But the masses who do shop the holiday appear to have made for a muted Black Friday.
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“I don’t like it because it takes away from stuff, but I did it because I needed a “Frozen” princess bike”, shopper Brooke Dresel said. JC Penney opened at 3 a.m.to a line waiting at the doors. Staff was asked to volunteer to work on Thanksgiving for double pay, starting at 3 p.m., said Store Manager Bjourn Glover.
“We usually shop the day after Thanksgiving every year – it’s always been a fun thing to do while my family is still in town”, Bingham said.
Cheryl Bingham, 38, was shopping with her two sisters at Atlas Park, where she said she was relieved to see fewer people filling the stores. A mall spokesman said he and his staff expected an influx of shoppers early Friday morning, which never came.
Saks Fifth Avenue pulled up its Black Friday sale to Wednesday to get a jump start to the holiday shopping season. “There’s just a couple video games I’m looking for”.
“As early as the day before Thanksgiving, retailers rolled out the red carpet for their customers with uniquely-timed offers on electronics, apparel, sporting goods, toys and more”, Shay stated.
Scott Tuhy, vice-president at Moody’s who tracks companies like Macy’s Inc, said crowds on Thursday evening in New Jersey were steady but not busy.
Millions of Americans left their Thanksgiving meals to hit stores across the country in an annual shopping ritual, but the crowds on early Black Friday morning were thinner than years past at some malls and shopping districts. “That way you don’t have to mail it and return it and wait”, shopper May Bermudez said.
Customers were issued one of seven “doorbuster deal” tickets when they arrived outside the store, then when the doors opened at 5 p.m., buyers went to designated places in the store to purchase the particular items they were seeking.
As the battle for holiday sales heats up between retailers and online players likeAmazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), early reads on the Black Friday kickoff to the holiday shopping season signal that online traffic is poised to outpace traditional in-store sales by a wide margin. Shoppers aren’t the only ones cashing in. But if you’re up for a shopping challenge, the British Black Friday will be right up your street.
For Chip Gentry of Atlanta, it was his first time shopping at stores on Black Friday instead of online.
The four-day holiday period plays a key role in determining the outlook for merchants.
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While the store was offering sales through Friday and into Saturday, she said it’s not necessarily the prices that bring customers in.
