The predawn opening of Fred Meyer in the Orchards neighborhood drew a line of 80 people before 5 a.m., store representatives said. An hour later, the store was moshed by early-bird holiday shoppers and deal-hunters.
Christine Romo, 46, nudged her husband as he waited to get a drink from the in-store Starbucks shortly after the store’s opening.
“Rookies get their hands full of drinks,” she teased him. The Vancouver resident called Black Friday shopping a tradition for the past decade, finding discounts on a rotating list of necessities like bedsheets, towels and blankets. She also knocked out some early holiday shopping.
“Today it was video games,” she said.
So went the largest and most chaotic day of the year in retail. Shoppers of all ages, seemingly undeterred by wet weather, crowded around bins of discounted socks and filed through the store’s home electronics and apparel departments.
“It’s not as bad as I thought,” said Shelley Ticen, 36, pushing a full cart of clothes and wearing a head wrap with the price tag still on it. Ticen, who hadn’t participated in Black Friday in years, said circumstances aligned this year for both her and her mom.
The day kicks off the annual holiday shopping season, which is shaping up strong this year thanks to low inflation, high employment and rising wages, economists say. Retailers in the U.S. are experiencing their strongest two-month span in the past two years, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.
This year, stores announced doorbuster deals — big ticket items with slashed prices, like flat-screen televisions and furniture — about three days earlier on average this year, the Wall Street Journal reports.
At Fred Meyer, which turns off its biggest deals at 1 p.m., the store fueled the early shoppers with free coffee and donuts. Queues at registers sometimes backed up like rush hour traffic.
The key to getting out in one piece, according to Margaret Cool, was to have a plan.
“I know exactly what I want to get, I know where I need to go,” the 65-year-old Vancouver resident said.
Mechiel Reed, 60, spent Thanksgiving with her daughter’s family and took part in the caffeinated shopping frenzy for the first time, she said.
“It’s pretty cool. It’s not as crazy as I thought it would be,” said the Gazelle, Calif., resident.
Some worried the shopping event had grown too large, leading to frivolous spending and disruptive hours for employees. Some retailers even opened up Thanksgiving Day.
“Black Friday used to be just socks. Now it’s disgusting,” said David Haye, 26, of Vancouver. “This place was open at 6 p.m. last night. People should be at home with their families. They should be getting off at noon.”
Clothes, flat-screen televisions and toys are consistently the big-sellers at the store, according to store director Darren Pratt. Drones, which have become increasingly affordable over the years, are also selling well, he said. But socks remained the store’s foot-in-the-door item, he said.
“It’s a tradition whether people need socks or don’t need socks,” he said.
This year, the National Retail Federation expects holiday sales to grow 3.6 percent nationwide, amounting to $655.8 billion in sales, excluding restaurant sales and the sales of gasoline and autos.
Consulting firm Customer Growth Partners reported this week that shoppers nationwide are expected to spend $27 billion on Black Friday this year.
“We expect this to be one of our biggest days of the year,” Pratt said.
