ON BLACK FRIDAY, SHOPPING’S A BREEZE
Virus, weather, early sales keep crowds small
Before sunrise Friday, a dozen socially distanced deal hunters waited under the bright lights of Kohl’s department store at the Forum shopping center.
The masked customers talked quietly under the cloudy sky while awaiting Black Friday’s kickoff in the age of COVID-19.
There was no stampede when the doors opened at 5 a.m.
San Antonio’s Black Friday 2020 was subdued, with fewer in-person shoppers, different store hours, COVID-19 precautions and plenty of discounts.
Most holiday shopping has shifted to online, said Venky Shankar, research director at the Center for Retailing Studies at Texas A&M University. Holiday retail sales are predicted to increase 3.6 to 5.2 percent, or by up to $760 billion, across the country compared to last year.
“Contrary to the fear that the pandemic might slow down sales this year, if anything, it has enhanced sales — particularly online sales,” he said. “The biggest beneficiaries are the ones that are offering curbside pickup, because people want to get delivery quickly.”
For many, the tradition and fun of shopping with friends or family endured despite the limitations imposed to slow COVID-19's spread.
“There's a whole morphing of Black Friday now into a fullfledged, multimonth holiday shopping,” Shankar said. “Lots of retailers started early deals from September onward, so there's been a flurry of activities even before Black Friday.”
He said in-person Black Friday shopping started waning several years ago with the advent of Cyber Monday, the online sales day on the Monday following Thanksgiving.
Once Cyber Monday exceeded Black Friday sales, he said, the shopping season began earlier.
“And the pandemic,” he added, “has accelerated the shift toward online and curbside pickup.”
Online holiday shopping, he said, is up 35 percent so far compared to last year, with 50 to 70 percent of sales made on mobile devices.
But some shoppers still want the bricks-and-mortar experience.
“You have to get up early to get the really good deals,” said Adriene Roberson, 51, from Mesquite.
She stood first in line with her son, Aaron, 22, outside of Kohl's. They'd arrived at 3:30 a.m.
For labor and Democratic Party leader Linda Chavez-Thompson, 76, and her daughter, Mari Ramirez, 55, Black Friday has been a family tradition. Yet, the big crowds of the past took some of the fun out of it.
This year, they're happy “just to get out of the house,” ChavezThompson said.
“There's not as many people” at Kohl's this Black Friday, said Heather Bellamy, 46, of San Antonio. “Usually the line goes all the way around the building.”
Bellamy and her daughter, Kiley Thomas, 17, arrived at 4 a.m. They brave the Black Friday crowds every year. On Friday morning, they were in and out of the store in 15 minutes after scoring some boots, a Snoopy T-Shirt and a Star Wars Monopoly game.
Destiny Lewter, 34, is her family's “hardcore shopper,” said her mother, Lorraine Guajardo, 52. Lewter usually shops on Thanksgiving Day as well as Black Friday, but stores remained closed on the holiday this year.
Their tradition is to draft a shopping “game plan” the night before, but this year they forgot their plan at home. They still found a pair of boots and $2.99 towels.
Light rain fell as Michele Mauden and Lora Boyce wheeled carts full of $3 pillows, and Joe Gest of Converse drove off with his two pairs of $30 New Balance sneakers.
“Unfortunately, because of this weather in Texas, there'll be a literal dampening of sales in the stores,” Shankar said.
At North Star Mall, Brenda Crawford, the mall's senior general manager, said the facility was prepared for shoppers during the pandemic.
“We're swimming in hand sanitizer,” she said.
Other measures include increased cleaning, a mask requirement and an occupancy cap of 75 percent.
“We haven't gone over 75 percent” occupancy, she said.
The mall uses electronic traffic counters, closed circuit television and security to enforce the policies.
Crawford also said the mall gave merchants the option to use an electronic waiting-list app called Spot Holder. About 30 percent of the mall's stores opted in on the program, which allows customers to use their mobile devices to sign up to receive a text message when they can enter the store.
“We want people to be safe, comfortable and have fun,” she said. Shopping at the mall “looks pretty normal except everyone is wearing a mask.”
Pepe Esquivel, 43, and his son, Jacob, 18, stood near the front of the line at North Star's Game Stop. They showed up at 4 a.m. in search of the XBox Series X gaming console.
The younger Esquivel ran in and got the “golden ticket” for the last of four systems the store had in stock.
“I'm going to open it up as soon as I get home,” he said.
Video game consoles are the top sales item this year because the Xbox Series X, PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch 2 all are coming out at roughly the same time, Shankar said.
He also sees high demand for casual apparel because “people are not buying formal anymore,” partly because so many still are working from home.
Rhys Kimmel of Magnolia was in town with his girlfriend vacationing on the River Walk. They trekked to North Star to visit the Lego Store. He wanted one item: the 9,036-piece Roman Colosseum, the biggest Lego set ever sold.
“I didn't realize how big it was. It'll probably take three days to put together, outside of work and everything,” the lifelong fan of the interlocking plastic bricks said. “My girlfriend just shook her head.”
The Lego Store had 25 of the kits, which debuted Friday and cost $549.99.
“I can't wait to build it,” the 30year-old said. “I might get my 3year-old son involved.”
Nearby, Rachel Durell, 28, manager of It'Sugar specialty candy shop, pulled coverings off displays as she opened her store.
She said business has thrived at North Star, but has struggled at the It'Sugar's Shops at RiverCenter location during the pandemic.
“We're hoping for good business today, but outside it's deader than dead,” she said. “Black Fridays have been on the decline for the past several years.”