Shoppers seize day with Black Friday deals

Some said the prices shown online weren’t the Black Friday deals that Walmart had promised in ads for the holiday.

At Academy Sports + Outdoors, celebrating its first Black Friday in Johnson City after opening in April, the line stretched around the building before the doors opened.

For this shopper who drove from Holdenville for Black Friday in the metro, she has this advice for shoppers battling more winter weather this weekend.

“It did go very well”, said Candice Freeland, marketing director at Kentucky Oaks Mall.

Still, the day after the holiday remains the more popular day to go to the mall. American holiday shoppers are expected to spend almost $600 each on gifts this year, and more than $800 each on all holiday items, including decorations.

That has led to the “graying” of Black Friday. However, with Thanksgiving comes one of the biggest shopping weekends of the season, and thousands of Nevadans are spending the final days before the holiday planning their strategy for getting the best deals retailers have to offer. Black Friday, the day that brings an avalanche of deals and discounts from retailers around the country, should have something for everyone, whether you courageous the crowds in a store or browse from the comfort of your home.

“We’ve been doing this a long time, at least five or six years”, Williams said.

Past Black Fridays have seen deaths and injuries from stampedes by eager shoppers.

Aside from a change of behavior, there has also been a discernible slowdown in retail sales data reported by the U.S. Census Bureau the past few years.

Vanessa Murphy, 8 News NOW Reporter: “What do you like about it?” According to this report, 20 punches were counted in a mall in Louisville.

Overall the trade group estimates about 135.8 million people will be shopping during the four-day weekend. The National Retail Federation is expecting holiday sales to rise 3.7 percent, slower than last year’s 4.1 percent growth rate, due to stagnant wages and sluggish job growth.

The Macy’s Inc store at Water Tower Place mall in Chicago saw thin crowds in the early hours of Friday after a fairly busy Thanksgiving evening, store associates said.

Yet again, trend experts say there’s no single item that’s making shoppers run to stores.

“We were the first mall in Trinidad and Tobago to host the Boxing Day sale and because that was so successful we made a decision to have this sale today”. The tablets, plus gaming consoles, TVs and movies were some of the retailer’s best sellers. It took eight minutes for all to enter the store.

The trio mapped out their early Friday morning plan of attack in advance using store ads. The store opened at 6 o’clock Thursday night.