Whether it’s in the form of the Black Friday we’ve all grown to know and love, or whether it takes on a new, more subdued form, the Christmas shopping season is upon us.
The day after Thanksgiving has achieved the distinction of being the official first day of the holiday season. In years past, that has meant stores in Massachusetts opening as early as 12:01 a.m. to hordes of customers who have been gathering in lines outside waiting, looking to be the first to get the limited supply of whatever popular item is in stock.
The presence of the coronavirus in our midst has eliminated that scenario. Between mask-wearing and social distancing, and with the advent of online shopping, those tableaus were not repeated Friday.
Malls and shopping areas in and around Lynn had more normal business hours Friday — opening after sunrise, and following the same rules that have been in place since the pandemic began in the U.S. in mid-March — with mask mandates and strictly-enforced social distancing.
Some larger stores, such as Walmart, which has locations in Lynn, Saugus, and Salem, opted to offer Black Friday sales events over several days to try to cut down on crowds on Friday.
Unlike past years, Walmart was closed on Thanksgiving Day, which was another part of how the store reimagined its holiday plans to accommodate the different ways its customers have been shopping during the pandemic.
“We’re especially proud of how we reinvented our Black Friday savings event to deliver the incredible products and prices customers expect from us while meeting the unique needs of 2020,” said Walmart U.S. Chief Merchandising Officer Scott McCall in a statement. “Our focus was on two key priorities: the safety of our customers and associates and meeting our customers where they are shopping more often – online.
“By holding events over multiple days, moving the most sought-after items to online only and creating a socially-distanced in-store experience, we were able to help protect the health and safety of our associates and customers while giving customers the opportunity to get the gifts they wanted at great Black Friday prices.”
According to McCall, the most sought-after Black Friday sales items included this year’s new gaming consoles, wireless headphones, home appliances, such as the Keurig K-Compact and Anker Edufy Robotic Vacuum, and the “jaw-dropping” prices that were seen for the store’s customer-rated line of brand-name televisions, led by the 4K 65-inch model.
One of those 65-inch TVs was purchased by Erikson Deras, an East Boston resident, who shopped at the Lynn Walmart on Black Friday.
Deras, 45, said he decided to shop in person on Friday for the offers and specials, and ended up getting a “good deal” on his new television. While the TV was originally marked for $850, he ended up paying $460, which represented a savings of nearly $400, he said.
“Basically, I needed a TV,” said Deras. “There was a while that I didn’t buy anything on Black Friday. (About) five years ago, I bought a laptop.”
Deras said he was a little concerned about being around crowds that would typically be seen at Walmart on Black Friday, but he said lines were short and the store wasn’t crowded.
Louis Palencia, 47, was also pleasantly surprised to find that the Lynn Walmart wasn’t as crowded on Black Friday. The Chelsea resident said he had been planning to purchase a sound bar for his TV online, but since it was out of stock, he decided to take his chances by shopping in-person for the item.
Although the sound bar was offered at a lower price online, he was still pleased that he was able to save nearly $100 by purchasing it at the store. Palencia ultimately paid $150 for the electronic device.
“They have better deals online,” said Palencia. “I decided to come in to see what deals they had. I wanted to pick it up today.”
In Lynnfield, the parking lot at the Christmas Tree Shop was eerily empty compared to past Black Fridays for much of the day. The silver lining for the few shoppers in the store was there was virtually no waiting in line to check out.
MarketStreet shoppers were also conspicuously absent compared to years past when the mere thought of just making your way around the rotary inside the entrance to the shops would be nightmarish at best.
This year, however, shoppers, for the most part, enjoyed few lines, either to get into the center or stores, if any. Even at the Apple Store there were only a handful of customers waiting to get in by early afternoon.
Paper Store greeter Katherine Martinez, a junior at Lynnfield High School, said the atmosphere felt more like an “ordinary Saturday” as opposed to what Black Friday normally feels like.
“It really hasn’t been crowded at all, certainly not as busy as I thought it would be,” she said. “At times, it feels like there’s no one here and even the traffic isn’t bad. When I came in for my shift at 9, there was no one here. We’ve had steady customers, but I’m hoping it picks up in the afternoon.”
Martinez said the store’s online pickup is active, pointing to a slew of packages piled high just inside the front door.
Peabody native Kelly Valaskatgis, a Connecticut resident visiting family for Thanksgiving, was waiting outside the store for her mother, Grace Goffredo, to come out.
“I’m not shopping but my mother is,” said Valaskatgis. “She comes here often as she lives in Peabody. I think we were surprised that there haven’t been any lines to get in today.”
At the AT&T store there were only three customers inside around noontime. Assistant manager Joel Aviles said the store had no lines and minimum wait times for customers to be serviced.
“It’s definitely less busy, so it’s pretty astonishing when you look around and see that shoppers are not out,” he said. “I think we are doing better online, for certain, as it seems that more people are afraid to come out. Pre-COVID our sales were awesome with a lot of traffic. Even with early sales, it’s definitely a different landscape this year.”
At the Booty by Brabants boutique, a store greeter said that lines to get into the store formed early, but gradually leveled off in late morning with no waiting at all.
“We had lines, but, even so, going by what I see, there is still plenty of room in the parking lot,” the greeter said. “The lot right here (pointing to the spaces in front of the building) was practically empty until the last hour.
“I mean, you would think that to have such a warm day in the end of November would bring people out. It seems that at the indoor malls, people are walking around every day. I have to think that with the number of shoppers being down compared to what you normally see on a Black Friday, people just are finding that online shopping is easier.”
Business was booming at the Northshore Mall in Peabody despite the shopping center’s strict precautions. The lot was full by the end of the day, and lines of people formed at the few entrances that were open. In all, there was a 10-minute wait to get inside.
Guards at the door were letting five people in for every eight who exited the mall, and by dark, all the entrances and exits were open again.
Not only were there lines to get in, but many stores were also counting people. As a result, there were many stores with lines snaking up the aisles. The longest line was at Bath and Body Works and PacSun (a clothing store).
Also showing long lines were Pink, Game Stop, Journey to Kids, Victoria’s Secret, American Eagle, Tilly’s, Aeropostale, Abercrombie and Fitch, Newbury Comics and Build a Bear Workshop.
In Revere, the Northgate Shopping Center on Squire Road saw a steady flow of customers flock to its several retail outlets but it was nothing out of the ordinary for most of them.
“We usually just get a normal flow here around the holidays and that’s what we saw today,” said Cheryl, a manager at Rainbow. “We don’t have some of the bigger savings like other stores because we have some things on clearance but it still picks up a little bit.”
Several stores still took advantage of Black Friday hours with stores like Big Lots on Veterans of Foreign Wars Parkway opening at 6 a.m. and Target on Furlong Street opening for all customers at 8 a.m.
“I wouldn’t say we’re too loaded but with three registers it’s been pretty busy,” A manager who wished not to be named at Big Lots, said the store was offering a number of deals. “We have gotten a very, very consistent surge of people coming in throughout the day.”
Back at Northgate, stores like Burlington Coat Factory opened their doors as early 7 a.m. to accommodate shoppers even if things didn’t pick up as much as usual.
“It’s definitely different but it’s been OK,” a manager at Burlington said. “I’m going to be honest, early today we didn’t really get much more customers than we usually do. We’re ready for things to pick up (Friday) night.”
Other stores, including Rainbow, opened their doors to customers at normal times while anticipating the normal flow of shoppers.
“We opened at 10 a.m. (Friday), which is normal,” Cheryl said. “Right now things are normal, we know sometimes things pickup later in the night but for now we’ll see.”
Die With Your Boots On, a Salem store which sells clothing in the heavy metal, gothic, darkwave, and punk styles saw steady business throughout the day.
The store reached it’s COVID-19 restricted max capacity of 10 people at multiple points throughout the holiday.
For Black Friday, it offered 30 percent off sitewide, including on most items already on sale.
Shoes were among its best-selling products Friday, with Strange Cvlt and Foxblood some of the most popular brands.
The shop is a small family-owned business which, up until September, was operated by the two owners and two employees. They emphasize supporting local business, carrying many locally crafted products, including Corey Press, Bats in the Belfry Crafts, FunDead Publications, HypnoVamp, The Cemeterrarium,and Ravenstone Gifts.
The store’s 30 percent off deal will last through Monday, and applies to items purchased on the website as well as those purchased in-store.
Normally the day after Thanksgiving for shoppers along the Route 1 corridor in Saugus means traffic slowdowns and parking headaches, with drivers making numerous passes in parking lots attempting to find that elusive spot.
But not so this year, at least for early-bird shoppers. At Target on the Fellsway, there were plenty of parking spaces and few shoppers in sight in late morning. Across the way at Marshalls/Home Goods, Michael’s and a handful of other stores, it was more of a ghost town than what one would expect to encounter on what has traditionally been one of the busiest shopping days of the year.
By midafternoon, however, while the stores may have had minimal waits, there were still plenty of motorists clogging things up on the Walnut, Main and Essex on/off ramps, in some cases, backing up traffic well on the right hand lanes of the highway.
In Swampscott’s Vinnin Square, Marshalls opened at its normal time of 8 a.m. and remained open until the usual 9 p.m. The chain offered sales of up to 75 percent off some items across the board for in-store shoppers, from clothing to home goods, and also offered a deal of free shipping for online orders of more than $89 and free returns to the local store on its website. But really, it just seemed like any other Friday at the Swampscott location.