MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Shopper Jalisa Buggs didn’t have to fight very hard for her Black Friday deals. While there was a steady stream of people at the Wolfchase Galleria Mall, she told WREG it was far from a packed house.
“This morning when I got here there really wasn’t a crowd, wasn’t so bad. I got a close parking spot.”
She went to a number of stores including Pink.
“They had $30 a piece outfits, which was a good sale. You normally pay $50 or $60 for one shirt.”
Like a lot of shoppers on this day, she was a woman on a mission.
“Yeah, I feel pretty good about the deals I got,” she said.
But the crowd didn’t impress clothing store owner Tabitha Lee.
“Why did I even open? It’s like it’s dead.”
With more stores opening early on Thanksgiving these days, holiday shopping on Black Friday has dropped 24 percent in the last two years.
Lee said she will never make her employees come in on Thanksgiving.
“It’s not worth the money to do that, I guess. It’s better to spend time with your family than it is to bring in that extra income.”
The National Retail Federation estimates 164 million Americans will do some shopping this weekend, but many will simply shop online.
