Westroads Mall draws shoppers from the Omaha metro and beyond on Black Friday

Having too many customers is a good sign for the holiday season.

The PACSUN store inside Westroads Mall in Omaha enjoyed that situation on Black Friday.

Employee Lexi Marsh was in charge of the clothing store’s entrance, keeping an eye on the crowd of shoppers inside. As customers left, she allowed new customers in a few at a time to get in on the deals.

“We have a capacity of 49 in the store at a time, just because it’s kind of smaller,” Marsh said. “And it just makes it easier for people to shop and look. And it also is a fire hazard.”

Black Friday — aka the busiest shopping day of the year — appeared to live up to its billing at the mall, drawing shoppers from the metro area but also from around the region.

Tammy Schinck came 60 miles from Oakland, Nebraska, to the mall to shop with her daughters Kassidy, Jerri and Chelsey, who are from Lincoln.

“The girls and I shop every Black Friday. We come to Omaha. We go shopping. We eat at Cheesecake Factory,” she said.

The National Retail Federation expects more people in the United States than ever to shop during Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

An estimated 182 million people are planning to shop in-store and online from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday this year, according to the federation.

The figure is 15.7 million more people than last year and is the highest estimate since the federation began tracking data in 2017, the federation said.

The federation said the biggest day of the weekend, no surprise, would be Black Friday, as 130.7 million people were expected to shop.

Cyber Monday is the second-most-popular day, with 71.1 million people planning to shop.

The federation reported this month that holiday spending is expected to reach record levels during November and December.

Spending is forecast to grow between 3% and 4%, totaling $957.3 billion to $966.6 billion, the federation said.

The top reasons consumers plan to shop during this period are because “the deals are too good to pass up” and because of tradition.

That rosy forecast comes even as consumers express concern about the economy.

The Conference Board, a business research group, reported that in October consumers remained pessimistic about the future, even as they continued to spend.

Consumer fears of an impending recession remained elevated, it said.

Consumers continued to be preoccupied with rising prices in general, and for grocery and gasoline prices in particular. They also expressed concern over “the political situation” and higher interest rates.

Westroads Mall General Manager Ryan Conlon said he’s seen the conflicting predictions on consumer spending, from the biggest holiday season ever to consumers watching their pocketbook due to economic constraints.

Conlon said that while the buying power of the average American remains challenged by inflation, traffic at the mall is up since January.

“We’re up actually several percentage points this year as compared to where we were last year, so people are still coming out,” he said. “They’re still shopping. They’re definitely going out to eat. I see that as a sign of encouragement. We’re expecting a pretty large holiday season.”

Despite the rise of e-commerce, the mall still offers a shopping destination, out of the weather, he said.

“They still actually want to put their hands on items,” he said.

Young people are discovering the mall, meeting up with friends or dates there, he said.

This year, the mall has extra vendors in for the holidays, including “fan favorite” Hickory Farms, back for the first time since the pandemic, he said.

Santa will be on hand, and there will be giving opportunities such as Toys for Tots, Angel Tree and Giving Machines — the latter are vending machines for donating to charities, making their first appearance at the mall.

The drive in from Oakland apparently paid off for Schinck.

By early afternoon Friday she was hefting several shopping bags.

With 11 grandchildren, she can’t risk being out of money during the holidays, so she budgets it throughout the year.

“They get the same amount they got last year, I just budget for it,” she said.

Her daughters planned to stop at the Nebraska Crossing shopping center in Gretna on their way back to Lincoln, she said.

Several shoppers who visited Westroads Mall this week said they weren’t going to trim their gift list because of the economy.

Leilani Hiatt said she plans to buy presents for friends and family, spending a moderate amount.

“No more than $500 is what I’m hoping for,” Hiatt said.

She said she’s not that concerned about the economy because buying gifts is worth it.

Hiatt said she won’t shop much online during the holiday season.

“Sometimes I’ve ordered something and it never came, and they had to refund it,” she said.

Nia O’Bryant and her siblings visited the mall Wednesday. They drove from Lincoln to the mall to shop for Christmas.

Lincoln has a mall, but it’s not as big and doesn’t have as many stores, she said.

On Black Friday, she said, she usually hits the little shops in downtown Lincoln.

O’Bryant said she won’t cut back on her gift budget. She expects to spend more.

“Got to get them what they want,” she said.

On the visit to Omaha, her brother, Kash, wanted something that’s better bought in person.

“He wanted cologne specifically, so to be able to smell it before we buy it. Not going to buy it if it’s one that you end up hating.”

Jada Bennett said she’s going to spend more this year. She’s got more people to buy for, more friends and a son who’s getting older, she said.

She said she can’t be concerned with the economy.

“What am I going to do? Not get them anything?” Bennett said. “Yeah, the prices are rising and getting higher, but I just feel like whatever they want I’m getting it still.”

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