Beverly Jones, of Norwood, shopped with her sister, Debbie Schurgast, of Fairfield, at Liberty Center on Black Friday. But hours earlier, the two headed to major retailers like Target, Kohl’s and Walmart after an early Thanksgiving dinner.
“I liked it (better) years ago because we had Thanksgiving with the family, we got and went out to breakfast before we went shopping and we went to K-Mart, that was who opened first,” said Jones. “We probably got up at 5 (a.m.) … (stores) didn’t open until 7 (a.m.).”
More than 1,200 in line when Cabela’s opens for gun giveaway
Local shoppers told the Journal-News that Black Friday has become increasingly different each year as sales start several days earlier for some retailers and the option of online shopping becomes more popular.
In 2015, nearly 30 million people shopped on Thanksgiving — an increase from 2014 but down from the 45 million who shopped on the holiday in 2013.
Many people got a head start on their holiday shopping on Thanksgiving Day, as several retailers opened their doors as early as 3 p.m. on the holiday, but others bemoaned Black Friday losing its luster as it seeps into a day traditionally reserved for friends and relatives, not retail spending.
“We got a lot better deals when we started years ago,” Jones said. “It’s tradition for us. The last few years we said, ‘If they have it, they have it, but if they don’t, they don’t. We don’t worry about it.”
Mindy Hensley, of Monroe, said when retailers started opening their stores on Thanksgiving Day, “it just kind of took away from everything.”
“Used to be you’d get there at 6 in the morning and wait in line and everyone’s all excited and happy and whatever and you run in and it’s crazy but yet you’re trying to just find what you’re looking for,” she said. “Now it just seems like it’s just kind of, I don’t want to say a chore, but it’s more like you have to start way ahead of time trying to figure out where stuff is so you don’t not get it.”
More than 20 dozen Liberty Center stores opened Thursday and many stayed open overnight, with others opening at 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. Friday. Foot traffic outside standalone stores and inside the indoor shopping area known as The Foundry gained steam after 8 a.m., the center’s official opening on Black Friday.
Susan Pospischil, of West Chester Twp., stopped by Liberty Center’s Dillard’s, and said she likes that Black Friday is, in a way, extended a week earlier because some retailers have started offering doorbuster deals that far in advance.
“When you’ve got family coming in for four days, you don’t want to be in the crowds, so you can get your stuff done before they arrive,” she said.
Holiday sales nationwide are expected to exceed $655 billion this year, according to the National Retail Federation. Black Friday will still be the busiest shopping day of the season. A survey from the NRF found that 74 percent of consumers were expected to venture out.
Vehicles at Cincinnati Premium Outlets in Monroe on Friday morning filled large portions of the massive parking lot, which initially started filling well before the outlet mall’s stores opened at 6 p.m. Thursday. Many stores enjoyed a brisk morning business with a few — Michael Kors, Coach and Nike Factory Store — having customers line up outside the store to prevent overcrowding inside.
Denise Majikes, of Cleves, met up with co-worker Dea Moody, of Lebanon, at 8 a.m. Friday at the outlet mall to shop Talbots, Loft and Toys R Us.
Majikes, a Black Friday shopper of about 10 years, said the shopping day has changed in the past decade because back then “very specific items were on sale.”
“Now it seems like you go into a store and its 50 percent off everything in the store,” Majikes said, a statement easily evident via the plethora of signs at the outlet mall offering discounts of 50 percent or more on an entire store’s inventory.
Majikes said she also started via websites this year to save both time and money.
“Five o’clock in the morning you’d be in line and waiting, where now you can sit at home and just start buying stuff right online,” she said.
Moody said Black Friday shopping is worth it because “it’s just a lot of fun to get together with friends and co-workers and get out and enjoy the day.”
While stores opening on Thanksgiving Day means some people shop all night long, that’s something Tammi Hesselbrock said she was not willing to consider.
“Thanksgiving, the tradition is spent with families and you’re missing that,” Hesselbrock said.
The retailers that did remain closed on Thanksgiving Day saw sweeping lines when the doors finally opened. Some big names — including Barnes & Noble, Staples, hhgregg, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue and Dillard’s — were closed on the holiday, urging customers and employees to spend time with family. Those retailers promoted early morning hours for Black Friday.
Cabela’s in Centerville, which closed on Thanksgiving, had more than 1,200 customers in line when the doors opened at 5 a.m. Most of them had been there all night, equipped with propane heaters and blankets.
The store, located at 5500 Cornerstone North Blvd., advertised a giveaway of prizes, including gift cards, a firearm, a knife and a meat smoker. Some came out specifically for the chance to win free items. Nathan Brown, a resident of Wilmington, drove more than an hour to Cabela’s and was admittedly disappointed to only receive a $10 gift card.
“They said free gun, and I came running,” Brown said.
About 10 people camped out in line at the Cabela’s in West Chester Twp. just across the road from Liberty Center by 8 p.m. Thursday.
Jared Osborne, of Sharonville, stopped by with two friends. The shoppers said they planned to sit in foldable chairs for the night, and even brought a mini cornhole set to pass the time.
“I’m mostly here to get the AR-15,” said James Boyle, also of Sharonville.
Cabela’s gave away more than $800,000 in Black Friday gifts across the company’s participating U.S. retail locations.
Staff writer Kara Driscoll contributed to this report.
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BY THE NUMBERS
$655 billion: Estimated holiday spending in the U.S. this year.
$22 billion: Estimated holiday spending in Ohio.
137 million: Estimated number of people planning to shop this weekend.
Source: National Retail Federation
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