Columbia Mall GM says Black Friday crowd was close to pre-pandemic levels
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Holiday shopping is beginning to look a lot like it used to.
Black Friday brought a number of people to the Columbia Mall that felt familiar to 2019, according to the mall's general manager, Rusty Strodtman.
“I think traffic and sales are probably very close to pre-pandemic," Strodtman said. "So that's good. That's really encouraging to see.”
Columbia shopping appears to be a part of a national trend. A record 183.4 million people are planning to shop in-store and online from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday this year, according to the National Retail Federation.
The NRF says that number is up from last year, where 182 million people shopped in, and is up more than 18.1 million shoppers from 2019.
With a record number of shoppers expected over the holiday weekend, many stores at Columbia Mall opted to open earlier than usual for Black Friday. Strodtman said crowds were ready earlier than last Black Friday.
“We opened a little bit earlier this year," Strodtman said. "We had more stores open earlier and the crowds were stronger earlier.”
Strodtman said Target's exclusive Black Friday Taylor Swift book brought in a swarm of people anxiously awaiting for the doors to open.
“Target had probably 200 people standing outside before they opened at 6 a.m.," Strodtman said. "And it was for the Taylor Swift book.”
He said Target was not the only store with lines out the door.
Jayna Hedgpath said she is typically an online shopper, but some of this year's in-person deals were too good to pass up.
“We got a lot of gold earrings," Hedgpath said.
Gina Cox said this was her family's first year Black Friday shopping together.
“Instead of going all online this year, we decided to get out and actually socialize and see what's available," Cox said.
Strodtman said pickup orders have become popular at Columbia Mall.
“In-store pickup has been very strong," Strodtman said. "I heard one store said they had 70 orders waiting for them this morning when they came in.”
The NRF says 65% of Black Friday shoppers plan to shop in-store. NRF said Holiday spending is expected to reach record levels during November and December, and will grow between 2.5-3.5%, totaling $979.5 billion-$989 billion.
