Black Friday brings out shoppers looking for deals

Many shoppers followed up their Thanksgiving feast with a visit to the local mall or specialty store, as the Black Friday tradition that has crept into Thursday continued.

Vintage Faire Mall, which opened for several hours on Thursday evening, was bustling but not packed early on Friday after reopening at 6 a.m. One of the most popular areas: the “rest and recharge” recliners on the shopping center’s second floor.

Jaki Montanez and Alysia Montanez dressed for the occasion – and the early morning hour – in festive onesie pajamas as they strolled the mall early Friday.

Many shoppers said Black Friday shopping is as much about the spectacle as it is about door-buster deals, the Associated Press reported. The holiday shopping season presents a big test for a U.S. economy, whose overall growth so far this year has relied on a burst of consumer spending.

The National Retail Federation predicts folks will spend more — 4.1 percent more, to be precise — this year than last. That’s an average of $1,007.24 during the holiday season. Of that, $637.67 will be spent on gifts, with $215.04 on non-gift holiday items such as food, decorations, flowers and greeting cards, and $154.53 on purchases that aren’t gifts but take advantage of the deals and promotions retailers offer this time of year.

Black Friday has morphed from a single day when people got up early to score door-busters into a whole month of deals. the Associated Press said. Many major stores, including Walmart, Best Buy and Macy’s, start their blockbuster deals on Thanksgiving evening, which has thinned out the Friday crowds.

But some families stick by their Black Friday traditions. “We boycotted Thursday shopping; that’s the day for family. But the experience on Friday is just for fun,” said Michelle Wise, shopping at Park Meadows Mall in Denver with her daughters, 16-year-old Ashleigh and 14-year-old Avery.

That seemed to be the case by midmorning at the mall in Modesto, when the “assisted valet” parking service was doing a brisk business at its reserved 200 premium spaces outside the shopping center’s busiest entrance. The service, which is in place on busy days and weekends at the mall, was charging $7 per car, up from the original $5 when The Bee’s Marijke Rowland reported on it in August.