It's like Black Friday every day.
Dozens of shoppers lined up outside Black Friday on Levittown Island on Friday morning to guard against the 40 mph wind.
The new 12,000-square-foot bin shop in Hempstead Turnpike sells returns and excess products from retailers such as Amazon, Target, Home Depot, Walmart and Costco.
Items – part of the obvious maker box, many of which are mystery to the brown packaging with no explanation – Fridays start at $12 and are marked down daily. Items that are not sold and refilled will be $10 on Saturday, $8 on Sunday, $4 on Monday, $2 on Tuesday and $1 on Wednesday.
The $12 shares on Friday included two $400 HP laptops, a $700 Apple iPhone, a $10 Samsung Galaxy tablet and a $600 Dyson airwrap.
Before customers enter, workers unfold packaged goods stacked on long-wrapped tables covered in black tablecloths. The products are covered to avoid fighting among shoppers. Shoppers may quickly find the coveted item and grab it at the same time, co-owner Ali Shuaib told the Post.
And there are other rules that adhere to it. If you're new to the store, Joseph Shuaib, who owns Island Black Friday with his cousin Ali, reminds me of the policies and procedures made by the Bullhorn.
“Please don't open the box,” Joseph told 75 people who entered shortly after opening at 9am on Friday, hunting for treasure among the four-track inventory.
Most of the items were in cardboard boxes and snatched up what they didn't know what was inside until employees opened them behind the counter for inspection and testing. If anyone decides not to buy it, the box will be resealed and returned to the sales floor.
“Everyone, everyone,” he announced before shopping began.
The patron grabbed his arms into the air to show that no one could benefit from feeling what is underneath Napery.
“Are you guys ready?” he asked.
“I can't hear you – are you ready?” he again asked for a more enthusiastic response this time.
“UNO, DOS” and the three of them should have counted, Shuaib sounded the alarm on the megaphone and said, “Bamanos.”
People of all ages, including children tall enough to reach for swapped boxes looking for something worth throwing and buying what can be done with the trolley. Eventually the tabletop started to fade.
At 10am, another 10 tables were brought out, and a second shopping and raffles began. This was repeated every Friday, at 11am, noon and 5pm.
Maria Machado, 54, a housewife in Freeport, says bargain hunting can be just as thrilling as a raffle.
Last Friday, the shop handed out prizes worth between $1,500 and $2,000, including Galaxy Tablets, Dyson Hair Straighters and Stanley Cups.
“What a god, that's exciting,” Machado said. She shortened her shopping trip last Friday, but she did more shopping that day and was there for her last 5pm raffle.
Gifts are held every day. On Thursday, the store will donate surplus to churches and schools, staff will be selling furniture at discounted prices and focusing on preparing new stocks for Friday's update, Ali Shuaib said.
Shuaib opened the island Black Friday six months ago, and said Ali owns another store in nearby Beth Page three years ago called Crazy Hot Deal.
Wantagh Retiree Jill Steiger, 72, discovered the Crazy Hot deal three years ago, chasing his cousin into a new location. She goes every day. “Unless I'm sick or have an appointment with a doctor.”
She has spent thousands of dollars over the years, but she says she doesn't need anything, gives her two children or three grandchildren whatever she wants, chucking the rest in her basement.
So I said to “become a friend” when I shop. Steiger said.
For 35-year-old David Lopez, going out from his Selden home to the store has become a family member. Last Friday he arrived with a family of 10 and eventually loaded up six shopping carts. “You're saving a lot,” he said, adding, “It's fun for all of us.”
Rachell Rosales Cardena, 32, a nurse in East Northport, appeared every Friday after a 12-hour overnight shift at a nearby hospital earlier this past Friday. “I love getting the best deals I can get,” she said.
“We want to keep it a secret,” she said. “I don't want it to come out, but they're doing great things here.”
Island Black Friday, 3131 Hempstead Tpke. , Levittown, New York 11756; daily 9am to 7:30pm, Sunday 10am to 6pm, Thursday 9am to 3pm
