Black Friday: Big crowds hit Las Vegas stores

Are doorbuster sales back? It depends on where you go and whom you ask.

This Black Friday, Nevada shoppers flocked to their favorite malls and big-box stores to get a deal on their most-sought-after holiday items. Some say the doorbuster is back, while others still reminisce about the Black Friday frenzy of the early 2000s and 2010s.

There were large Black Friday crowds at malls and shopping centers around the country.

This year, almost 187 million people were expected to hit stores on Black Friday, according to the National Retail Federation’s consumer survey. That’s a record-breaking figure, as compared with last year at around 183 million.

Lindsey Marty made her one and only stop at a Target off South Eastern Avenue on Friday and made out with a few items. In her cart, she had a Stanley cooler backpack, originally $130 but was 50 percent off Friday, and a Pyrex storage set, originally $49.99, but was on sale for $19.99, and she still does most of her shopping online.

“I did some online shopping through Target.com earlier this week, because they’ve been having their Black Friday sales, I think all month,” Marty said.

Online reigns

In this digital age, online has reigned supreme during Black Friday, with places such as Target offering deals on certain items all month long.

Online is still on top in the Silver State for holiday purchases, with 55 percent of Nevadans planning to shop online, according to the Retail Association of Nevada’s Holiday Spending Forecast.

To get people in the stores this year, the first 100 shoppers at Target received a free limited-edition iridescent holiday tote with merch, with 10 shoppers per store getting prizes ranging in value from $99 to $350, including a Target Circle 360 membership and $100 Target gift card, among other items like tech and beauty.

Marty still remembers the days of lining up around the Target at 1 a.m. for doorbuster deals but hasn’t seen the same crowds in years.

The Las Vegas Premium Outlets North told a different story.

Lines wrapped around the outlet mall, with stores like American Eagle Outfitters offering 40 to 60 percent off, Tory Burch offering 50 percent, plus 20 percent off, 60 percent off last season’s prices at North Face and buy two pair of jeans, get two free at Levi’s, to name a few. There was overflow parking open at the neighboring World Market Center to accommodate the crowds, with security and police in tow.

At the end of the Pandora outlet line, which was up to 40 percent off storewide, stood Jessica Nunez, Preslie Brockway and Julia Rangel looking to get friendship rings. The girls woke up around 5 a.m. and had to wait in line for parking at the mall.

Nunez had made out with an entire haul of Christmas goodies, with two full hands from stores across the mall, but treated herself to some Tory Burch sandals.

“Normal price they’re like $400, but 50 percent plus 20 percent off,” Nunez said. “I ended up paying like $120.”

Hit or miss

The girls all agree, the sales have been hit or miss.

“I’ve seen buy one, get one, which, that’s not really a good sale,” Brockway said. “North Face, though, has amazing deals, like, everything’s 60 percent off.”

On the other end of the spectrum, Amber Fivelstad thinks the big deals are back. On Friday, she was shopping with her daughter at the outlet mall, but she planned to go to the mall, specifically Macy’s, which is offering up to 70 percent off.

“I personally feel like it’s more reactionary to a lack of sales this year,” Fivelstad said. “I think that most people have a lot less income or disposable income than they have had in previous years. In stores, sales are down, so it’s a good time to take advantage of that (sales).”

Nationally, shoppers hit the stores in full strength on Black Friday, with some even sipping sparkling wine as they searched for discounts on the day that traditionally kicks off the holiday shopping season.

Just outside New Orleans, shoppers flooded Lakeside Shopping Center to see what deals they could find. The mall offers sparkling wine to Black Friday traditionalists while they shop, as long as they have a receipt of at least $50.

“Sipping and shopping is the best, so I feel like that’s a New Orleans thing to do” said Lacie Lemoine, who was shopping with her grandmother, an annual tradition they’ve kept despite the fact that their budgets are shrinking.

Both the massive Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, and Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus, New Jersey, reported strong customer traffic on Friday and said Black Friday would once again rank as their busiest day of the year.

“We are off to a great start,” said Jill Renslow, Mall of America’s chief business development and marketing officer.

The line to enter the shopping and entertainment center started forming at 3 p.m. on Thursday, Renslow said. About 14,000 visitors entered within an hour of the mall’s 7 a.m. opening, she said.

“We are tracking one of our best Black Fridays ever,” she added.

Contact Emerson Drewes at edrewes@gmail.com. Follow @EmersonDrewes on X. The Associated Press contributed to this story.