Crowds of shoppers flocked to the Vancouver Mall late Thursday evening to get their first taste of Black Friday shopping, undeterred by wind, rain or pounds of still-digesting turkey and mashed potatoes.
The majority of the mall’s stores were open all evening, and they found no shortage of customers. Traffic started out a bit slow when most of the stores opened up around 6 p.m., according to Andre Gilbert at Eye Clothing, but quickly picked up steam and remained steady late into the night.
“It’s definitely been a really exciting evening for us,” he said.
A few of the shoppers making their way up and down the mall said they were out hunting for specific deals that they’d looked up in advance, but most described the evening simply as a way to stretch their legs and see what they could find.
“We’re just trying to get some good deals, and seeing what was there,” said Tyler Scribner.
Thanksgiving-night shopping has only been around for a few years, but several shoppers said it had already become a tradition, in some cases taking the place of their regular Black Friday shopping.
“We usually go out tonight, then we hang out with the family tomorrow,” said Amy Hollis, who was out shopping with her mother and daughter.
Other customers said they were just at the mall for fun, or looking to see if they could get some early Christmas shopping out of the way.
The majority of the Thursday night shoppers appeared to be teenagers or younger adults, with a few families mixed in. Megan Lackey, an employee at Vans, said most of the crowd seemed to be younger customers on the lookout for sales.
“It’s been steady (traffic). There’s been a couple waves,” she said. “It’s been really fun and easygoing for us, which is nice.”
The mall was scheduled to stay open until midnight, then open back up at 9 a.m. Friday for a full day of Black Friday sales and shopping. Several employees said they were excited to see the higher-than-usual traffic all evening, but noted that Black Friday had only just begun.
“It’s a lot crazier (than usual)” said Old Navy employee Kayla Dunn as she and a coworker headed out for the night. “And we’ll both get up in a few hours to come right back.”
