Shoppers take advantage of Black Friday sales at South Florida malls, stores
MIAMI - The sales are everywhere at South Florida malls and stores and the shoppers are out in force this Black Friday with shopping bags full.
Alyssa, Maddie and Hannah got to Aventura Mall right when it opened. They spent hours shopping, and they have the bags and bargains to prove it.
"There's been like 40-50% off almost in every store," said Alyssa Cepero.
"We make a day out of it," said Hannah Ari. "It's good for holiday shopping because we're a big group of friends and family so it's better to get it done now instead of wait and prolong everything," she said.
Shoppers are expected to spend an average of 620 dollars on gifts according to the Florida Retail Federation. And that shopping will last a month.
"Over 62 percent of people aren't actually going to complete their shopping until the end of December. So this is really the beginning of a long shopping haul," said Aventura Mall Spokeswoman Crystal Rouhani.
And there are shoppers like Nani Anderson who is snapping up bargains for herself. But she still plans to take advantage of deals in the days to come.
"When do you plan on doing your Christmas shopping or holiday shopping?" CBS 4's Ted Scouten asked. "Possibly around the end of the year," Anderson said.
Many shoppers say aside from buying in stores — they're looking forward to Cyber Monday and the deals that come with it.
"Anything you don't get or not able to get in stores because everything is, people get it, you can get it online," Ari said.
