LIHUE — Under a series of sandwich boards advertising $50 off Ryobi One+ products, dozens of people mingled through rows of tools at Home Depot on Black Friday.
Coffee cups in hand, they wove around each other, talking story and comparing wish lists and coupons while checking out deals like $300 off John Deere lawnmowers and $150 off of Milwaukee Sawzall starter kits.
“You have to have the coupons with you to do it right and make sure you get the right price,” said Andrea Makepa, of Hanapepe, who walked out of Home Depot with a Rigid slide miter saw for $299 — regularly priced at $499.
She continued: “We saved $200, so we got a good deal.”
Elisa Suniga of Kapaa took advantage of the day to stock up on paint and exterior lighting fixtures for her house, which she and her family are in the process of selling.
“I think we paid regular price for most everything here (at Home Depot), but we got some good deals earlier at Macy’s,” she said.
Those scores included a Ninja blender for 20 percent off at $79 and a rice cooker for $19.99 with a rebate that will bring the cost down to $7.99 once she mails it in.
Macy’s was also on Makepa’s list and she said she got a Keurig coffee machine for $99 and an Instant Pot multipurpose pressure cooker for $49.
“We got a lot of stuff at Walmart, too,” Makepa said. “We got a TV, and laptops. Good deals over there, too.”
Shoppers at Walmart had the chance to save $300 on a Samsung 65” 4K Smart TV, $70 on Samsung and HP Touch laptops, and $100 on Yuneec Breeze Drones.
Most people in Lihue were on a mission for deals Friday, and some got a jump on the shopping Thursday night with the opening of stores like Walmart, Kmart and Macy’s.
Melissa Moreno and Curt Pantohan, who both live on the Westside, drove into town twice to catch deals on both days and said they ended up only sleeping an hour on Thursday night to get it all done.
“We didn’t have the schedule and the stores all opened at weird times, so we had to either sleep in the truck or go home and come back early,” Moreno said. “I left a note with my oldest this morning because we left before the kids woke up.”
Pantohan said Home Depot was the most crowded of all of the stores in the area, but he said even that didn’t seem as busy as Black Friday is in other places around the country.
“I think Home Depot is where most of the people went because they had the best sales,” he said.
Todd Dekeyser of Koloa was also at Kukui Grove on Friday and he stumbled across the Deja Vu Hawaii sale tents while he was waiting for his truck to get serviced. He scored two T-shirts for $10 each.
“I could have just sat there in the shop and waited, but I decided to come check it out,” Dekeyser said. “I found a couple of gifts for my family.”
Jaran Iwane also found some clothing gifts for friends at Deja Vu and stopped to show them off on his way to Macy’s.
“Just a couple of shirts, but I got a good deal,” he said.
Iwane and his three friends arrived on Kauai from home on Oahu Friday morning for an interisland weekend trip after hitting Black Friday sales on Oahu Thursday night.
Many people from the neighbor islands travel to Oahu for Black Friday shopping, the group acknowledged, but they decided to take the trip to The Garden Island instead.
“We thought we’d be able to save a little money,” Sugai said, “but then we went out last night.”
Starbucks was an epicenter of activity on Friday morning, as shoppers cruised through for a caffeine fix in between sale scavenging.
Crystal Bilyeu, of Kapahi, was leaving the coffee crowd when she stumbled upon her favorite find of the day — a blanket from the store Jane.
“It’s the perfect blanket for my first grandchild,” Bilyeu said. “I have eight children, seven boys and a girl, and finally, now a grandchild.”
Bilyeu said she was following her daughter around the mall, scoring deals on gifts, but she paid full price for the blanket.
“Sometimes, when it’s important and you find just the right thing, you spend just a little more for it,” she said. “It’s worth it and my daughter, she’s finding things too.”
Black Friday sales continue through the weekend.
On Cyber Monday, many stores offer free shipping and deals on countless items online.
