A busy Black Friday at the Empire Mall

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – The Thanksgiving leftovers are put away and now people are burning the calories with some Black Friday shopping.

Stores in the Empire Mall are decking the halls with deals aplenty for people to check out — no matter who they’re shopping for.

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LS: “Are you doing gift shopping?”
“Oh yeah, yeah,” cousins Venetia Nelson, Robert Nelson and Olivia Day said.

LS: “Are you shopping for yourself or for gifts or a little bit of both?”
“Myself. Always (laughs),” shopper Natylie Myers said.

“A little bit of that too, like, you got to,” Venetia Nelsons said.

The mall opened at 6 a.m. and general manager Dan Gies says they saw a better start to the morning compared to last year.

“We had customers starting to park in the parking lot at 4 a.m.,” Gies said.

And inside the mall was bustling even six hours later. There was even a line at the Lululemon store!

“The tradition is back. I saw a lot of groups with pajamas and sweaters and whatnot. So really, really good to see,” Gies said.

Brittany Hamilton, the store leader at Altar’d State, has also noticed an uptick in shoppers this year.

“I love it! Compared to like the previous years, you know you kind of see like a downfall, but this year you can definitely tell everybody’s in the spirit,” Hamilton said.

Now the question is — what are the good deals this year?

“I definitely got a good deal at Altar’d State. I got like a dress that was $300 for $45, so, good deal,” Olivia Day said.

“Fifty percent off everywhere, actually, and forty percent too, so. And buy one get one free,” Natylie Myers said.

Kicking off the holiday season in style and scoring deals.

While you’re out shopping this holiday season at the Empire Mall, you can also visit with Santa through Christmas Eve. To reserve a time to meet with Santa,.