Are you shopping in-person on Black Friday? Here's what Bay Area shoppers say

ByJ.R. Stone KGO logo

Friday, November 24, 2023

Are you shopping in-person around Bay Area on Black Friday?

Black Friday is here, but with so many of the deals now online, will we see the same crowds at the malls like what we have seen in the past?

COLMA, Calif. (KGO) -- Black Friday is here, but with so many of the deals now online, will we see the same crowds at the malls like what we have seen in the past?

Years ago, some stores would open their doors on Thanksgiving night. This year that was hard to find.

Empty Target parking lots could be seen on Thanksgiving, but don't let that fool you.

"I'm very interested in Black Friday," said Kristyna Malins.

Look inside that closed Target store and you can see the 30% off Black Friday deals are coming.

MORE: Everything you need to know about Black Friday 2023

But will they come with crowds of people storming in? Maybe, maybe not.

"Will you be getting up early tomorrow?" we asked Malins.

"I'm going to try to! Maybe like seven in the morning, early maybe."

Yes, maybe, because hey, it's 2023 and there's this thing called online where the deals have already started.

"My husband booked a trip to Greece because we were given a Black Friday special. If you pay cash they give you I think 700 dollars, something like that," said Tess Fairchild.

MORE: Black Friday store hours for Walmart, Target, Macy's and more

So the belief is that those like Tess Fairchild won't be going to Macy's. She's done spending, no gracias.

"That's great, so you're not worrying about crowds, or anything like that because you're done!" we said.

"Yeah, but I could still try tomorrow if I get a good deal," said Fairchild laughing.

MORE: Black Friday 2023: From Amazon and Walmart to Best Buy and Apple - deals for holiday shopping

But not everyone is in that same mindset.

In past years we've seen people lined up outside Black Friday locations like Best Buy the night before. Not the case this year but we do see these fences lined up for crowd control at the Colma location.

"We're going to skip it this year," said Alberto Mora.

"I've actually gotten better deals online than Black Friday," said Brenda Cabrera.

MORE: The best Black Friday tech deals on speakers, headphones and more

At GameStop, they will have deals of up to 40 and 50% off. But some say that won't even get them to think about "maybe buying."

"Unless it's really good like 70% off or something like that," said Mora.

We didn't come across any 70% off Black Friday deals being advertised, but at one location we saw what is said to be an "unreal deal" and hey, to somebody one of these Black Friday deals might be just that.