Black Friday Shoppers Hit The Stores In Search Of Holiday Deals
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- It's Black Friday and that means shoppers are out in force at stores across the area with many getting an early start as they hunt for holiday bargains.
Black Friday has morphed from a single day when people got up early to score doorbusters into a whole season of deals, so shoppers may feel less need to be out. But many still love the excitement, even if they've already done some of their shopping online.
Whether it's a family tradition of just taking advantage of sales, people just couldn't get enough at the Roosevelt Field Mall in Garden City.
"It's the best day of the year," one shopper said.
"Anything that sparkles and catches my eye," a man said. "I want to get out of the doghouse."
"We bought some toys for them, but they don't know yet," said another.
"They want remote control cars and Baby Alive," another shopper at the Newport Center Mall told CBS2's Magdalena Doris.
"I like to get something for poor people too, something to donate," another said.
Fabian Montinez pulled an all nighter working in Macy's.
"I'm just glad to go home and get some sleep," he said.
Friends Yeshica Jeffers and Stacey Rhodes-Sofer hit a Walmart early Friday.
"We always do it. It's a tradition," said Jeffers. "It's fun. It used to be a lot more fun before stores started opening on Thanksgiving."
Cars packed the parking lot of the Macy's at the Cross County Shopping Center in Yonkers early Friday morning.
"I got here at 6:30," one woman told 1010 WINS' Roger Stern. "Because I want to beat the rush."
Shoppers at the Livingston Mall were also out early.
"I'm a shopaholic so it's always fun," one woman told WCBS 880's Peter Haskell."
Shoppers at Queens Center Mall got a head start, rushing the shops after turkey dinner.
"We strategically planned it," said shopper Mark Farensbach. "The restaurant is over there and we knew we had a 1:30 reservation, we'd be done by 4 o'clock and we got over here at 4:15."
Before the doors even opened, crowds were clamoring for coupons outside.
"This line is just from TVs and Playstations," one shopper said.
Ana Morales was not messing around.
"I got a lot of stuff for my family," she said. "Sweaters, perfumes, coats."
"In Victoria's Secret, everything was buy-one-get-one-free and like 50 percent off. And Bath & Body Works, everything was buy three get three free," said Frances Hamid.
Nicholas Diaz bought some bags for himself.
In a study done by DealNews readers, 46 percent of men say they shop for themselves on Black Friday, compared to 29 percent of women. But CBS2 found no specific trend, just shopping, period.
Two young girls decided to spoil themselves.
"You know, deals are deals," one said.
In Manhattan, as soon as the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade ended, Macy's in Herald Square opened its doors to shoppers who still love the brick and mortar stores.
"Eighty-five percent of sales this holiday season will occur in a store," said CBS News financial contributor Mellody Hobson.
About 69 percent of Americans, or 164 million people, intend to shop at some point during the five-day period from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday, according to a survey released by the NRF. It expects Black Friday to remain the busiest day, with about 115 million people planning to shop then.
But the access and availability to deals from Thanksgiving night and all weekend long through Cyber Monday has cut out the often ugly parts of Black Friday shopping. You won't see anyone pushing and shoving at the mall. In fact, Amazon is expected to take half of consumers this holiday season.
By Thanksgiving night, Americans had already spent $1.5 billion online.
"Online has grown from just a mere 4 percent a decade ago to, clearly now during the course of a year, 14 percent to maybe 20 percent in different industries," Marshal Cohen, chief retail analyst at the NPD Group, told Haskell.
After hitting the stores, that's what Tito Rosario and his sister Julia plan to do.
"It makes it easier, at least we know what to start with," Rosario said. "Even if we don't buy it today."
While many will head to cyberspace to stock up this weekend, experts say 85 percent of shoppers will make a trip to the mall at least once.
"I love online, don't get me wrong, but when it comes to sizing, you just have to make sure it's the right size," said shopper Moia Perez.
And even as Black Friday was getting underway, retailers are already looking ahead to Cyber Monday.
Target says everything on its site will be 15 percent off on Monday, and it will offer discounts throughout the week on specific categories, such as 40 percent off towels and bedding on Tuesday. Amazon's deals on its gadgets were similar to its Black Friday ones, such as 40 percent off its voice-activated Echo Dot. But it added other deals, such as 30 percent off Lego sets and 50 percent off certain Hasbro toys, such as Nerf and Play-doh.
Walmart, meanwhile, says it has tripled the assortment of products it had online from last year. It'll offer thousands of deals, it says. Among them: 40 percent off a voice-activated Google Home Mini, $100 off the Barbie Hello Dreamhouse and $90 off the Xbox One S video console.
Shoppers are expected to spend $6.6 billion on Cyber Monday, up 16 percent from last year, according to Adobe Analytics.
To find the best deals, CBS Money Watch suggests using your smartphone.
With apps like Snip Snap, you can redeem coupons from your phone screen. Shopkick rewards you with free gift cards to places you already frequent and Flipp combines local circulars with store coupons in one place.
(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
