How holiday shopping habits are changing in Southwest Florida

LEE COUNTY, Fla. — Hundreds of people waited outside the Best Buy store off Cleveland Avenue in Fort Myers to snag some of the best Black Friday deals on electronics. Shoppers said the wait and overall experience is nothing compared to what Black Friday used to be.

“I kind of miss the culture of Black Friday like when everyone would stay out until midnight and wake up at five in the morning to get that 80-inch TV for $20 and fight people over it,” Evan King said.

As shopping habits evolve, so do the deals.

Several major retailers no longer open their stores on Thanksgiving night, and many discounts go well past just the one day.

“I got great deals on all my shopping previously to Black Friday!” Jean Warner said.

Many people are skipping the stores entirely, doing their shopping at home, in front of a screen. Adobe Analytics predicted $12 billion in revenue from Cyber Monday.

That’s predicted to outpace Black Friday.

“Everybody shops online, it’s much easier and much more efficient than sitting in line for three to four hours to buy something you can buy online in 15 seconds,” Jacob Garcia said.

Before you move on to Cyber Monday, don’t forget about Small Business Saturday.

“We’ve been struggling a lot with the business coming back from Hurricane Ian,” Priscilla Torres said.

Butterfly Beach Clothing in Bell Tower Shops is one of several businesses from Sanibel that was forced to relocate after the storm. Their store was destroyed on the island.

“We’d just love people to find our new location and come shop with us,” Torres said.

Just like big box stores, Butterfly Beach Clothing is also offering discounts.

“Our current deals right now through the holidays are 20 percent off everything,” Torres said. “We focus on crop tops, denim sweaters, we have some men’s clothing as well.”