Empire Mall sees steady numbers during Black Friday, morning lines short at big box stores

Black Friday, what’s thought to be the “busiest shopping day” in the country, has changed, seeing fewer people wait in lines as stores prepare to open their doors.

Shoppers lined up in front of the Empire Mall before 6 a.m. Friday morning to get deals at the 110 brands located inside the mall.

But, the mornings aren’t as busy as they used to be during Black Friday. That’s because of a decline in “doorbuster” deals, according to the Empire Mall Manager Dan Giles.

“We had a good crowd (at 6 a.m.), ” Giles said. “... There’s definitely less doorbusters, and that’s OK. Therefore, you have customers starting a little later in the day but going longer.”

But, the Empire Mall still saw a steady line of shoppers strolling in during the morning. Giles said the busiest time for the mall comes from about 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

“It continues to ramp up, 6 a.m. is definitely not the busiest, but now at 9 a.m., you see a traffic pattern coming in,” Giles said.

Another change implemented in 2020, is the mall closing on Thanksgiving. In 2020, numbers for Black Friday went down with traffic dropping by 52.1% from 2019.

“Today, we’re beating those numbers of course, But it was a different story, people were happy to get back out shopping in big crowds (in 2020),” Giles said. “We’ve had continuous growth since 2020, and I would say that we’re back to pre-pandemic levels.”

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Throughout the years, Black Friday has transformed with deals being released a week in advance, and online shopping has grown in popularity.

And that’s true for Sioux Falls.

“In theory, Black Friday really starts for retailers a couple of weeks ago with Black Friday sales. So it’s less of a big day, but it’s more of a shopping couple of weeks leading up to Black Friday,” Giles said.

According to a survey from Drive Research, that polled about 1,200 people, 69% of shoppers indicated they’d shop online this year, while 32% said they’d shop in person. Nearly half of those polled, about 47% agreed that “shopping malls are important for their holiday shopping.” In 2020, Black Friday was hurt badly, with traffic dropping by 52.1%.

Black Friday is thought to go all the way back to the 1950s, according to CNN Money.

Big box stores see smaller lines prior to opening

While the mall saw lines, most big box stores on Friday morning had what seemed like normal foot traffic.

Some who were standing in a line in front of Scheels early Friday morning before doors opened, said they made a few stops around Sioux Falls, only to be surprised by the lack of people.

But, it wasn’t like that everywhere.

At Target, off 41st Street and Louise Avenue saw a line grow when the time to open the doors quickly approached. At 6:45 a.m., 15 minutes before Target opened, the line grew to about 40 people or so who were searching for in-store deals, while some waited in their cars to avoid the chilly weather.

Representatives from Best Buy and Target declined to comment, while representatives from Walmart didn’t respond to messages.

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This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Black Friday in Sioux Falls sees shorter morning lines than normal