Shoppers happily jump the gun on Black Friday
Late-night Thanksgiving sales launch holiday sprint
For many, this year’s Black Friday shopping extravaganza was an exercise in multitasking that began on Thanksgiving, grabbing for the drumstick with one hand and using the other to tap the smartphone to check out the deals.
Despite a sluggish economic recovery, Phoenix-area shoppers seemed eager to spend at the start of a compressed shopping season. With only 26 days from Black Friday to Christmas Eve, retailers launched their holiday deals earlier than ever on Thursday to squeeze in an extra day. Between bites of pumpkin pie, they indulged in the traditional shopping blitz until late Friday, with deals and high store traffic expected to continue today and Sunday.
Customers lined up at electronics stores, apparel stores, sporting-goods and toy stores and packed parking lots at centers across the region. Their radar tracked everything from tablet computers to toys, lingerie to footwear, high-definition TVs to ammunition.
It’s unclear whether the early openings on Thursday will lead shoppers to spend more over the two days or sim-
ply spread sales between Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday.
Last year, sales on Thanksgiving reached $810 million, an increase of 55 percent from the previous year as more stores opened on the holiday, according to Chicago research firm ShopperTrak. But sales dropped1.8 percent, to $11.2 billion, on Black Friday.
Sales figures for this year’s Thanksgiving and Black Friday will trickle out over the next few days, but some big chains already were proclaiming early Friday morning that the holiday-shopping season was off to a successful start.
U.S. holiday spending is expected to hit $268 billion this year, up 3.4 percent from a year ago, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers.
An estimated 33 million shoppers nationally were expected to be out on Thanksgiving, according to the National Retail Federation. Nearly three times as many, 97 million, were expected to shop on Black Friday.
At Cabela’s in Glendale, Matt Pearson held aloft a Browning X-Bolt Medallion rifle he won before dawn on Friday, where more than 1,500 shoppers were lined up when the doors swung open at 5 a.m.
Pearson, 20, of Flagstaff, was one of 600 who got door prizes ranging from $5 gift cards to the new $799 rifle, a $399 GoPro camera and a $349 meat smoker at the big-box outdoor store. “My dad dragged me out here,” said Pearson, who waited about eight hours in line. “I didn’t expect to win anything, but it worked out.”
Pearson, a Northern Arizona University junior, was one of tens of thousands of shoppers who started the holiday-shop- ping season on Thursday, several hours earlier than the usual Black Friday start.
Some put off their Thanksgiving Day meals and hit the stores at record-early times.
Daniela Arteaga, who lives in central Phoenix, traveled to Toys “R” Us to get a Polaroid tablet for her 2-year-old son, Andres.
“It looks really fun for kids,”she said.
When she arrived at 4 p.m. Thursday, there were only about 30 people in line.
“I think most came late,” she said.
Rita Brooke of Scottsdale, a seasoned Black Friday shopper of 15 years, was on a mission to score deals with her daughter, Angela Gyde, and their friend JoEllen Stoll of Las Vegas.
They started shopping at 5 p.m. Thursday at Walmart in Cave Creek and hit Target, Bath & Body Works, Michaels, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Kohl’s and two Toys “R” Us stores by early Friday. They stopped to unload their haul of gifts from their SUV and were back out at Scottsdale Fashion Square after 2 a.m., waiting in line to get into the Victoria’s Secret store.
“It wasn’t that good this year,” Brooke said, lamenting the earlier store openings spread out over two days. “It’s not like it used to be for the trueblue Black Friday shoppers.”
Fashion Square, which opened at 8 p.m. Thursday with Macy’s and 15 other stores kicking off the shopping spree, was a festive place in the early hours of Black Friday. The state’s largest mall, with nearly 200 stores, was busy with teenagers making up roughly threequarters of the shoppers.
Teens were dancing outside the Microsoft store to an Xbox One video game on a largescreen TV. Others streamed into Abercrombie & Fitch, where a shirtless A&E model was showing off his ripped abs and posing for photos.
A new wine bar near the
‘‘ It wasn’t that good this year. It’s not like it used to be for the true-blue Black Friday shoppers.”
RITA BROOKE A Black Friday shopper, lamenting the earlier store openings spread out over two days
Fashion Square food court served shoppers until closing time early Friday.
Steve Helm, Fashion Square property manager, said the mall had twice as many shoppers this year from 8 p.m. Thursday to midnight as it did last year from midnight to 6 a.m. on Black Friday. He estimated that up to 80,000 shoppers would visit Fashion Square this year on Black Friday. “It’s what customers want,” Helm said of the earlier store openings on Thanksgiving, which he predicted will become the norm.
Across town in Glendale, Enrique Mendez, Cabela’s general manager, who said 15,000 to 17,000 shoppers visited the outdoors store on Black Friday last year, retreated to a safe perch above the sales floor before the doors opened at 5 a.m. and thousands of shoppers streamed in from the chilly night air.
Shoppers started lining up at Cabela’s at 10 p.m. Monday to get vouchers for 600 door prizes.
Joshua Gordon, 30, got there Thursday night after traveling from his home near the Grand Canyon and won a $399 GoPro camera. Heis a guide for Hualapai River Runners and said he will use the wearable camera while paddling on the Colorado River.
Amber Schiedel, 20, of Glendale, and her friend Caryn Tolman, 23, of Chandler, were first in line at Cabela’s and waited nearly 80 hours for the store to open. They had a random chance for the top prizes but ended up with only two $50 gift cards, a $5 gift card and some other token prizes for their effort.
Schiedel said it was fun, but she was disappointed with her prize. Still, she was set to do some shopping in a store full of camouflage, clothing and hunting and fishing gear.
“My sister wants a pink BB gun, and I’m going to get that for her,” she said.
Jason Whipple, 30, of Phoenix, waited in line at Cabela’s to buy a camping generator for $279, a $220 savings, and a $39.99 spotting scope for his rifle. He expected to spend about $700 at the store and was considering making a run to Bass Pro Shops in Mesa for some deals on clothing.
At Tanger Outlets Westgate, there were few shoppers in the pre-dawn hours of Black Friday. Tanger spokeswoman Kristy Jozwiak said there were lines late Thursday and early Friday at the H&M and Coach stores for some of the deals.
At Best Buy at Tempe Marketplace, customers snapped up doorbuster deals on electronics, particularly largescreen HDTVs and tablets, after the store opened at 6 p.m. Thursday.
Jon Pitchford of Mesa grabbed a 39-inch Samsung HDTV. “It’s going straight up on my wall,” he said.
Karen Curry of Ahwatukee Foothills was shopping with her mom, Joan Curry, for good prices on bedding at Kohl’s in Ahwatukee, which opened at 8 p.m. They were in the checkout line at 11:45 p.m., two hours after arriving at the store, although they hadn’t planned on shopping on Thanksgiving.
“We planned it over dinner,” Karen said.
“With a sudden, ‘Let’s do it,’ ” her mom added.