At Tesco (TSCO.L), Britain’s biggest retailer, Black Friday started on its website at midnight, while doors will open at 250 of its largest stores earlier than normal at 0500 GMT.
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Dolphin Mall is scheduled to close at 11 p.m. on Friday, which means it will remain open for 29 consecutive hours.
“I’m exhausted”, Heather Galloway of Harlan, Ky., said about 2:30 p.m. on a bench at the Kingsport Town Center, formerly known as the Fort Henry Mall.
However, some chains and many local stores chose to be closed Thanksgiving Day, which Harmon said he completely understands.
Sauder and Roberts said they didn’t think the crowd is quite as big this year.
Some on Friday morning said they had already shopped online or visited the mall the night before.
Then the deals continue with another unofficial shopping holiday: Cyber Monday for online deals. It happened outside stores on the upper level of the mall. “I like coming out with my friends”, Kate Serna said.
Shopper Karen Ortega said she knows exactly what she will be purchasing.
“My mom and my sister and I go out and it’s kind of a girls’ thing for us”, she said inside Best Buy, a basket full of music and DVDs under one arm. At a mall in Louisville, Kentucky on Thanksgiving night, shoppers punched each other-and knocked a woman to the floor-as they fought in a packed food court. But more importantly, she needed a snow globe.
What did not surprise me at Concord Mills were the dozens of people sleeping on mall benches and the long line at Starbucks at a little after 6 a.m. What did surprise me was the relative ease with which I navigated the parking lot and mall.
“Shoppers are researching products ahead of time, targeting their store visits, and arriving in-store with the intention of making a purchase”, Kearns said.
She said the deals were just too good to pass up. It could be that they’ve take the advice that it’s better to stay at home and shop online?
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Here’s the Guardian offering that ray from the UK: “Black Friday gets off to a calm start across the UK”. Overall, the trade group estimated about 135.8 million people will be shopping during the four-day weekend, compared with 133.7 million previous year.
