Business & Tech

Black Friday Shoppers Hit Deals at Midnight

Crowds gathered to start the shopping holiday early this year.

A crowd of more than 300 people waited outside at the before midnight to .

With most malls and retail stores , customers said they were elated they could stay up late and shop, rather than wake up early.

“We had Thanksgiving and then the family split up and hit different stores,” said Tina Mitchell, who started shopping at 9:30 p.m. “It’s much better than camping out all night, and it keeps Black Friday on Friday."

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Mitchell was looking forward to purchasing a Keurig Coffee Brewer from Macy’s.

Teenagers Kristina Polson, Jennifer Pyatt, Ashley Pyatt and Danielle Triplett said they were midnight shopping for clothes specials.

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Stores that are usually closed until early morning on Black Friday, such as Aeropostale and American Eagle, opened at midnight. The group wanted to take advantage of the $12 Aeropostale hoodies and 40 percent off at American Eagle.

Polson said she typically works in the mornings, so the midnight opening leant to more flexibility.

Mall officials said it is too soon to tell if the midnight opening will continue in the future, but said they’ve had good feedback so far.

“Thus far, we’ve had a good response to the midnight openings,” said Amber Westerson, a spokesperson for CBL Properties, which owns the South County Mall, West County Center, Mid Rivers and Chesterfield Malls. “People were excited to stay up late versus come out early.”

Most employees arrived around 10:30 p.m. to prepare for the shopping holiday. Retailers at Hot Topic said they liked the midnight opening better because it allowed them to split up the shifts, bringing new workers in for the day.

As of 1 a.m., no incidents have been reported in the area, according to St. Louis County Police.


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