South Florida shoppers out early to take advantage of Black Friday deals
MIAMI - Some shoppers were out before dawn to take advantage of Black Friday's early holiday deals.
CBS News Miami spoke with shoppers who said they wanted to get a jump on their holiday shopping.
Maureen Fallon and her daughter lined up outside a Lululemon store at Sawgrass Mills before it opened at 6 a.m. to become of the first ones inside. She said it's become a tradition.
"This is our third year to be here. We were second in line to the lady who is now second this year. So we beat her to it this year and last year but we're actually one big family now, we know each other. We come here every year to check it out. We've become a bigger family now, we've become an extended family because we've met the same people getting to the top for the last couple of years," she said.
"It's a big thing for us to stay up all night and be here at 4 a.m.," she added.
So what are they shopping for?
"Lulu always has great value here. We go for their black leggings. You don't get them a lot of the year, they're not here, so there's always a big rush for the black leggings. We divide out what we want to get. We get leggings and crop tops and jackets," said Fallon.
She said this is the third straight year they've gotten first dibs on the deals at the Lululemon shop at the Sawgrass Mills Mall.
"We get here we get to all of our stores before all the crazy people come," said another shopper Lynda Dubreau.
Shannon Schreidel entered the Tory Burch store with an empty suitcase, and plans on leaving with one full of merchandise. She has an even longer streak of how many years she's arrived early.
"Probably about nine," Schreidel said.
And inside a BrandsMart, not everyone was there for holiday gifts. Some just wanted to treat themselves to some discounted stuff.
"I got everything that I needed. And the price is very cheap," said shopper Radja Reddymbram.
Holly Ryan is glad she was eighth in line, she got about a 40% discount on her items. But, this is just the start of all the stores she's checking out.
"I have 25 on my list. So now It's down to 24," Ryan said.
Blake Morris said she has a plan.
"You try to be first in line. You have to have the one store you want to focus on and then you just kindo of go to the rest," she said.
Holly Ryan said she was able to score some deals.
"My daughter has a very long list of things that she wants so I'm getting everything at a special (price) right now," she said. "I got about 40% off on the items I bought."
7According to the National Retail Federation, 183.4 million people are expected to take advantage of Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals - an increase from 2023 with a total of 182 million people shopping last year. The NRF predicts nearly 132 million people are going to buy something on Black Friday.
"Even though holiday shopping continues to pull forward, some of the busiest shopping days of the year are during the five-day Thanksgiving weekend," NRF Vice President of Industry and Consumer Insights Katherine Cullen said.
The top reasons consumers plan to shop during this five-day period are because the deals are too good to pass up (57%), it is tradition (28%) and they like to start holiday shopping over Thanksgiving weekend (24%), according to the NRF.
Black Friday still dominates over shopping online with 72% expected to hit the stores.
Americans are projected to spend up to $989 billion by the end of the holiday season. A survey conducted by The Retail Group found that consumers are expected to spend an average of $902 per person on gifts.
At Aventura Mall, the Caraballo family comes every year on Black Friday, "It's a tradition that I have from my mom when I was little that we would go shopping on Black Friday. So I just kept the tradition," said Luisa Caraballo. Her 15-year-old daughter Victoria has taken that tradition to the next level.
"For Christmas, she did a PowerPoint presentation. It was like 10 pages long," Luisa explained. "I put the links on it. The picture. It's like you literally click on the link and it takes you straight to the item with the size and everything and the color," Victoria said.
A few items trending this year include electric scooters, televisions, and home sound systems.
