Black Friday deals lure shoppers into Alle-Kiski Valley stores early, often

Natalie Cale was moving through the Pittsburgh Mills mall in Frazer, two stuffed bags in each hand, with a destination in mind.

It was her car, where she planned to drop off her load of gifts before heading back in for more.

Cale was finding the deals on this year’s Black Friday to be pretty good. She had already been to Victoria’s Secret for Pink, Shoe Dept. and Justice and was going to head back for JCPenney and Macy’s.

“You can pretty much buy twice as much for what you’d spend at regular price,” she said. “There’s a lot of buy-one-get-one deals.”

More than 165 million people are expected to shop over the five-day Thanksgiving weekend from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday, according to the National Retail Federation.

It estimates that holiday retail sales in November and December will be up between 3.8% and 4.2% over last year, totaling between $727.9 billion and $730.7 billion.

The federation’s survey found most shoppers, 114.6 million, planned to shop on Black Friday, followed by 68.7 million on Cyber Monday and 66.6 million on Small Business Saturday.

While considered taboo or at least bad-form by some, the federation’s survey found nearly 40 million said they’d shop on Thanksgiving Day.

“The tradition of Thanksgiving weekend holiday shopping has become a five-day event with consumers spending money in stores, supporting local small businesses and online with their mobile devices and computers,” federation President and CEO Matthew Shay said.

“Even as people are starting to purchase gifts earlier in the season, consumers still enjoy finding good Thanksgiving deals and passing time shopping with family and friends over the long holiday weekend,” he said.

JCPenney manager Bill Barr said his store opened at 2 p.m. Thanksgiving and stayed open continuously into Black Friday.

There were big lines early, Barr said, with small appliances and holiday decor selling well.

The foundation found that people are almost evenly split between starting their shopping in-store, 47%, and starting online, 41%.

Of those younger than 25, more than half, 52%, are more likely to start shopping in-store.

Candace Thompson of Buffalo Township said shopping on Black Friday with family is a tradition. She said they started Thanksgiving night and had been “everywhere” by early-to-mid Friday morning, including Walmart, Target and the Pittsburgh Mills mall.

“It’s just fun to go out,” she said.

Toni Pegher of Hampton was getting mostly gifts at JCPenney but also a few things for herself.

Asked why she came to the store instead of shopping online, Pegher said, “I like looking at the products and getting out of the house.”

Cale said she started shopping online Thanksgiving night but still needs to go to brick-and-mortar stores.

“I need to check out the quality of the products and the sizes,” she said.

Megan Jordan of Aspinwall said she’s “guilty” of online shopping but still likes going to stores.

“It’s nice just to go to the store and get it and not have to wait,” she said.