Promise Of $10 Sends Shoppers Into Oppressive Heat

This morning, the new Macy’s in the Wanamaker Building opened, and people flocked there.

The main reason people stood in lines that were “two blocks long, wrapping around two sides of the building” was the $10 gift cards Macy’s was handing out to the first 1,000 customers. And 10 “lucky shoppers” won a cool thousand bucks to buy, buy, buy to their heart’s content.

Of course, it was in the high 80s this morning when everyone lined up for the store’s opening. Here’s how the Inquirer describes it:

Joseph Burnside of Philadelphia said he arrived at 7:30 but wished he’d gotten there by 5. “I thought I would beat the crowd but the crowd beat me. I should have bugalooed down here.” Occasionally, he’d shout out a suggestion for another giveaway: “Maybe you could pass out some water!” ¶ Other people were trying to handle the heat by fanning themselves with newspapers, and blotting their brows with tissues.

I can see the headlines tomorrow: 25 die of heatstroke at Macy’s opening.

Still, it’s not all possible bodily harm due to dehydration. Some people have shopping down to a science:

Lorraine Jamison and Leticia Robinson, both in town for a sorority convention, came straight from the gym. “We have a strategy,” said Robinson. “If we see anything, we kindly ask them to put it on hold, we go back and shower, and get our credit cards.”

And they say shopping’s not an art form.

Crowd forms early for Macy’s opening this morning [Inquirer]