After the Black Friday boost, local malls went back to a fairly quiet Saturday, but remain encouraged by the tremendous day before.
“I was here at 4 o’clock in the morning and I saw lines at our department stores of people just waiting to get inside and go shopping. I saw that again when Target opened and Macy’s. There were a lot of people here,” said Genevieve Christensen, Marketing Director for the Westfield Plaza Bonita in National City.
The Westfield Plaza Bonita recently underwent a pretty significant expansion including 40 new retailers, an AMC movie theatre, and a Target. The new stores definitely attract more customers, but Christensen was unable to provide hard numbers at this point.
The International Council on Shopping Centers surveyed 1,000 consumers nationwide the week before Thanksgiving. They determined 45 percent of those consumers planned to shop on Black Friday or the weekend after.
“Today was not as good as yesterday. Yesterday was great,” said shopper Evelyn Washington, who plans to shop all weekend and came to the mall Saturday with her grandchildren.
“It’s all about the deals, bargains, and sales. I’m spending less money this year because I don’t have it,” said Washington.
Now, mall employees like Christensen, can only wait with bated breath to see what happens over the next few weeks. “I’m encouraged by what I see around me, it will be interesting to see how this holiday season turns out,” said Christensen.
