Black Friday shoppers hit the malls to hunt for bargains
CHICAGO (CBS) -- After filling up on turkey and stuffing on Thanksgiving, shoppers headed out on Black Friday to hunt down the best bargains at stores for the kickoff of the holiday shopping season.
Black Friday is the Super Bowl for shopping, and at Orland Square Mall, a warm indoor shopping center and promises of good deals brought crowds out early.
Well before dawn, eager shoppers were fueling up for Black Friday deals. By the time doors opened at 6 a.m., the mall's department stores already had lines of waiting shoppers.
Mall management said in-person shopping is still around, it just looks different with the growth of online shopping.
Shoppers aren't choosing between online and in-person shopping. They're using both, often at the same time, in ways that complement each other. They want convenience, and they also want to touch and see what they're buying in person.
"I think today's shopper and the retailer have kind of figured out and learned that there's a great symbiosis between online shopping and shopping in person. And I think the shoppers who come here are still on their phones, they're still looking for those deals, and they're using that technology to get the best deal here at Orland Square Mall," general manager Jeff Burnett said.
Burnett said, in the lead-up to Black Friday, Orland Square has seen more foot traffic increase, in part because there's one less week between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year than 2023—so time is of the essence.
"People are wanting to come out and shop IRL, in real life, so that they can touch and feel and see the things that they're going to purchase, and take it with them that day. So our trends are trending up right now in terms of mall traffic and sales, actually, because people are out in full-force," he said.
So gone are those days of fighting at big box stores or department stores over a flat-screen TV or Tickle Me Elmos at electronics stores or department stores, but the tradition of coming out to the mall to shop on the day after Thanksgiving is still alive and well.