Photo by Niamh Coomey Black Friday shoppers enter Target when it opens at 6 a.m., many with their eyes on an exclusive release from Taylor Swift.

TRIDELPHIA — Hundreds of eager shoppers waited in line at Target and Cabela’s at The Highlands on Friday morning to be first to access exclusive Black Friday deals.

This year’s biggest draws? Fishing equipment, trucker caps and an exclusive anthology vinyl of Taylor Swift’s “Tortured Poets Department” and Eras Tour book.

Those at the front of the line outside of Target had been there since 2 a.m. or 3 a.m., many shivering and draped in blankets in the 30-degree weather. Teens Campbell Kropka, Garrett Czapp, Jesse Vitek and Haleigh Gildow were the first in line at Target on Friday morning and were buzzing with excitement as the minutes to Target’s opening at 6 a.m. ticked away.

The group had been waiting outside since well before 3 a.m. and met that morning through a shared love of Taylor Swift.

“A lot of us didn’t know each other, we just bonded over the fact that we’ve been out here for so long,” Kropka said.

The teens said they had never waited outside this early for Black Friday before. They were strictly there for the Taylor Swift merch.

Liam Thomas was in line with his sister, who showed up early with her eyes on only the album and book release, too. Thomas said he wasn’t interested in shopping, just the Starbucks drink he would get as a reward for tagging along.

“I get an iced mocha if I do this. She just wants her Taylor Swift stuff,” he said.

After reminding those in line not to run, Target security officers removed the barrier and shoppers shuffled quickly into the store, many immediately crowding the Taylor Swift display just inside.

Down the road, Cabela’s saw several hundred in line starting in the early hours of the morning. The store gave out gift cards to the first 250 individuals in line and there were many more who did not receive a gift card, according to manager Isaac Knight.

“We went through them rather quickly,” Knight said. “We had 4, 5, 600 people out there waiting to come in.”

These numbers are not out of the ordinary for Cabela’s on Black Friday, he said. The store really didn’t see much of a dip in business even during the COVID-19 pandemic, he said, and the rise of online shopping has not impacted in-person shopping much either.

“We certainly see it but we haven’t fallen off at all really here. The online stuff has increased no doubt but we’ve stayed the course really well,” Knight said.

Cabela’s still has a strong draw for in-person shopping due to the atmosphere of the store, he added.

“We like to think we’re still kind of a destination with the aquarium and we have Santa around,” he said.

There was a wide range of deals at Cabela’s this year. Many showed up for discounts on firearms, safes, fishing sonar systems and the best-in-class carbon light fishing rod and reel set, Knight said.

Clothing deals had also been popular, particularly the trucker caps with a buy two, get one free deal. Cabela’s also offered special financing discounts on bigger purchases like ATV’s.