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Black Friday shopping ramps up from slower start at St. Louis-area malls

S.Martinez3 months ago

RICHMOND HEIGHTS — Chanel Ligies walked into work at The Urban Outfitters in the Galleria Mall here around 8:30 a.m. with two Starbucks coffees in hand — one for her, one for a coworker — expecting to see a much larger crowd.

“It looks like a pretty normal day,” said Ligies, 20, who has worked at the store for six months.

Early Friday, the mall appeared only a little busier than normal but business picked up as the morning wore on. By 11 a.m. stores were bustling.

Ligies said she anticipated shoppers would wander in over the day to Urban, which was offering a buy one, get one 50% off any item storewide.

The pace reflected an established trend away from camping overnight to be the first in the door on the annual shopping day door to a much more relaxed affair, with many shoppers opting to buy online instead or take advantage of extended Black Friday deals offered over days, if not weeks.

Still, some shoppers took the traditional route.

Shella Lathan and Jessie Cannamore lined up Macy’s at 6 a.m. to start shopping for their “Besties” holiday gift spree, a tradition since 2016 in which they buy gifts for each other and two other good friends, after planning out a wish list long in advance.

“I guess the online shopping takes away from the crowds,” said Lathan, 54, of north St. Louis County.

“But I like to see my products and talk to the sales people before I buy anything.”

She turned her back to Cannamore to show a reporter a set of gifts for her, each bought at a hefty discount. They were headed to Bath and Body Works and then Footlocker next, Lathan said.

Though she lined up early, Lathan said the ability to shop online and on days other than Friday were “a good thing.”

“You can spend more time with family,” she said. “Or sleep in a little later.”

Bryson Neff and Max Windlan, both 18, drove in from their hometowns of Decatur and Mt. Zion, Illinois, with a group of friends. But they weren’t intent on shopping at the Galleria.

“It’s just something to do while we hang out,” said Windlan. The group planned to see The Gateway Arch after leaving the mall and then eat at Gus’s Fried Chicken in Maplewood.

The mall offered plenty of options in case there was something they wanted to buy, or an enticing offer that would catch their eye, Bryson said. But they do most of their shopping online, and with Amazon in particular.

“It’s just so convenient, you can do it right there on your phone,” Bryson said.

“It might be the death of malls,” Windham added.

Meanwhile Friday morning, traffic into the mall and the nearby Brentwood Promenade plaza was slowed to a crawl by a crowd of protesters demanding American leaders support a ceasefire in The Gaza Strip.

The group met at the Promenade and then marched down Brentwood Boulevard, with signs and chants including “Free Palestine” and “while you’re shopping bombs are dropping.”

Editor's note: This story was updated at 11:07 a.m. to correct the protestors' chants.

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