By Patrick Donachie
Shoppers hunted for discounts throughout the borough during Black Friday, which kicked off the start of the holiday shopping season. Record online sales were projected for the day after Thanksgiving, which offers consumers steep markdowns on merchandise, but many Queens businesses did not see the long lines and crowds for which the day is most well-known.
At the Queens Center mall in Elmhurst, tourists and Queens residents alike took advantage of sizable discounts, including 70 percent off merchandise in Aeropostale. The Apple store was so busy shoppers waited on line to get in, although the Vince Camuto shoe store was empty despite 50 percent price cuts and Rockport had only a few customers despite discounts of 40 percent.
Tafiqa from Woodside and her friend Sadia from Jackson Heights went on a shopping spree, thanks to the price deductions. The two took stock of their purchases outside the Aeropostale store, surrounded by a dozen shopping bags filled with jackets, clothing and kitchen appliances.
“We’ve spent about $500 so far and we’re still going to give it another hour or so,” Tafiqa said. “We’re really giving the credit cards a workout this year, but we’ve found some pretty good deals.”
At the Bay Terrace Shopping Center, the shopping crush was steady but manageable. Employees and shoppers credited the popularity of online shopping for the decrease in the number of customers visiting stores for the post-Thanksgiving tradition. One customer said she had already taken advantage of Black Friday deals throughout the previous week.
Holiday sales can be a make-or-break test for retailers, who often rely on these purchases to generate at least a third of their annual profits. Some retailers began offering Black Friday discounts as much as a week ahead of the actual day online and in stores.
Annette, a manager at the center’s American Eagle store, noted that it had been a slow morning, without any lines outside the store, and the parking lot had not been excessively crowded when she arrived that morning. She was excited about the deals of 40 percent off on everything in the store, with sweaters that often go for $60 to $90 being sold for $25.
“Through the years, because of online shopping, the trend of going out to shop has gone down,” Annette said. “If you don’t like lines, you don’t have to leave the comfort of your home.”
At College Point Shopping Center, things also appeared calm and organized, with stores like Target, Babies R Us, Old Navy and T.J. Maxx having short lines and customers saying that it felt like just another day.
“It’s been pretty quiet,” Megan, a customer at Old Navy, said. “More so than I expected. It feels like a regular day. I’ve never been Black Friday shopping, so this is a great first experience. I feel like I lucked out.”
SkyView Center in Flushing was busier. At stores like Uniqlo and Nike, customer traffic was steady, but not overwhelming.
In-store visits during Black Friday remained flat this year in comparison to 2015, according to an analysis by Forbes Magazine using retail visit data from ShopperTrak. Forbes also reported that shoppers spent $5.27 billion online during the Thanksgiving/Black Friday holiday. The news was based on figures released by Adobe. The online shopping total marked a 17.7 percent increase from the year before.
Reporters Patrick Donachie, Gina Martinez and Bill Parry contributed to this report.
Reach reporter Patrick Donachie by e-mail at pdona
