Despite the push by retailers to offer Black Friday deals online before stores opened Thursday and Amazon even starting its deals a week early, the steady traffic – and in some cases crowds – at stores and malls across the country show that the death of America’s post-Thanksgiving shopping tradition is probably pretty far off. JC Penney opened at 3 a.m.to a line waiting at the doors.
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Albany’s Kohl’s was also filled with customers more than two hours after it opened at 6 p.m., as shoppers combed the aisles in search of deep discounts on a variety of items.
“We actually started our sale on Wednesday this year so that kind of calmed things down for [Friday]”, said Richard Angell, the store manager at RadioShack.
According to a press release from Target, the chain department store saw record-setting online sales and strong in-store sales nationwide this week.
While Chelmowski and others were vying for deals at Kohl’s Thanksgiving night, hundreds of other shoppers were at Albany’s Target, hoping to find similar bargains. Black Friday, which traditionally is the biggest shopping day of the year, nearly looked like a normal shopping day.
Of course it wouldn’t be Black Friday without the madness.
Meanwhile, for those who didn’t feel like joining the throngs today, there’s always tomorrow – some retailers say they’ll keep the deals coming for a few days more.
Hours after the Black Friday deals began, customers are still rushing to stores to do their shopping.
“But I wanted to get it in my hands the day of”, he said.
Shoppers we spoke with said they were happy with the deals they were finding.
That has hurt Black Friday sales in previous years, a trend analysts expect will continue this year.
Crowds in some malls and shopping districts were thinner than normal on Friday, according to initial reports from both Reuters and The Wall Street Journal.
“The price discounting has been creeping toward Halloween”, he said.
Tasha Clark cheers as she is welcomed by employees as she participates in Old Navy’s “Overnight Millionaire” during a Black Friday sale on Thanksgiving Day at Old Navy in San Francisco.
Monroeville Mall spokesperson Stacey Keating said shoppers are more likely to be in and out this year.
Target on Friday morning said traffic in its stores was “solid” on Thanksgiving, with millions of shoppers filtering into its stores throughout the evening.
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But it’s expected that more than three times the number of people who shopped on Thanksgiving will venture out to shop on the day after the holiday known as Black Friday. “It’s more of an experience because while you’re there on Cyber Monday you’re literally sitting at a computer”, said George Karidis of Holland, Pa. “It’s better to go around, and see what fits you”.
