Updated at: 11/30/2009 8:22 AM | KSAX.com
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Black Friday Madness Strikes Greater Minnesota 

ALEXANDRIA, MINN. - Black Friday 2009.

If there's a time for serious shopping, this is it.

In the Alexandria area, the deals started as early as 3 a.m., and chances are, you probably weren't awake to see them.

Target, Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Sears, Radio Shack, Herberger's all advertised major, early-morning sales.

Wal-Mart's deals started at 5 a.m., with the 24-hour retailer's employees barring sales of specially-priced items until exactly that time

Hundreds of shoppers gathered outside of Target to await door-open at 5 a.m.  The line stretched behind the Target building itself, with cars parked into the surrounding neighborhood. The excited crowd cheered en-masse when the doors finally opened, and the hundreds of shoppers streamed in.

Spring Hill's Jeannette Kalthoff was one of the first shoppers to actually exit the Target store after the 5 a.m. sale started. "We got our two plasma screen TV's!" she proudly announced. "32-inch!"

Other shoppers weren't so elated.  "We came here for a flatscreen TV, but the line was too long," noted a saddened, married couple who drove from Cyrus, Minn.

Target's Manager Deena Steffl has a different perspective.

She hasn't slept in nearly two days and noted "Some people were here at 1:30 to 2 a.m. with blankets on the sidewalk."

"Yep, they camped out early," Steffl said.

The top deals according to the Target Top Dog:  TV's, DVD's, and surprisingly, cookware.

Written for the web by Matt Standal

mstandal@ksax.com