Rhonda Cunningham and her daughter, Amber, were in the line outside Jefferson City's Kmart at 5:15 a.m. Thursday - 45 minutes before the store opened its doors for the first of three special holiday shopping events in a 24-hour period.
And they joined the line after driving in from Hallsville, northeast of Columbia and 45 miles away.
"We don't have a Kmart in Columbia," was Cunningham's first explanation, as she left the store with a basket full of purchases, three hours after getting into that line.
Then, she added: "We just have to do it. It's kind of a thing we do every year."
Her family's Thanksgiving celebration is Sunday, so Thursday is a day for what's become a family shopping tradition.
"Actually, a whole weekend," Cunningham said, "because we'll start wrapping presents when we get back, and then go (shopping) again and wrap some more."