NILES, Ohio (WKBN) – In-person shopping on the Friday after Thanksgiving has changed in the last decade.
“When I was younger, I remember standing outside in the lines and waiting for the doors to open,” said Sheila Maskrey, of McDonald, who used to shop in person on Black Friday.
Now, several retailers are already offering Black Friday deals even though there’s still more than a week until the unofficial kickoff to the holiday shopping season.
Maskrey makes most of her holiday purchases online now.
“I don’t know if it’s because of COVID or not but back in 2020, how everything kind of went virtual-wise for Black Friday, I find it easier,” she said.
It was during that time that retailers made a shift from in-person shopping.
“Everybody cut back. We did not open on Thanksgiving and that’s the way it’s been since then,” said Joe Bell, Cafaro Company spokesman.
It was a big change from years prior when places like the Eastwood Mall in Niles would open the evening of Thanksgiving.
In 2014, the mall was among the shopping centers that jumped on the trend of staying open all night long.
“They cut back a little bit after a few years to where they would open at 6:00 on Thanksgiving evening and close at, say, 1 a.m.,” Bell said.
There are still ten days until the shopping holiday known as Black Friday. Some stores, however, have been offering seasonal deals since earlier this month.
“We were just in a couple stores in here and they were already telling us how they were already starting their Black Friday sales,” Maskrey said.
Black Friday shopping has evolved over the years but still, the tradition of being out, in person, draws people in.
“They get to enjoy the hustle and bustle of holiday shopping,” Bell said.
The Eastwood Mall, which will be closed on Thanksgiving, is expecting tens of thousands of people to be there the day after.
“The real Black Friday has sort of taken on its old luster, where people will come in at the crack of dawn, and be able to enjoy entertainment, and get a prize and maybe find some good bargains,” Bell said.
The mall opens at 6 a.m. on Black Friday.
