New Yorkers raced to stores this morning in a wild attempt to grab the best Black Friday deals in the Big Apple.
At the H&M on 34th Street, rowdy bargain hunters pushing on the doors forced the retailer to open an hour earlier than planned, at 4 a.m. instead of 5.
Shoppers had lined up with hopes of snagging promotional scratch-off tickets that the retailer was handing out to the first 100 shoppers. The scratch-off prizes ranged from $10 to $300 for shoppers to use in the store.
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One lucky shopper, 13-year-old Bronx native Banbe Kanoute, arrived at the store at midnight, and after battling the cold and frantic shoppers was rewarded when she landed one of the top prizes.
“People were pushing and jumping the line. It was cold, and I was squashed up, I couldn’t move; they pushed me forward. I got a scratch off; I was a bit nervous and didn’t want to open it. Then I did and I saw $300, and I screamed, ‘Oh, my God!’ I came here with $50 and now I have $350,” Kanoute said.
Some of the discounts at H&M ranged from dresses originally priced at $17.95 marked down to as low as $5 and peacoats going for as little as $20.
Another shopper, Vivian Au, 16, paid only $3.80 for a haul that included sweaters, scarves, t-shirts and hoodies while shopping with her sister.
“I got a $100 coupon. We spent only $3.80 because of the $100 scratch off, I was so lucky and we ended up buying more than we normally would, which is great,” Au said.
Other shoppers looking to score big were not so lucky, and the madness made one Bronx resident so angry, she vowed not to buy anything.
“I’m angry, yes. They pushed me, and I didn’t get a scratch off. I’m tired, and I sat there so long. I’m not buying anything,” said Madeline Pantoja, 19.
The hectic scene at H&M was a stark contrast from the calm setting at Uniqlo stores across Manhattan.
At all three locations, workers were greeting shoppers both inside and outside of the stores, where lines remained orderly and there was no pushing.
Paulina Gamiz, 21, arrived at 2 a.m. and said that the early wake-up was “worth it.”
“It’s better to get up early as things cost less, and as it gets later the discounts are less. I’m buying this coat for $129; it was $229. I’m excited because it’s a good find, and I had my eyes on it for a long time,” Gamiz said.
At Bloomingdale’s on 59th Street, savings-crazed shoppers flocked to the store for the “Brown Bag Sale” where consumers receive a $15 electronic gift card when they spend more than $100.
Yuya Sato, 23, was the among the first to arrive at Bloomingdale’s, which was the second stop on his Black Friday marathon.
“I’ve been here since 2 a.m. I went to Macy’s first, then here. I plan on buying a lot today, I want to get a lot of Polo and Ralph Lauren,” Sato said.
The line, which wrapped around the corner prior to the store’s 8 a.m. opening, also included Dinah Vazquez, 32, who left her three kids home with her husband in Queens to take advantage of the opportunity.
“I got up at 4 a.m. to come shopping with my best friend. I left my three kids home. My husband was grumpy but a girl only gets to do this a couple of times a year! I’m not Christmas shopping, this is all just for me,” Vazquez said.
A few violent incidents broke out in others areas across the county on Black Friday as thousands of shoppers lined up in the wee hours of the morning at Macy’s, Best Buy and other stores to get discounts of up to 70 percent on everything from toys to tablets.
Shoppers were mostly peaceful, but Los Angeles authorities say 20 people at a local Walmart store suffered minor injuries when a woman used pepper spray to gain a “competitive” shopping advantage shortly after the store opened on Thursday evening. In Fayetteville, NC, police are looking for two suspects after gunfire erupted early Friday at Cross Creek Mall. And police say two women have been injured and a man charged after a fight broke out at an upstate New York Walmart.
Adding to that, some Occupy Wall Street protesters in places like Chicago, Washington, DC and Boise, Idaho are planning flash mobs and other events to urge people to reconsider shopping at national chains on Black Friday.
Elsewhere, about 600 shoppers were in line at a Target store in Brooklyn in New York when it opened at midnight. By the time it opened at midnight, nearly 2,000 shoppers wrapped around a Best Buy store in St. Petersburg, Fla. And more than 9,000 people were outside the flagship Macy’s store in New York’s Herald Square at its midnight opening.
“I came here for the deals,” said Sidiki Traore, 59, from Roosevelt Island, N.Y. who bought three shirts for $50 at the Macy’s. He also went to Toys R Us for its 9 p.m. opening on Thanksgiving and bought three toys for $106 for his four-year-old son.
A record number of shoppers could head to stores across the country to take advantage of deals during the kickoff to the holiday shopping weekend. For three days starting on Black Friday, 152 million people are expected shop, up about 10 percent from last year, according to the National Retail Federation. That’s good news for retailers, many of which depend on the busy holiday shopping season for up to 40 percent of their annual revenue.
“It’s the literal, physical and emotional start to a very big period for us,” said Mike Vitelli, Best Buy’s president.
To draw in crowds, merchants pulled out of their bag of tricks. Some began offering to match the prices of competitors and rolling out layaway programs. Others like Best Buy, Abercrombie & Fitch, Target and Kohl’s opened at midnight. The Gap and Toys R Us even opened stores on Thanksgiving.
“It’s a good move to try to get shoppers to spend sooner, before they run out of money,” says Burt Flickinger, III, president of retail consultancy Strategic Resource Group.
The early store openings caused some backlash. Some employees at stores that were planning to open early signed online protests to get retailers to change their minds. Some shoppers also signed the online petition.
Still, about 34 percent of consumers plan to shop on Black Friday, up from 31 percent last year, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. And more people already are shopping online. By midday on Thanksgiving, online sales were 20 percent over results from the same period a year ago, according to data from IBM Coremetrics.
Black Friday shoppers say they were lured by the deals.
The Gap, for instance, is offering discounts of 20 to 60 percent on many items. Old Navy has pea coats for $29 and jeans for $15. Toys R Us is selling a Transformers Ultimate Optimus Prime action figure for $30 off at $47.99 and a Power Wheels Barbie vehicle for $120 off at $199.99. And Best Buy has a $400 Asus Transformer 10-inch tablet computer for $249.99.
Tammie Wills and her friend were up all night, starting out their Black Friday shopping at Toys “R” Us in Cary, N.C. around 9 p.m., then hitting Wal-Mart and Target before returning to Toys “R” Us for a second time. They were looking for the LeapFrog LeapPad, but it was sold out everywhere.
“It’s tiring but you save a lot of money,” said Wills, a stay-at-home mom
Nadia Mitchell, 33, a school teacher from Brooklyn for the past 10 years, stood in line at Target for four hours watching Netflix comedies on her smartphone to pass the time ahead of the store’s midnight opening. She was looking for deals on cameras, a vacuum, an ice maker and a new TV for her bedroom.
“It’s the cheapest time to buy stuff,” she says. She goes to buy electronics and appliances.
After showing up at Best Buy in New York on Wednesday at 3 p.m., Emmanuel Merced, 27, and his brother were the first in line when it opened. On their list was a Sharp 42-inch TV for $199, a PlayStation 3 console with games for $199.99 and wireless headphones for $30. Merced says he likes camping out for Black Friday and he figures he saved 50 percent.
“I like the experience of it,” says Merced, who plans to spend $3,000 to $4,000 on gifts this season.
To be sure, not every store was bustling on Black Friday. At a Target on Chicago’s north side, crowds were light four hours after the store opened. And door-buster deals, including the typically quick-to-sell out TVs and gaming systems, remained piled up in their boxes. Shoppers pushed carts through mostly empty aisles while thumbing through circulars and employees – some in Santa hats – roamed the store. There was no Christmas music — or any music — playing.
Rebecca Carter, a graduate assistant, began Black Friday shopping at 11 p.m. on Thursday night and left Target around 4 a.m. carrying a bag full of pillows. Carter, who prowls Black Friday deals every year, said crowds were noticeably lighter this year as she and a friend picked up a television set ($180 for a 32-inch TV) and a laptop for $198, along with toys and pajamas.
“It’s quiet,” she says. “There were all these televisions still there. It was shocking.”
With AP