Modesto shoppers report pretty smooth Black Friday

The Super Bowl of shopping had an early start again this year, but the game isn’t over yet.

Early numbers weren’t out Friday on how many shoppers headed to stores on Thanksgiving, but it was expected that more than three times the number of people would venture out to shop on the day after the holiday, known as Black Friday.

“I went out to the mall last night about 7 p.m.,” Tamara Britton posted Friday morning on The Modesto Bee’s Facebook page. “Parking was pretty ugly but all the stores were staffed up to make sure lines were not too bad. JCPenney, AEO, Bath & Body and Macy’s Men’s Store were all OK. Penney’s was the most crowded but they kept things moving along and everyone was very courteous.”

Aside from the lines – Who likes those? But they come with the bargain – Kelly Laughlin said her shopping outing also went well. “Walmart on Plaza Parkway is where we began – it was great! Everyone was nice, directing people to stuff. We even stood around the video games, and they made sure the people standing there for over an hour had what they needed.” Her only complaint: “Lines were terrible because of the way they set them up! Target was in and out within 20 minutes with no line.”

Another shopper who commented, Heidi Pena, wasn’t as happy: “We went to Target on Sisk Road on Thanksgiving. We were fifth in line, we just wanted a TV and out. They were not organized at all – the workers had no clue where to send people.”

Annie Amies, marketing manager for Vintage Faire Mall, said, “Modesto is out shopping in full force.”

She didn’t get specific on how shopper turnout compared with recent Black Fridays, but said, “The holidays are always the strongest season for consumer spending and traffic, last night being no exception.” Doorbuster deals by mall retailers “drove heavy traffic until midnight, when we closed our doors for the evening. … We opened again at 6 (on Friday), and as of noon (Friday) are still incredibly busy.”

The Toys R Us store in Modesto opened its doors to Black Friday shoppers at 5 p.m. Thursday and didn’t close until 11 p.m. Friday. A manager could not provide any estimate of shoppers or a comparison with recent years, but said, “It’s been very busy and a lot of fun.”

Not surprisingly, lines grew and shrank depending on the hour. Shoppers at the Kohl’s store in Riverbank had long waits about 8 p.m. Thursday, then not nearly as long in the midnight hour. By about 1 p.m. Friday, though, the wait times were back up to the Thursday night level.

Overall, the National Retail Federation expected about 30 million to shop on Thanksgiving, compared with 99.7 million on Black Friday. The trade group estimated about 135.8 million people would shop during the four-day weekend, up from the 133.7 million last year. And it expected sales overall for November and December to rise 3.7 percent to $630.5 billion compared with the same period last year.

A lot of people may not be in the mood to shop much this year. Unemployment has settled into a healthy 5 percent rate, but shoppers still grapple with stagnant wages that are not keeping pace with rising daily costs like rent. And years later, they still insist on the deep discounts they got used to retailers offering during the recession.

Here are the big themes emerging on Black Friday:

HELLO, CAN YOU HEAR ME?

For the first time, more people were expected to visit retailers’ websites through their smartphones than on desktop computers or tablets during the first weekend of the holiday shopping season.

Mobile traffic during the five-day start to what is typically the busiest shopping period of the year is expected to reach 56.9 percent of total traffic, up from 48.5 percent last year, according to IBM Watson.

NO ONE WILL START A FIGHT OVER ANYTHING, REALLY

Yet again, trend experts say there’s no single item that’s making shoppers run to stores. Perhaps that’s why Ron Waxman, 51, a sports agent from New York, was able to shop with ease on Black Friday morning and find a nearby parking spot at 2 a.m.

“It’s quiet, very quiet,” he said. “This is dead for Black Friday.”

IT’S CHEAP TO GET WARM

Heavy sweaters and winter coats piled up at department stores and specialty chains heading into the Black Friday weekend.

Unseasonably warm weather and a shift in changing shopping habits toward experiences like spas have limited shoppers’ appetite for such clothing. So plenty of stores like Macy’s, Nordstrom and Dick’s Sporting Goods say they plan to further mark down excess goods.

TOYS ARE GETTING PRICEY

Prices are climbing for toys as manufacturers pack lots of technology into them. Deborah Weinswig of the Fung Business Intelligence Center says in a recent report that prices of what the company considers the top 20 toys was nearly 36 percent higher than last year, with the average price at $64.99.

And there are plenty of toys that cost $100 or more, observed Toys R Us CEO Dave Brandon. He cited Fisher-Price’s Smart Bear, which has a suggested price of $99.99, as an example.

YOU CAN STILL ORDER ONLINE AND GET IT TODAY

More retailers are taking on the challenge of same-day delivery. Amazon has been making an aggressive push to offer same-day delivery to people who’ve paid its $99 fee for Prime loyalty club membership. Startup delivery service Deliv is working with Macy’s, Kohl’s, Express, Williams-Sonoma and other brick-and-mortar retailers to expand same-day delivery options.

Craft-selling site Etsy is working with Postmates for a holiday season pilot that will let some shoppers in New York City have items delivered to their door within hours for a flat fee of $20. Apple is also working with Postmates on same-day deliveries in New York and San Francisco.

And Uber in October launched UberRush service in New York, San Francisco and Chicago that lets small businesses offer same-day delivery.

IS YOUR NEW SWEATER TRENDING?

eBay’s holiday heat map is an interactive map that shows what the most popular gifts are across the country. (Think: Who’s buying what and where?): www.ebayinc.com/holiday.

This story was originally published November 27, 2015 at 2:15 PM with the headline "Modesto shoppers report pretty smooth Black Friday."