Record number of shoppers predicted for Black Friday

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. (WFSB) - It was a successful Black Friday for a lot of the shoppers we met today.

Some got a very early start. Hundreds were inside the Westfarms mall as early as 5 a.m.

“Me and my sister come out every year on Black Friday to do as much shopping as we can, we enjoy the festivities get a coffee just a wonderful time together,” said Jennifer Langone of Ellington.

Many shoppers didn’t let inflation or other hardships stop them from spending time with each other.

“Every year we cross off the new year and add what we are doing,” said Maryssa Romano.

On top of having a good time, today was about crossing names off their gift list.

For Manddy Manafort, Black Friday was for self-love.

“I spent $100 and I got a free blanket,” said Manddy.

People got sales from 30 to 70 percent off, either on Legos or new clothing.

“The holiday season is off to a great start at Westfarms. There are 30 shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas. To come look for those deep discounts and get everybody on your list taken care of,” said Amanda Sirica, Westfarms spokesperson.

For those shopping on another day, experts say know what you want before you go shop. Check out stores where you can buy multiple items at once and call before to see if they even have what you are looking for.

“We are very optimistic about the shopping season. Last year we are at pre-pandemic levels of sales this year we expect to be even better people are shopping and they are really excited about having together happy holiday season,” said Amanda.

Experts believe this weekend will see a record number of shoppers spending big.

The National Retail Federation estimates a record-making 166,300,000 million people will start holiday shopping this weekend.

Their annual survey shows nearly 115,000,000 of them will be shopping on Black Friday, the highest numbers the NRF has seen since tracking this data in 2017.

“We’re looking at records in all categories. It is remarkable in the face of the cost and the price pressures, that consumers are still finding a way to increase their spending, power the economy, drive economic activity,” said Matthew Shay, President and CEO, National Retail Federation.

The NRF found the majority of Black Friday shoppers, 67% of them, are planning to head to stores in-person.

“So we usually did it, we’d start like after thanksgiving. Try to find place we could go early,” said Jarryl Josephs, New Britain.

Jarryl thinks a lot of it is people seeking normalcy in the pandemic.

“It’s good to go back and feel like how it was before the pandemic. Pandemic came and changed a lot of things for people, so I think it’s good. It’s good for the market, it’s good for business. I think it’s all great,” Jarryl said.

The earliest stores are opening is 5 a.m.

STORE OPENINGS:

Best Buy- 5 a.m.

Target- 7 a.m.

Walmart- 6 a.m.

Kohl’s- 5 a.m.

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