Black Friday traditionally marks the start of the holiday shopping season.
The National Retail Federation is expecting this holiday weekend will break records with nearly two million more shoppers than last year.
Target customer Eileen Acosta had a full cart as she exited the store.
“It was wonderful. I was expecting it to be a little more busy, but it was a great experience,” Acosta said.
Acosta compared her experience today compared to last year’s Black Friday.
“It was much better than last year. This year it was very easy,” Acosta continued, “Parking was great. Lines inside the story were easy, so it was great.”
Acosta took advantage of some early Christmas shopping for her niece.
“There were a lot of great deal,” Acosta went on to say, “A lot of buy one get one 50% off, so we got a lot of Christmas toys and trees.”
Students Julie Smith and Luigina Gutierrez were also enjoying some shopping on Black Friday. Gutierrez was surprised when they pulled into the parking lot.
“We expected long lines and when we came to Target and there were a lot of parking spots we were surprised,” Gutierrez continued, “For the lines to check out, there was no wait. We just went to the self checkout and there were open registers too.”
Gutierrez did not think the store was too crowded and people were social distancing.
“Everybody was wearing masks and nobody was really up on each other. Everybody was pretty spaced out, so even though it’s a little more free to roam around than it was last year. I think that people are still respecting people’s space and everything,” Gutierrez said.
Smith was happy that it was pleasant inside the store.
“Everyone was really nice and there weren't really any lines and it was pretty quick,” Smith said.
People also took advantage of the drive up option for their Black Friday shopping.
One reason stores may have seemed less crowded, a lot of people got an early start. The National Retail Federation says nearly half of shoppers started browsing and buying before November.
