Here are all the Best Buys where Americans are already lined up for Black Friday

You may have read numerous reports this year about how Black Friday is dead and/or dying. But at Best Buys around the country, it’s still alive and patiently waiting in line for its hour to come.

It’s not yet Thanksgiving, but lines are already in place in front of the electronics stores offering Black Friday sales across the country. Using a combination of Google News and social media posts, we found at least 16 Best Buy locations where pre-Black Friday lines already are in place. Incredibly, some of these lines have been around for weeks.

Originally, we were trying to find reports of any doorbuster lines forming at all, but Best Buy seems to be the only game in town this year. The siren song of a 49-inch TV for $149 is a temptation not even Thanksgiving can overcome.

While this list is not comprehensive, as there are probably plenty of undocumented lines out there, it’s interesting that there is only one reported line that is farther north than Louisville, Ky. It’s not too much of a stretch to assume people get less enthusiastic about waiting around for days for a new TV where the weather is more unforgiving.

A report from Milwaukee TV station WDJT was the only northern line we could find.

The earliest report comes from October 27, when ABC News reports radio host Kevin Sutton started his month-long campout at an Orlando Best Buy. While Sutton’s vigil is partially a stunt for his radio show, the DJ is, to his credit, using the attention to help solicit canned goods donations for a local charity.

No word on what he’ll be buying when the store opens its doors tomorrow. He can’t just hop over to REI to buy a tent; the outdoors store is closing for this Black Friday.

Many shoppers are telling local reporters that the days-long queue is now more about a tradition than getting deals. A Phoenix man told TV station KPHO he’s been lining up outside Best Buy every Thanksgiving for eight years now, whereas a Bakersfield, Calif., man said he and his mother have been doing this for 15 years. Kind of sweet!

It’s about time that the day before Black Friday got some solid traditions associated with it. We’re building a better future for our children—apparently, one with a whole lot of cheap big-screen TVs.