At 6 a.m., workers and shoppers gear up for Black Friday and offer some advice. Tim Shortt
Early shoppers — Black Friday’s ‘first responders’ — hit stores for the annual frenzy across the country, drawn by electronic, movie and toy deals, but some malls seemed less crowded this year, either because the bulk of buyers came and went on Thursday evening or opted to stay home and buy online.
Many who preferred the brick and mortar stores came looking for great deals. Others came for the buzz of holiday music and excited crowds. Still others hoped to use the Black Friday spotlight to press non-shopping issues, such as anger of the killing of a black teenager in Chicago or a raise in the minimum wage.
The annual Black Friday ritual played out nationwide:
• In Rehoboth Beach, Del., Black Friday hours at the Tanger Outlets were extended overnight. But the extra hours did little to abate the crowds of shoppers who filled the three shopping malls by mid-morning, many driving in circles for 20 minutes or more in search of parking.
• In Denver, at the upscale Cherry Creek Shopping Center , large crowds of mostly young women lined up outside H&M and the Victoria’s Secret Pink stores. As customary, H&M staff handed out coupons to the first people line. What was Krista Gwidt of Denver going to buy? “A hundred dollars of something,” she said with a smile, clutching her $ 100-off coupon.
At the Pink Store, about 30 mostly young women piled inside as the gate rolled up at 7 a.m. A few minutes later, Monica Nguyen, 17, and Mariah Vigil, also 17, strolled out, Vigil carrying a small pink Pink bag containing a jacket she planned to give her mom.
Vigil and Nguyen said they’d begun shopping on Thanksgiving at a different mall but Nguyen said Black Friday remains a special event: “It’s a fun tradition,” she said.
“I thought it was going to be more crazy,” added Vigil, a first-time Black Friday shopper. “People getting maced and stuff.”
• In Vauxhall, N.J., the fog-shrouded parking lot outside a Target was a virtual ghost town just after 6 a.m. Friday with less than two dozens cars. Inside, some aisles had more red-garbed store employees than customers.
Shoppers were ready for bargains.
“We didn’t know if they were open” said Noel Seeney of Springfield N.J., who has taken a Black Friday jaunt with her cousin, Dana Migliozzi, for 15 years. “We come for fun,” she said.
But Seeney said she appreciated the calm after the likely shopping storm the night before from the earliest bargain hunters. “It’s good because they start the night before,” she says, “so by the time we come, the aisles are clear and there’s no crowds.”
Migliozzi said she came without know what she wanted, adding: “It’s fun because you get ideas.”
Their red cart, which filled up during their visit, included $ 4.99 finger lights, and pajamas. Another purchase? Cups of hot coffee. “That’s the most important thing,” said Migliozzi.
Overall, the National Retail Federation expected about 30 million to shop on Thanksgiving, compared with 99.7 million on Black Friday. Overall, the trade group estimates about 135.8 million people will be shopping during the four-day weekend, compared with 133.7 million last year. And it expects sales overall for November and December to rise 3.7 percent to $ 630.5 billion compared with the same period last year.
Online sales on Thanksgiving increased 26% over last year, driven heavily by mobile devices, which accounted for 40% of online sales, according to IBM Watson Trend, which tracks spending by monitoring millions of transactions from retail websites.
Target saw record online sales on the holiday as it gave access to its Black Friday deals online early Thanksgiving morning. In-store traffic was in line or slightly above previous years, said spokeswoman Kate Decker. The retailer said it sold an iPad every second throughout the day on Thanksgiving. The tablets, plus gaming consoles, TVs and movies were some of the retailer’s best sellers. A $ 10 giant stuffed teddy bear sold out within minutes at some stores — Target deemed the plush toy a “surprise hit.”
Walmart also said that movies, toys, TVs and gaming systems were some of the top products sold. Some of the fastest trending products Thursday included NordicTrack treadmills, Toshiba Satellite laptops and Disney Princess legos, according to IBM Watson Trend, which also tracks tens of millions of online conversations through social media, reviews, blogs and comments.
After a disappointing third quarter performance, Macy's CEO Terry Lundgren says he's finally encouraged based on the retailer's Black Friday crowds. The Macy's Herald Square location had about 15,000 people clamoring to get inside when doors opened at 6 p.m. Thursday, which is about the same as last year. The Queens location had strong crowds through the early morning hours Friday.
While coat sales continue to be slow in the Northeast due to unusually warm weather, Lundgren says active apparel is a top Black Friday seller, as well as kitchen appliances and luggage.
After the flurry of sales activity Thursday — thanks to retailers offering earlier promotions and opening stores on the holiday — stores early Friday appeared relatively empty. Shortly after the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City mall in Arlington, Va., opened at 6 a.m., just a handful of people had gathered in the food court.
“We had a robust crowd here beginning at 6 o'clock last night,” said Todd Jerscheid, the mall’s marketing director.
One shopper in the food court, Ashley Nichols, had gone through Forever 21 and GameStop, but didn’t find anything she wanted to buy. She said she’ll shop again on Cyber Monday instead.
In New York City, Sabrina Rajkumar, 36, a writer from New York, started shopping with her stepmom at Macy's at 7:30 p.m. on Thanksgiving and was just wrapping up at 5:30 a.m. Friday. She found a $ 50 bedding set and a dress for her niece marked down to $ 25 from $ 74 and Godiva chocolates for $ 8, according to the Associated Press.
"I'm from New York and I've never done Black Friday before," she said. "We just wanted to experience the madness."
She said she didn't think she'd like it since she usually buys personalized gifts at places like Etsy, but she had fun. A highlight was free samples of espresso from machines on sale.
"It was crazy, not as crazy as I expected, but there were still a lot of folks there up to the wee hours," she said.
Even Thanksgiving crowds appeared more manageable in some cases. At Toys R Us in Times Square, traffic started to build later in the evening and lines were shorter than last year ahead of the store's 5 p.m. opening, said Dave Brandon, Toys R Us CEO.
"As the evening wore on we saw a real momentum build," he said. "We had pretty much the traffic we expected it just came in a little differently than past years."
Traffic Friday at the store has been picking up as the morning goes on, Brandon said.
Throughout the week, Toys R Us customers have gone after Hasbro's Pie Face game, Paw Patrol toys, plus Barbie and Lego. On Thursday, a kid-size Cadillac Escalade for $ 299.99 was particularly popular and one of the best sellers in terms of dollar value, Brandon said.
Walmart saw a steady stream of shoppers all day Thursday as many customers came in looking for last-minute Thanksgiving groceries, said Steve Bratspies, chief merchandising officer. Walmart said tens of millions of people shopped online and in stores Thursday. And not everyone was after pricier TVs and electronics typically popular during Black Friday sales. Movies on sale for $ 1.96 and board games at $ 4.88 were among top-sellers, Bratspies said.
In what has become something of a Black Friday tradition around the country, at least two punchouts were reported in Kentucky at separate shopping malls, one in Louisville and one in Florence, the New York Daily News reports.
The first took place Thursday night, with two men punching and slapping each other before knocking over a female shopper at Mall St. Matthews. A police officer finally broke up the melee, which was caught on social media.
The second incident occurred Friday morning, the Daily News reports, in a scuffle between a group of men, also caught on video. Security measures have been beefed up at many malls and stores to cope with the rush of crowds, particularly after a Walmart worker was trampled to death at a store on Long Island in 2008.
While shopping is the top draw for the annual event, in Chicago, protesters planned to gather to express their anger over the release of a police dash-cam video this week that showed a white Chicago police officer shooting a black teenager 16 times last year. The officer has been charged with first-degree murder in the case.
The third-day of planned protests was specifically planned for the Loop area to coincide with crowds of shoppers.
In New York City, Walmart workers and their supporters plan to protest outside the apartment of Alice Walton, daughter of Walmart founder Sam Walton. The protest will also conclude 15 days of fasting, organizers say. The number of days reflects the call for pay of $ 15 an hour and full-time work.
Organizers say more than 1,400 people will participate in the action nationwide.
Contributing: Cindy Huang, Charisse Jones in Vauxhall, N.J.; Trevor Huges in Denver; Scott Goss, in Rehoboth Beach, Del.
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