Crowds head to South Shore Plaza in Braintree for Black Friday deals
BRAINTREE - The Black Friday rush hit like years of old across Massachusetts, and in particular at South Shore Plaza in Braintree. The parking lots were full, and the stores had lines into the late hours of the morning.
"We had people when we unlocked the doors at 5 a.m. People started coming in, stores opened at six," said Allen Smith, General Manager at South Shore Plaza Mall. "It's absolutely what we expected. It's what we got ready for leading up to today. Over the years, I have talked to a lot of customers, it's tradition for people."
"It's always packed on Black Fridays," said shopper Tommy McRamen.
This year Simon Malls launched a new feature called "Simon Search" that allows customers to see if the stores in the mall actually have stock in the items they are looking for.
Being prepared is key to conquering Black Friday. We spoke with a group of women who believe they have the team in place to tackle the holiday shopping spree. The group of friends and family have been doing the same routine for 20 years, and the group grows as their children reach 18 years old. They all show up when the mall opens, and park their cars strategically around the mall. The group meets together and goes store by store. No one can leave a store until everyone is done. When they have too many bags, they drop them off at the closest parked car. At the end of the night, they pull all of the cars together and figure out who the bags belong to.
"[She made the rules.] My mom is 105, and she is sitting at home right now and she didn't come out with us today," said one of the Black Friday Girls. "We could be here for 12 hours, and we could do half of the mall because we wait for each other."
