NEW YORK—After enjoying the Thanksgiving turkey, some Americans hit the stores for what retailers hope will be a new tradition to start the holiday shopping season.
Throngs of shoppers lined up at Macy’s Herald Square in Manhattan for its evening opening, looking for deals, and Target estimated hundreds were waiting outside a store in Jersey City, New Jersey. The competition to grab customers first is keen.
“It’s manic. It’s crazy, but it is fun,” said Maria Elfes of Sydney, Australia, who was at Macy’s. It was her seventh visit to New York but her first time shopping on Thanksgiving.
Lots of stores are offering the same deals as in previous years, like $19.99 boots that remain a big attraction, cashmere sweaters, and sheets. For some shoppers, electronics at a big discount was the draw.
“Televisions, man, televisions. Beautiful big screens so I can watch sports,” said William Junkin, a recently retired longshoreman shopping at Best Buy in Howell, New Jersey. “I’m hoping to buy two of them, and I saw they had some real good prices, so maybe I'll splurge on some other stuff as well.”
Martin McDuffie, 34, came to a Walmart in suburban Columbia, South Carolina, for just one thing—a 60-inch television for $398. He’s been saving to replace his 32-inch TV.
“This is going to be a big upgrade,” McDuffie said.
