Black Friday brings out a golden glow for shoppers, retailers
Sisters Juanita Matheney, left, and Chris Sills of Caldwell, Ohio, traveled to Tanger Outlets and Washington Crown Center for Black Friday.
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Crowds started picking up around 10 a.m. Friday at Tanger Outlets.
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
A line could still be seen around noon on Black Friday outside the Michael Kors store at Tanger Outlets.
Suzanne Downer, left, and daughter Alexandra of Jefferson Hills had Black Friday shopping in the bag at Tanger Outlets.
South Park High students Jenna Dinkfelt, left, and Sadie Himbershop at Tanger Outlets on Black Friday.
Observer-Reporter
Shoppers make their rounds on Black Friday in 2018 at Washington Crown Center.
Sisters Juanita Matheney and Chris Sills left their Caldwell, Ohio, homes around 4 a.m. Friday and headed down Interstate 70 east, searching for bargains.
A free, but time-consuming, geography lesson was among them.
They began their Black Friday excursion from the Cambridge area with a 90-minute commute to Tanger Outlets in South Strabane Township, where they had never shopped before. Before leaving, they asked someone about similar local destinations and were advised to try Washington Crown Center, a few miles to the south.
But one of the siblings punched “mall” and “crown plaza” onto her phone and they ended up at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Green Tree, 20 miles north of where they wanted to be.
If they had found the Crowne Plaza in Upper St. Clair, they could have shopped at South Hills Village across the road. But they had never spent this feverish retail day in the immediate Pittsburgh area and did not want to get further lost, so the two huddled.
One realized they should be seeking “Crown Center,” tapped those words into the phone and they humbly headed southward.
“OK, so we are geographically challenged,” Matheney said, laughing near the food court at the North Franklin Township mall, which they subsequently found easily. “But this is an annual tradition for us and an all-day event. We’re going to The Highlands (in Triadelphia, W.Va.) next.”
The sisters were among thousands of shoppers scurrying through malls, shopping complexes and big-box stores throughout the tri-state area, seeking deals, buying for the holidays and sharing the camaraderie of friends and relatives at a mostly amiable time of the year.
Black Friday is the unofficial beginning of the holiday shopping season. By many accounts, it is the biggest retail day of the year. The business-solutions website womply.com reported in 2017, retailers across Pennsylvania realized a 119 percent increase in sales over the average day and made 19.4 percent of their revenue during the holiday season.
The term Black Friday is something of a misnomer. Numerous stores and retail complexes commence their “Black Friday” business on Thanksgiving day. Tanger opened at 6 p.m. Thanksgiving and remained open until 10 p.m. Friday.
Online shopping, and its conveniences, may continue to gain popularity. But glimpses of people traffic at Tanger and Washington Crown Center indicated that bricks-and-mortar retail is alive. Both malls were brimming with families, couples and clusters of teens. Adults pushing strollers likewise were strolling about.
Martha Zemba and Kristi Lowden, both of Coal Center, were among the avid shoppers at Tanger – and elsewhere – Friday. They began at 5:30 a.m., waiting for Washington Crown Center’s opening a half-hour later, and hit three other stores before arriving at Tanger around 9:30.
“I went out for a little while last night,” Zemba said. “I’m sure we’ll be going to several more.”
An hour after arriving at Tanger, Lowden was impressed by the growing crowd enjoying the sunshine and the sales.
The Gorby family of four from New Freeport, Greene County, arrived at Tanger at mid-morning, knowing they weren’t going to shop throughout the day. Charles, the family patriarch and boss of a pipeline company, had to work later in the day.
“We’re not die-hard shoppers,” said Melissa, his wife. They were accompanied by their son, Ben, 18, and daughter, Olivia, 14, both of whom said they weren’t keen on Black Friday shopping because stores “are too crowded.”
This was not their initial stop, but it would not be the last. “We’ve made a few of them, and we’ll make a few more,” Melissa said.
The Gorbys will not shop on Thanksgiving. “Good lord, no,” Melissa said. “That’s insane. The holiday should be the holiday.”
Charles said he refuses to schedule employees to work on that day.
South Park High School seniors Sadie Himber and Jenna Dinkfelt arrived at South Hills Village at about 6:30 a.m. before continuing their retail adventure at Tanger. They, like the Gorbys, were not ardent shoppers who were enjoying their time together.
“It’s not my favorite day,” said Jenna, who was interested in clothing. Sadie was purchasing a few Christmas gifts and personal clothing.
Suzanne Downer and her daughter, Alexandra, of Jefferson Hills, have shopped together on Black Friday the past nine years – about half of Alexandra’s life. She is 19, the oldest of four siblings, and a sophomore at Allegheny College.
This was their first Black Friday trip to Tanger. “We’ve decided to come here next year if they have the same sales,” Suzanne said. “We have to regroup in the car. We plan to go elsewhere.”
Elsewhere included South Hills Village and the McMurray Road area of Peters Township.
Sunshine wasn’t the only reason this Black Friday was a golden Friday for many retailers and shoppers. They were in their element. Even their circuitous travels did not diminish a fun day for those sisters from Ohio.
“We’ll stop here again next year now that we know where this is,” Juanita Matheney said inside Washington Crown Center. Or was that Crowne Plaza?