Crowds come to Anthem, commence holiday shopping

MARC BUCKHOUT ~ MANAGING EDITOR~ 11/30/2011

Twas the night before Black Friday when all through the Outlets at Anthem shoppers by the car full showed up to start their Christmas shopping.
Despite rain drops falling on their heads, the chance to
get a drop on their fellow shoppers proved too tempting for a female-dominated crowd that turned out from all across the Valley.

Susan Avans, of Avondale, drove up to the Outlets with her friend Sierra Garcia, of Phoenix, looking to do some shopping for her husband and son.
Garcia said she took a nap after her Thanksgiving meal to prepare for a late
night of shopping.
Avans said she was contemplating going without sleep as she was due for an early morning, having to be at work at 5 a.m. on Friday.

When asked how she planned to accomplish such a feat she pointed to her double
fisted caffeine combo of pop and coffee.
“We’ve got the stores mapped out where they are,” Garcia said as they waited for the Nike store to open up. “We’re going to hit the Coach store and the toy store too after this.”
Courtney Elkins, the manager of Aeropostale, is going through her third Christmas shopping season at the Outlets at Anthem. While many stores advertised opening at 10 p.m. Thanksgiving night Elkins opened her store just after 8:30 p.m.
“When we started doing this {Moonlight Madness} on Thanksgiving night a couple years ago it was pretty unique,” she said. “Now a lot of places are doing it, but it still draws well. The Outlets are a destination”

Elkins said that anything with Aeropostale’s name on it was popular, with hoodies with fur lining perhaps being the hottest item for the holiday.
Aside from her store she also anticipated Coach and Banana Republic being two of the more popular destinations.
Pam Green and Karen Green had their Thanksgiving meal out near Lake Pleasant, but the mother and daughter abandoned the men following dinner to await the opportunity to check out the deals at Coach.
“We’ve been waiting in line since 6 p.m.,” said Karen, still an hour before the store
was set to open. “It will be worth it though.”

Avans agreed, but acknowledged that the thrill of the hunt isn’t entirely altruistic, explaining that there’s something to be said for giving at a discount so one can also also receive.
“If I can get 50 percent off my Christmas shopping up here then I can get myself a facial and a haircut,” Avans said, when asked about the draw of driving from the Southwest Valley.