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BUSINESS Saturday 24 November 2018
A25

Black Friday shoppers ditch their computers, flock to stores

By JOSEPH PISANI Mr. Potato Head I've ever
ANNE D'INNOCENZIO seen."
Associated Press At the same mall, Rhonda
NEW YORK (AP) — It would Ross and Cyndi Jenkins
have been easier to turn on booked a hotel room for
their computers over plates Thursday night to maximize
of leftover turkey and take their shopping experience.
advantage of the Black They knew they wanted to
Friday deals most retailers buy the Nintendo Switch
now offer online. for their 11-year-old sons,
But across the country, but otherwise just planned
thousands of shoppers to look around and spend
woke up before dawn the time together. Every year,
day after Thanksgiving to they leave the kids with
take part in this most fa- their husbands and come
mous ritual of American out to shop.
consumerism. "We're not run-over-peo-
Shoppers lined up out- ple, die-hard shoppers,"
side the Mall of America said Jenkins, a nurse from
in Bloomington, Minnesota Lucasville, Ohio.
by 4 a.m., and the crowd By mid-day Friday, there
had grown to 3,000 people had not been widespread
by the time doors opened reports of the deal-inspired
at 5 a.m. In Ohio, a group chaos that has become
of women was so deter- central to Black Friday lore
mined, they booked a ho- — fist fights over discount-
tel room Thursday night to ed televisions or stampedes
be closer to the stores. In toward coveted sale items.
New York City, one woman People wait in line to buy televisions as they shop during an early Black Friday sale at a Best Buy Two men at an Alabama
store on Thanksgiving Day Thursday, Nov. 22, 2018, in Overland Park, Kan.
went straight from a dance Associated Press mall got into a fight, and
club to a department store one of the men opened
in the middle of the night. ing the first half of 2018 at jor effort to come to the didn't have a specific list fire, shooting the other man
Many shoppers said Black the strongest pace in four store," said Laura Duncan, of must-get items this year; and a 12-year-old bystand-
Friday shopping is as much years, yet retail sales gains a 39-year-old preschool they just enjoy the time to- er, both of whom were
about the spectacle as it is have tapered off recently teacher and mother of gether. taken to the hospital with
about doorbuster deals. and the pace of home- three from Costa Mesa, Retailers have also been in- injuries. Police shot and
Kati Anderson said she buying has fallen outright. California. She was drawn troducing new technology killed the gunman. Authori-
stopped at Cumberland The sales totals over the to the mall Friday morning to make it easier to shop ties have not said whether
Mall in Atlanta Friday morn- next month will be a good for the deals, and for the inside their stores. Walmart the incident was related to
ing for discounted clothes indicator as to whether quiet of shopping without has a new digital map on Black Friday shopping or if
as well as "the people consumers simply paused her still-sleeping kids. its mobile app so shoppers it stemmed from an unre-
watching." Her friend, Katie to catch their breath or if Adobe Analytics, which can find an item's exact lated dispute.
Nasworthy, said she went they feel slightly less opti- tracks online retail spend- location in the store. The "It's really not that crazy this
to the mall instead of shop- mistic about the economy ing, reported Thursday that Kohl's app lets customers morning," said Clif Norwine,
ping online because she in 2019. Thanksgiving should reach take photos of products as he looked out over the
likes to see the Christmas The National Retail Federa- a record $3.7 billion in on- anywhere and find similar Galleria Dallas mall from
decorations. tion, the nation's largest re- line retail sales, up 29 per- items at the department an upstairs balcony. Nor-
"It doesn't really feel like tail trade group, is expect- cent from the same year store. And customers, frus- wine says he comes out to
Christmas until now," said ing holiday retail sales in ago period. trated with long checkout Black Friday in part for the
Kim Bryant, who considers November and December Black Friday has morphed lines, can check out at sales, but also for the fam-
the day the official kickoff — excluding automobiles, from a single day when Walmart and other stores ily tradition and the people
of the holiday shopping gasoline and restaurants people got up early to with a salesperson in store watching. Shoppers below
season, though retailers — to increase as much as score door busters into aisles. drifted peacefully, set to
have been offering deals 4.8 percent over 2017 for a whole month of deals. Target reported that shop- a soundtrack of holiday
for weeks. Bryant was shop- a total of $720.89 billion. Many major stores, includ- pers bought big ticket music.q
ping at a mall in suburban The sales growth marks a ing Walmart, Best Buy and items like TVs, iPads, and
Denver with her daughter slowdown from last year's Macy's, start their block- Apple Watches. Among
and her daughter's friend, 5.3 percent, which was the buster deals on Thanksgiv- the most popular toy deals
who lined up at 5:40 a.m., largest gain since 2010. But ing evening, which has were Lego, L.O.L. Surprise
then sprinted inside when the figure is still healthy. thinned out the Friday from MGA Entertainment
the doors opened at 6 a.m. The retail economy is also crowds. and Mattel's Barbie. It said
"We felt the need to run tilting steeply toward online But some families stick by gamers picked up video
in because everyone else shopping. Over the past their Black Friday traditions. game consoles like Nin-
was running," Bryant's 12 months, purchases at "We boycotted Thursday tendo Switch, PlayStation 4
daughter, Kelly, said. non-store retailers such as shopping; that's the day for and the Xbox One.
The holiday shopping sea- Amazon have jumped 12.1 family. But the experience Others reported stumbling
son presents a big test for a percent. Meanwhile, sales on Friday is just for fun," said onto more obscure savings.
U.S. economy, whose over- at traditional department Michelle Wise, shopping At a Cincinnati mall, Betha-
all growth so far this year stores have slumped 0.3 at Park Meadows Mall in ny Carrington scored a $29
has relied on a burst of con- percent. Denver with her daughters, all-in-one trimmer for her
sumer spending. Americans "There's major deals online 16-year-old Ashleigh and husband's nose hair needs
upped their spending dur- so it's hard to make a ma- 14-year-old Avery. They and, for $17, "the biggest