Clifton Commons, Slowing down, or never started?

I crossed Route 3 and went over to Clifton Commons. Here's the thing - I'm sort of an expert on Clifton Commons. I used to live in Clifton, and was a frequent visitor to the Barnes and Noble, Target and movie theater. I can tell you definitively that at 9 a.m., the parking lots here are no more crowded than usual. I'm sure there were people here at 4 a.m., but honestly? Unless the stores made all their money before now, I'm betting sales are going to be off this year.

Staples was pretty slow around 8:45 a.m. The store manager referred me to corporate p.r. (sigh), so I have no sense of how long the lines were for a 6 a.m. opening.  I talked to one woman who said she had braved the Kearny Wal-Mart at 5:45 a.m., but they sold out of the camera she wanted. She settled for some clothes there, and then bought a digital picture frame at Staples.  

"It was so stifling and hot, I was getting nauseous," Marjorie Plata, 35, of Bloomfield, said of the Wal-Mart experience.

Target had a steady stream of people coming out, many of them with loaded carts of appliances and toys. Keri Decker, 37, of Wallington said it was her third stop of the day. She started at Toys 'R Us at 4:30 a.m., then hit K-Mart, picked up her 3-year-old son, and brought him to Target. More on Keri's experiences in tomorrow's Record, but let me just say - this lady is a pro. She had a game plan owith what to get where and knew all the best sales. She estimated she saved over $200. Nice!

I'm headed to Toys 'R Us on Route 46.