‘It’s not as exciting anymore’: Black Friday draws no crowds during COVID-19 pandemic
For Rickey Evans of Longview, Black Friday isn’t just about getting the best deal. It’s about maneuvering through large crowds, racing to get an item and getting an adrenaline rush from the craziness.
“People are naturally adrenaline junkies,” he said about the lure of Black Friday.
But this year, it was different.
There was no craziness, large crowds or long lines largely due to the coronavirus pandemic. Officials and retailers had been discouraging people from congregating in large crowds and shifted Black Friday sales online for the whole week.
According to Adobe Analytics, consumers spent $5.1 billion in online sales on Thanksgiving Day, representing a 21.5% increase from Thanksgiving last year. It’s expected that Black Friday online sales will reach $10 billion, a record number. This holiday season, Adobe Analytics expects consumers to spend $189 billion buying online, a 33% increase from the year before.
Evans had been Black Friday shopping since 5 a.m. on Friday including Best Buy, Walmart and Target. Each of the stores had a low turnout, no craziness or large crowds.
For the better part of the last decade, retailers have opened on Thanksgiving Day to capitalize on consumer demand. But this year, because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic retailers like Walmart, Target and Best Buy decided to not open on Thanksgiving as a way to support and protect employees.
At the Best Buy in Arlington, it didn’t feel or look like Black Friday. It instead looked like a regular shopping day. At the Parks Mall at Arlington, the walkways were almost empty. There were people lined up at GameStop, but not nearly enough to call it a crowd.
Evans, who has participated in Black Friday shopping for the last 10 years, said the day is all about having fun and while he understands why people are staying home or shopping online, it takes away from what Black Friday is supposed to be.
And while Tarrant County has experienced a surge in coronavirus cases — reporting more than 1,000 new cases in each of the last eight days — Evans didn’t feel unsafe shopping around other people. He felt stores have enough safety precautions in place and the small turnout made it safer.
Angel Rendon of Arlington, who was at the Parks Mall, said he’s gone Black Friday shopping and he’s yet to experience the adrenaline rush of a crazed crowd. This year, everything is empty and no one is camping out, he said.
“It’s not as exciting anymore,” Rendon said.
The Arlington resident said when he was little he would see people running each other over and see fights over products on the news. His parents wouldn’t let him go Black Friday shopping during those times and he hoped now that he is older he’d be able to get experience that.
“I’ve always wanted to go to one of the big ones where everybody just runs in,” he said.
That wasn’t the case, though.
While COVID-19 has stopped some people from shopping in crowds, Rendon thinks in-person Black Friday shopping has been on a decline for a while. Deals during the holiday season aren’t confined to just one day anymore and online shopping has taken prominence.
Daniel Saucedo of Grand Prairie, who went to the Arlington Best Buy, said this is the first time in years that he’s gone into a store during Black Friday. He usually has to work and it’s easier for him to just order online.
Others like to feel the thrill of getting a deal at the store, but Saucedo feels it’s unnecessary for him to do that. He can just order what he needs online and it arrives at his door.
Evans said he also does online shopping during Black Friday, but he doesn’t get the same feeling as if he were in the store. And while the large crowds have been downsized and people aren’t rushing into stores, Evans still enjoys it.
“It’s kind of the nostalgia of getting out,” he said.
This story was originally published November 27, 2020 at 12:52 PM.
