Black Friday shoppers sleep in, a little. Still cash in

More than half of all Americans plan to shop for deals this weekend.

But with many stores and malls now opening Thanksgiving evening, Black Friday is no longer the blockbuster event that drew Tri-Citians to parking lots in the wee morning hours in years past.

Retailers still open plenty early, but more shoppers say they’re happy to start later than they once did.

Gail Hammerberg and her daughter, Natalie Eubanks, emerged from Target in Kennewick at 10 a.m. Friday, their cart loaded with puzzles, games and other Christmas gifts. Their quarry included gifts for a family Eubanks adopted for the holidays through Kadlec Regional Medical Center, where she’s a pharmacist.

Shopping early on Black Friday is a long-time tradition for the duo from Pasco.

But this year, they slept in on Friday, “only” hitting stores at 7 a.m.

By the time they finished at Target, they’d been to Ranch & Home, Best Buy, Sportsman’s Warehouse and PetSmart.

They used to rouse themselves much earlier. Now, the best deals are on Thanksgiving and they aren’t willing to shop on the holiday itself.

“We used to be in line at 4 a.m.,” said Hammerberg, a special education teacher at Richland High School.

The National Retail Federation estimates 164 million Americans will shop over the course of the holiday weekend, based on a November survey of 7,439 consumers about their shopping plans.

Nearly 20 percent said they would shop on Thanksgiving, 70 percent on Black Friday, 43 percent on Saturday, 21 percent on Sunday and almost half on “Cyber Monday.”

On the flip side, 31 percent of those surveyed said they would avoid shopping on Thanksgiving weekend because of the crowds.

Sarah Evans of Burbank began her day at 6:30 a.m. at Walmart in Pasco — later than in years past. There were more employees than shoppers, she reported.

Five hours later, she’d been to Columbia Center, Target and was back at Walmart, where she left with three boxes of everyday china.

Evans was pleasantly surprised by the overall lack of crowds, the short lines and how easy it was to park at all of her stops.

“Usually I’m a 5 a.m. person but this year, what’s the point?” she asked. She did most of her big-ticket holiday shopping online on Thanksgiving Day, she added.

Kasi Reynolds, a Hermiston resident who works at Lamb Weston, said she and her sister were out at 6 a.m. She wasn’t shopping for anything in particular. Instead, she was looking for items she needed and enjoying the festivities.

She left Target with a very good deal on 1,050-thread-count sheets, $25.

Between Target, Bed Bath and Beyond and Columbia Center, she estimated she’d spent about $300 for the day.

NRF projects 2017 holiday sales will climb between 3.6 and 4 percent over last year, reaching roughly $680 billion.

Customers expect to spend an average of $967, it said.

Black Friday shoppers aren’t queuing up super early, agreed Barbara Johnson, manager of Columbia Center in Kennewick.

The mall, which opened Thanksgiving evening, had a lively crowd right up until the 1.m. closing time. Black Friday was busy as well, but she said the crowds didn’t really build until late morning.

“By about 10:30 a.m., we were in full swing,” she said.

Black Friday isn’t just about shopping.

About a dozen Tri-City Jehovah’s Witnesses set up informational carts at most intersections and driveways on Canal Drive between Columbia Center Boulevard and North Kellogg Street on Friday morning. As cars sped by, teams of two or three well-dressed members politely waved gloved hands and handed out literature.

“We’re just trying to help people understand what the Bible teaches us,” said Jennifer Trumps, who worked alongside Claire Berglund.

The group chose Black Friday knowing there would be lots of people out and about.

“We know there’s a lot of people out today,” said Berglund.

This story was originally published November 24, 2017 at 4:01 PM with the headline "Black Friday shoppers sleep in, a little. Still cash in."