CHICAGO (CBS) — After filling up on turkey and stuffing on Thanksgiving, Black Friday shoppers headed to the stores to find the best bargains to kick off the holiday shopping season.
Black Friday is the Super Bowl for shopping, and at Orland Square Mall, a cozy indoor shopping center and promises of good deals helped attract a crowd early on.
Well before sunrise, eager shoppers were looking for Black Friday deals. By the time the doors opened at 6 a.m., there were already lines of waiting customers in the mall’s department stores.
Mall management said in-person shopping still exists, but it just looks different with the growth of online shopping.
Shoppers don’t choose between online and in-person shopping. They use both, often simultaneously, in ways that complement each other. They want convenience, but they also want to touch and see what they are buying.
“I think today’s shopper and the retailer have kind of figured it out and learned that there’s a great symbiosis between online shopping and in-person shopping. And I think the shoppers that 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,” said General Manager Jeff Burnett.
Burnett said Orland Square has seen more traffic in the run-up to Black Friday, in part because there is one less week between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year than in 2023 — so time is of the essence.
“People want to go shopping IRL in real life so they can touch, feel and see the things they’re going to buy, and take them with them that day. So our trends are on the rise right now. in terms of mall traffic and sales, actually , because people are out in full force,” he said.
The days of fighting in big box stores or department stores for a flat screen TV or Tickle Me Elmos in electronics stores or department stores are soon over, but the tradition of going to the mall to shop the day after Thanksgiving is still alive and well. and good.
