South Florida Black Friday Shoppers Find Deals & Manageable Crowds
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Plenty of South Florida shoppers were up before the sun on Black Friday, turning their attention from a good dinner to good deals.
At Dadeland Mall, most stores opened at 6 a.m. which is four hours sooner than typical business hours.
"The first 25 customers got a $25 gift card," said first-time Black Friday shopper Anna Bachman.
She said she got up at 3:45 a.m. to make sure she was at the Lululemon store in the mall by 5a.m.
"I think it was worth it. I got the pants I wanted," she said.
WATCH CBS4's Ted Scouten's report:
Assistant manager at Lululemon, Mike Mejia, said they had a "game plan" review Wednesday to make sure they were prepared.
"Making sure we can avoid lines in the fitting rooms, behind cash [register], and all those different angles," he explained.
When asked if the popularity of online shopping has slowed down retail, he says he hasn't noticed a change.
"The same people that are going online are also still coming to the stores because they want to see how the product feels on them," said Mejia.
"I didn't sleep. I didn't sleep at all," Dania Previl said with a laugh.
She goes Black Friday shopping every year. This year she found the items she was looking for at JC Penney, including a Keurig coffee maker, blender, and a skillet.
Of course, there were also those who were reluctantly shaken out of bed. When asked if he felt like the 5 a.m. wake up call would be worth it, Jonathan Gleason said, "Honestly, not really."
However, he said he did it for his mom, sister, and girlfriend.
"We're just kind of playing it by ear today," he added.
The National Retail Federation predicts about $731 billion will be spent on shopping between November and December. E-marketer puts those numbers even higher, forecasting this to be the first-ever trillion dollar holiday shopping season.
