Black Friday shoppers scour SoCal malls for deep discounts
COMMERCE, Calif. (KABC) -- The Black Friday shopping blitz is on! Southlanders wasted no time hitting the malls early Friday morning to get their hands on the best bargains and the deepest discounts.
One of many hot spots in SoCal was the Citadel Outlets in Commerce, which was bustling with shoppers as early as 4 a.m.
A long line was seen outside the Michael Kors store, which was offering 50 percent off nearly every item. Another popular spot was the Kate Spade shop, which was offering 70 percent off many items. The Coach store boasted deals of 40 to 50 percent off.
Approximately 200,000 shoppers were expected to pass through the outlet mall throughout the holiday weekend, a Citadel rep told Eyewitness News.
Citadel Outlets opened at 8 a.m. Thursday and was expected to remain open until 11 p.m. Friday.
Another hot shopping spot was the Glendale Galleria, where the Disney store was offering 20 percent off nearly every item in the store. Some said they've been shopping since 1 a.m. Exhausted shoppers were seen sleeping on benches at the mall.
The Galleria opened at 6 p.m. Thursday and was expected to remain open until 10 p.m.
Around 137 million people plan to or are considering doing their shopping during the Thanksgiving weekend, according to a survey conducted for the National Retail Federation. That includes online and store shopping. Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, vies with the Saturday before Christmas as the busiest shopping day of the year.
The NRF, the nation's largest retail group, expects holiday sales to rise 3.6 percent for November and December, better than the 3 percent growth seen for those months last year. That excludes car sales, gas and restaurant receipts. But it includes online spending and other non-store sales such as catalog spending.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
