Shoppers turning out for Black Friday deals
As sun peeks onto Black Friday in CT, shoppers turning out for deals
As the sun peeked through overcast skies on Black Friday, Connecticut shoppers began turning out in force in the afternoon hours for the final stretch of the holiday shopping drive, grabbing deals where they could find them to take the pinch out of record inflation households have endured for much of 2022.
In the 2 p.m. hour at Danbury Fair, outlying parking spaces were still available but the mall was packed inside from Primark
to Macy’s, and lines forming outside some stores. As in past years, a significant percentage of vehicles were bearing New York plates, with the mall a destination for shoppers from Westchester and Putnam counties just to the west.
At the opposite end of Connecticut in Mystic at Bank Square Books, manager Emily Denis said there was ample foot traffic on West Main Street in the afternoon hours, with many people choosing to buy there rather than online.
“It’s been pretty busy,” Denis said. “We have a lot of people who come in and say that they would rather support us than Amazon. It’s a lot of locals, but it’s a lot of the tourists too.”
Retailers had seen a mixed bag in the morning hours across Connecticut. Not long after opening early Friday morning, the Westfarms mall on the Farmington-West Hartford line was bustling, with Aerie, Garage and Pacsun among the stores getting significant action — along with Starbucks as shoppers got their caffeine fixes for the morning rounds.
“We get all of the Christmas presents done today,” said Genevieve Bielanos of Oxford, at Westfarms on Friday morning. “When you come on a special day with special deals and special discounts, that’s when you feel you’re getting a good buy.”
In Norwalk, a small line of people were waiting for the doors of Costco to open prior to 9 a.m., but a little further up Connecticut Avenue Walmart was bustling with shoppers emerging with full carts, and Darinor Plaza anchored by Kohl’s was bustling.
At the Main Avenue Walmart on the Wilton line, however, the parking lot was only half full, with even fewer shoppers at Marshalls and Bed Bath & Beyond on Westport Avenue — illustrating an uneven start to Black Friday, but with many analysts and retail managers projecting a strong holiday season by historic standards.
The National Retail Federation is projecting anywhere from a 6 percent to 8 percent increase in retail sales for this year’s holiday season, a slower pace of growth than last year’s rebound after COVID-19 closures and limitations on store capacity, but edging closer to the $1 trillion milestone for seasonal sales.
“While inflation is most certainly weighing heavy on the minds of shoppers, our traditional retail categories — beauty, apparel, accessories, jewelry, shoes, and electronics — have seen much less of an uptick than groceries, travel, fuel, or energy,” stated Dan Stolzenbach, general manager of Stamford Town Center, in an email response to a CTInsider query. “Retailers have plenty of inventory and we’re seeing strong demand across the board. Black Friday also provides a great opportunity to take advantage of substantial promotional savings, which help to offset any of the inflationary effects on these products.”
On Greenwich Avenue, foot traffic was light amid the morning raindrops. But the manager of Shoes ‘N’ More said if anyone is spending less this year than in 2021, they are coming in with target items on their list, while appreciating extras like free gift wrapping.
“They’re very helpful in here,” said Eva Moore of Greenwich, a first-year student at Pennsylvania State University, who came in for gloves and snow boots. “There are lot of options. It’s not as hectic and crowded as I expected it to be on a Friday.”
Westport parking spaces were filling fast at midmorning, with stores seeing solid activity including at the apparel and gift shop Savvy+Grace where owner Annette Norton is in negotiations for a new lease after opening on Main Street five years ago. Norton said she does not expect this year’s sales to match the post-pandemic boom of 2021, but said it will be a strong season regardless.
“Always, our best week is the week of Christmas,” Norton said. “Not only last minute shoppers, but you get the people who did not get the right thing that they ordered online, or they get an email saying it’s not coming before Christmas.”
In Windsor, Target had yet to draw crowds in the morning hours, with the electronics section seeing more action than other departments. But one area was notably booming — a section where employees processed online orders.
Customer traffic was relatively light at The Connecticut Post Mall during the mid-morning hours, in line with where they were last year according to Ken Sterba, general manager. But Sterba said shopping patterns have changed during the pandemic.
“You don’t have that door buster traffic any more with people lining up to get the best deals,” Sterba told CTInsider. “Now retailers are offering Black Friday discounts over longer periods of time. It’s just a different atmosphere than it was pre-COVID.”
At the We All Can Win pop-up shop on the mall’s upper level, Melissa Francis of Hamden and Felician Nyame of Bridgeport are offering merchandisers table space for the holiday season, with hours running Friday through Sunday.
“Today started out slow, but we’re hoping crowds will pick up later today and people will see what we have to offer,” Francis said.
Customer foot traffic in New Haven’s Chapel Street shopping district was light on Black Friday. That’s not a surprise to Tom Maloney, whose high end Ragz New Haven clothing store has been in business for 38 years.
“New Haven doesn’t have one big shopping draw,” Maloney said. “The strength of New Haven (retail) is the whole picture.”
Ragz New Haven is offering a promotion where customers spending $500 get a $100 gift card. And customers who spend $1,000 get a$500 gift card.
“With the merchandise we have here, that’s not too hard to do,” Maloney said of reaching the gift card threshold. “It’s been pretty busy in here today. My philosophy is it’s not how many people come into the store, it’s who comes in.”