Long Island shoppers look for big deals on Black Friday
Shoppers fill the halls at Roosevelt Field Shopping Mall on Black Friday in 2023. Inflation-weary consumers will be on the hunt for deals this year. Credit: Howard Schnapp
Shopping malls and stores on Long Island and nationwide are opening their doors early — some before dawn — on Black Friday, hoping to lure shoppers with sales, Santa visits and even snacks.
Consumers are going to need strong motivation to open their wallets, as inflation-weary shoppers will be on the hunt for big deals, retail experts said.
“I mean, I think we’re all feeling the effects of inflation and that’s just been happening a couple of years honestly. … Groceries have been the most impacted," said Joanna Mazzella, who co-owns Mint, a Long Island chain of four women’s clothing boutiques, with her husband. "It’s just insane to me.”
Nationwide retail spending in November and December is projected to grow 2.5% to 3.5%, reaching $979.5 billion to $989 billion, up from $955.6 billion spent during the same period last year, according to the National Retail Federation, a Washington, D.C.-based trade group.
Last year, holiday sales increased 3.9% from the 2022 season. This year’s NRF forecast is in line with the pre-pandemic average annual holiday increase of 3.6% from 2010 to 2019, according to the trade group, which does not adjust its numbers for inflation.
The five-day period between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday is declining in significance as retailers offer deals weeks or months earlier, but Black Friday is still the most-popular day for holiday shopping.
Nationally, October retail sales were strong, rising 5.5% compared to the same month last year, said John Mercer, head of global research in the London office of Coresight Research, a Manhattan-based retail analysis provider.
Black Friday weekend is not the busiest time of year at Mint but it’s an important sales driver for the retailer, said Mazzella, whose boutiques started a 25% off sale Wednesday that will run through Cyber Monday. A drop-off in foot traffic already has occurred in anticipation of Black Friday, she said.
“The last week or so, people have not been shopping as much because they’re waiting for sales,” Mazzella said.
Shopping malls and stores on Long Island and nationwide are opening their doors early — some before dawn — on Black Friday, hoping to lure shoppers with sales, Santa visits and even snacks.
Consumers are going to need strong motivation to open their wallets, as inflation-weary shoppers will be on the hunt for big deals, retail experts said.
“I mean, I think we’re all feeling the effects of inflation and that’s just been happening a couple of years honestly. … Groceries have been the most impacted," said Joanna Mazzella, who co-owns Mint, a Long Island chain of four women’s clothing boutiques, with her husband. "It’s just insane to me.”
Nationwide retail spending in November and December is projected to grow 2.5% to 3.5%, reaching $979.5 billion to $989 billion, up from $955.6 billion spent during the same period last year, according to the National Retail Federation, a Washington, D.C.-based trade group.
Last year, holiday sales increased 3.9% from the 2022 season. This year’s NRF forecast is in line with the pre-pandemic average annual holiday increase of 3.6% from 2010 to 2019, according to the trade group, which does not adjust its numbers for inflation.
The five-day period between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday is declining in significance as retailers offer deals weeks or months earlier, but Black Friday is still the most-popular day for holiday shopping.
Nationally, October retail sales were strong, rising 5.5% compared to the same month last year, said John Mercer, head of global research in the London office of Coresight Research, a Manhattan-based retail analysis provider.
Black Friday weekend is not the busiest time of year at Mint but it’s an important sales driver for the retailer, said Mazzella, whose boutiques started a 25% off sale Wednesday that will run through Cyber Monday. A drop-off in foot traffic already has occurred in anticipation of Black Friday, she said.
“The last week or so, people have not been shopping as much because they’re waiting for sales,” Mazzella said.
Tory N. Parrish covers retail and small business for Newsday. She has worked at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Observer-Dispatch in Utica, N.Y.
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Updated 39 minutes ago LI shoppers out looking for deals ... New pet shop law ... Visit a Christmas tree farm ... What to do with leftovers
