American pastime Black Friday may be past its time

Comparing this year’s Black Friday to prior years reveals a more subdued shopping environment, with customers saying they’re going for the experience rather than the sales.

Back in 2013, people camped outside of Best Buy in Northeast Albuquerque the day before Thanksgiving to get first dibs on deals, KOAT-TV reported.

On Black Friday in 2017, New Mexicans in Las Cruces fought over a $150 flat-screen television, according to reporting from KVIA-TV.

This year, the line outside a Northeast Heights Walmart Supercenter was fewer than 20 people at around 5:30 a.m. Friday. It appears that customers’ shopping habits have changed in recent years, with fewer people placing an emphasis on getting up early to kickstart their Christmas shopping.

“It used to be way busier,” said Alexander Ytuarte, who was waiting in line with his wife and child, all bundled up in the 50-degree weather.

Nationwide, analysts envision a solid holiday shopping season, though perhaps not as robust as last year’s, with many shoppers cautious with their discretionary spending despite the easing of inflation. Consumers spent a record $6.1 billion online on Thanksgiving Day, up 8.8% from last year, according to Vivek Pandya, the lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights. Growth outpaced last year, driven by bigger-than-expected discounts that spurred impulse buys in electronics, apparel and other categories, Pandya said.

Thanksgiving was the best time to shop online to get the deepest discount on sporting goods, toys, furniture and appliances, according to Adobe’s analysis. But Black Friday was the best time to buy TVs online. Cyber Monday, however, is expected to be the best time to buy clothing and gadgets like phones and computers online.

Across the board, Black Friday weekend discounts should peak at 30% on Cyber Monday and then go down to around 15%, according to Adobe’s research.

Outside the Walmart Supercenter in Northeast Heights, Alexander Ytuarte’s wife, Noemi, was excited for her first Black Friday shopping experience.

“I’ve only been here (in the U.S.) for two years and I wanted to go to Black Friday,” Noemi said in Spanish.

Albuquerque’s Uptown had slightly more significant lines. Target had at least 40 people waiting outside, but no one was camping.

Mallory Earp was happy to wait in the chilly line at 5:55 a.m.

“It feels nostalgic,” she said.

Inside, the Target was decorated for Christmas and jaunty modern Christmas music hummed over the speakers.

JCPenney opened its doors at 5 a.m. but at 7:30 a.m. only a handful of people were shopping in the store.

Two of those were sisters Christina Hawk and Luwanda Jarvis. They said Black Friday shopping is a tradition for them.

“We’ve been doing it forever,” Hawk said, perusing the selections.

The sisters wake early and get breakfast every year before visiting stores hunting for Black Friday bargains, Jarvis said.

Jarvis and her sister were holding a heap of clothes. Hawk joked that they should be Christmas shopping for their grandkids, but they were actually buying stuff for themselves.

“It was more fun when it was true Black Friday,” said Jarvis.

She said the sales start too early now.

“The old Black Friday deals were probably better,” said Hawk.