The four-day weekend marks the unofficial start of the year-end retail frenzy.
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Both kinds of customers were at the Mall of America in Minnesota – which was closed on Thanksgiving this year – on Friday morning. Caldwell said they were able to save almost $200, and as of 8:30 a.m. Friday morning, they were still planning on seeing what else they might be able to find.
CBS4’s Donna Rapado spoke with shoppers.
“I have seen better deals this year than last year”, he said”. “It’s pretty moderate I guess, nothing special, nothing excessive”. The mall was full today. “Retailers know consumers are spreading out their holiday budgets to shop throughout the season”.
Not only will you find great prices on the items you want, we’ve also secured substantial availability of these products to meet demand.
Still, the largest mall operators, Simon Property Group Inc. and General Growth Properties Inc. haven’t made plans to close on Thanksgiving, nor have major department-store anchors that typically drive early traffic.
The popularity of Black Friday has been on the wane over the past couple of years as more stores open earlier – even on Thanksgiving – and online retailers offer Black Friday-type deals year-round. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Monday that it’s kicking off its so-called “Cyber Monday” deals at 12:01 a.m. EST Friday for the first time ever as it aims to grab customers ahead of its competitors.
Bree Colley, 30, said she planned to go to Columbia Mall in Missouri on Friday with her mom in their yearly tradition. She was out with friends Skylar Paradiso and Kennedy Jeffrey.
Two years ago, U.S. News & World Report suggested that customers might actually save more money during the weeks leading up to the big day.
Tanya Jordan started shopping for herself Friday after buying for others Thursday night.
The new PS4 Pro offers an extra slice of console and some noticeably better-looking in-game visuals compared to its predecessor.
“It was so cold but my sister and I have been doing this for about 10 years now”, said Bortz.
Seminole Town Center’s general manager said the shopping center wasn’t as packed this Black Friday, but he attributes that to opening doors on Thanksgiving. “I bought a small kitchen appliance yesterday”, she said. “I like it”, Henson said.
Target Corp. and other brick-and-mortar chains are counting on heavier discounts and a bigger online selection to help keep up with Amazon.com Inc. this holiday season.
After what appeared to be a strong turnout for Thanksgiving sales, some early morning reports indicate that traffic to malls may be slower on Black Friday than past year as retailers spread the deals out throughout the week. As it turns out, this year’s version of the holiday shopping bonanza is breaking online records.
Black Friday is one of the biggest shopping days of the year, but it has expanded in recent years.
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By Thanksgiving evening, online spending by U.S shoppers reached $1.13 billion for the day, according to Adobe Digital Index, surging nearly 14 percent from a year ago.
