Who says Black Friday isn’t what it used to be? Certainly not the people around Dawsonville.
On Saturday, Visit Dawsonville, Georgia, posted a Friday picture of the outlets mall in the town. And at least one employee of one of the stores at the mall weighed in with this:
“…Black Friday is a tradition for a lot of customers to come out and shop. We see families of multi generations out and about.
If you go shopping on this day know yes you will be sitting in traffic, yes you will be waiting in a line to enter a lot of stores, yes things you are looking for will be sold out , and yes parking will be bad.
This mall is the busiest outlet mall in Georgia, we see visitors on Black Friday from different states coming to visit stores that are no where else around Atlanta, or at least all in one location.
Not just on Black Friday but every shopping day this holiday season the most important thing to remember is Be Nice to the retail and food industry. Days are long and it’s crowded, but we do appreciate all your business.”
And then there’s this from SRN NEWS/AP:
Black Friday no longer tempts people to leave Thanksgiving tables for midnight mall runs, but the annual sales event still brings more shoppers into stores than any day of the year and still rules as the U.S. retail industry’s unofficial start of the holiday shopping season.
This year’s kickoff arrived as consumer confidence in the U.S. economy fell this month in the aftermath of the federal government shutdown, weak hiring and stubborn inflation, according to a report The Conference Board issued Tuesday.
Many retail executives have reported customers becoming more discerning and increasingly focused on deals while at the same time remaining willing to splash out for important occasions like the start of the school year and the winter holidays, creating a halo effect.
“Consumers have been saying the economy is terrible while continuing to spend for years now, so the outlook is probably better than they are telling us,” Bill Adams, the chief economist at Comerica Bank, said this week of shoppers’ moods heading into Black Friday. “But business surveys also report consumers are being more sensitive to prices and selective in spending.”
At Macy’s Herald Square flagship store in New York City, a steady stream of shoppers went hunting for deep discounts on clothes, shoes, linens and cosmetics soon after the store’s 6 a.m. opening. Among the busiest sections was footwear, which was 40% to 50% off.
But unlike past years, when customers snatched boxes from big stacks, the mood was calm.