Less crowded than in years past, say some shoppers who got an early jump on their holiday buying.
Crowds were sparse Friday morning at Northgate Mall where Carrie Seaberg and Jonathan Lavigne, of Shoreline, were shopping for Christmas presents.
It’s been “almost unnervingly quiet” this year so far through all of their Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday shopping this year, Lavigne said. “I think it’s because most of the deals were already online two days before.”
Indeed, the couple has already completed about 70 percent of their Christmas shopping online. “That’s why there’s almost no stress,” Lavigne said.
The couple has, in years past, waited in line for stores to open on Black Friday. One year they waited four hours for Wal-Mart to open.
This year, when they went to Wal-Mart in Everett at 7 p.m. Thanksgiving Day — the first of their shopping stops at brick-and-mortar stores — the parking lot was half empty and they had no trouble getting the video games they wanted.
Similarly, at Office Depot in Shoreline this morning, they had no problems getting a deeply discounted laptop they had their eyes on.
“It’s more leisurely this year,” Seaberg said.
Most Read Business Stories
Eileen Newell, who lives in North Seattle, also said this year seems less crowded at Northgate Mall than in previous years.
She’s seeing the day as more of a time for socializing and catching up with her sister, Elizabeth Santo Domingo, who was there as well.
They plan to take a relaxed look at the sales at Macy’s, Nordstrom and Nordstrom Rack.
A similar scene unfolded Thursday night in downtown Seattle.
After having an early Thanksgiving dinner in Mill Creek, Tracy Landes and her daughter Whitnee Wheat arrived at the Crown Plaza at 4:30 p.m., checked in to their room and made their way to City Target to stand in line for the 6 p.m. opening. They were happily surprised that the store wasn’t busier, the women said.
In years past, the mother and daughter have camped out overnight at Kohl’s for early-morning deals and have stood in lines for 5 a.m. doorbusters at Wal-Mart. But with stores opening on Thanksgiving and offering deals all day Black Friday rather than just the mornings, “It wasn’t crazy,” Landes said. And, she said, she prefers it that way.
After scoring a 60-inch television marked down by $400, on sale for about $600, Landes and Wheat had a leisurely morning downtown, hitting the pavement about 8:30 a.m.
Starbucks was first, followed by an hour and a half at American Eagle. By late morning, they were bound for Macy’s to look for pillows. It was the duo’s first time shopping downtown Seattle on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, but they decided “it’s our new tradition,” Landes said.
Omar Martinez, on the other hand, is a downtown Black Friday shopping veteran. He spends every year in the stores around Westlake Center.
He goes to many of his favorite stores — Macy’s, Nordstrom, Banana Republic — before Thanksgiving to try on clothes and boots so he knows what he wants. Then, on Black Friday, he is ready to find the good deals.
He walked out of Macy’s Friday morning at 10 a.m. with $600 worth of goods for $200. He got a pair of brown boots for $25 that were originally $75. His $170 wool coat was more than half off, running him about $70.
“I like this coat, but I’m not going to pay full price for it,” he said.
Martinez sticks with clothes on Black Friday. He planned on spending the rest of the morning looking for a pair of cowboy boots.
Meanwhile, at Best Buy near Alderwood mall late Friday morning, a steady flow of people went in and out.
The crowd was “not bad — we expected a lot more,” said Justin Limon, of Brier, who came with his brother and niece.
A 50-inch TV that they had been hoping to get at deep discount was apparently sold out by last night, Limon said.
But they were able to find another 50-inch TV for $379 and a receiver for $249 without any problems.
Other than those two items they were looking for, they were content just to walk around and see what the deals were.
Alderwood mall itself was bustling by midday.
Parking lots were packed, and lines were long at Macy’s and at a Starbucks kiosk just outside Macy’s.
Near the Starbucks kiosk, best friends Gursimran Deol and Kayla Sargent, both college students who live in Snohomish, were taking a short break from shopping.
Thanksgiving shopping has become an annual tradition for them, and this year they tackled the mall section by section.
They began their shopping at 11 p.m. Thursday, going until 1:30 a.m. Friday. They came back for round two around midday Friday.
“I feel like it was way more packed this year, Sargent said Friday of the crowds at Alderwood mall Thursday night. “It’s died down a lot more this morning. But there are still a lot of people.”