Maneuvering the mob of 138 million Americans expected to hit the malls and outlets this season takes plenty of practice, but hard-core customers have got beating the crowds down to a science.
"I leave the house at 9:30 p.m. on Thanksgiving," says Rosemary Rizzo, 40, from Ronkonkoma, L.I. "Everything used to open at 6 a.m., but every year it gets even earlier."
The Tanger Outlets in Riverhead will open at midnight, so Rizzo needs to be in line by 9:45 Thursday to power through on her shopping spree until 1:30 p.m. the next day.
"You gotta pack light, get your coffee and go," she says. "The adrenaline keeps you moving."
Traveling light also means going it alone.
"I shop by myself," she says. "You've got to be the fastest, to be able to go from store to store and not have anyone lingering, or you're not going to be able to get what you need."
She subscribes to sites like BlackFriday.info that clue her in to sales in advance, and pores over her stack of circulars while she's still digesting her Thanksgiving turkey to map her route.
Tanger Outlets In Riverhead
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