from home. They began camping out outside a North side Best Buy store, hoping to purchase a big screen TV for only $200.
“We don’t have family here, so we will wait with the people here,” he said.
In all, there were about a dozen people outside that store Thursday morning, many using blankets to shield themselves from the chilly weather.
In the past, though, they would have had a lot more company.
The lure of Black Friday sales would have people standing in long lines for days outside stores all across the country. In some cases, there were outright brawls.
With the addition of “Dark Thursday” -- stores opening up on the evening of Thanksgiving -- some of that tension seems to have eased. The availability of online shopping also seems to have helped the number of people actually waiting in line to dwindle.
Still, Kevin Larz believes there is nothing like buying and being there in person.
"You get it right there, right then,” he said. “It's America. We like to have our instant gratification."
Although Larz spent hours waiting in line outside Best Buy, he said he had no plans to spend money in the store. Instead, he hoped to earn some.
“With a placard and a place in line, I'm going to then go down to the end of the line and see if I can find the highest bidder,” Larz said.
He hoped to make a Thanksgiving Day deal of his own.