‘Not like it used to be:’ A lackluster Black Friday in Las Vegas

Ronda Deal woke up at 4 a.m. to an ultimately lackluster Black Friday.

“It’s not like it used to be. I’ve been in line at, like, 1 a.m.,” said Deal, who was shopping at the Walmart Supercenter on Serene Avenue in Las Vegas. “Nothing opened until 6 a.m.”

At the technology section in the Walmart Supercenter, in true Black Friday fashion, televisions are stacked 10 feet high, with significant sales. For example, a Vizio 75-inch, 4K Smart TV is priced at $478, with an original price of $598.

Danine McDougall has two shopping carts with her: one with typical Black Friday items, the other with a 55-inch Hisense Roku Smart TV.

McDougall is from Calgary, Canada, but has a home in Henderson to escape the frigid winters up north. Black Friday deals in America are “by far” better, said McDougall, who actually celebrates Thanksgiving at the beginning of October.

“Very, very, much less, but then with our dollar exchange, that’s where it gets a little tricky,” said McDougall. “Black Friday was never a thing in Canada, but I think because so many people were cross border shopping, now it’s become a thing.”

Shoppers under siege

This year, shoppers are “under siege,” according to Burt Flickinger, owner and consultant at Strategic Resource Group, and many people cannot afford to buy gifts.

He said it’s “the best of times for people who have white collar jobs on Wall Street, but it’s “really tough times for working people, blue collar workers, seniors, students, people on fixed and limited income.”

Flickinger says to expect shoppers “outsmarting” the system and buying gift cards or only the necessities while America gets out of their “retail Ice Age.”

“A record number of stores closing, between chain drug, chain dollar department stores and specialty stores, as prices come down in the next few years, in the second half of this decade, we’ll go through a real retail renaissance,” said Flickinger.

Even with shoppers’ income under attack, a record 183.4 million people are expected to shop online and in-person from Thanksgiving Day or Cyber Monday, which is the Monday following Thanksgiving, according to the annual National Retail Federation survey. The number is up from 2023, with 182 million shoppers.

Holiday spending between November and December is estimated to be between $979.5 billion and $989 billion this year, the federation said. A significant chunk of that number is from online and non-store shopping, with a total between $295.1 billion and $297.9 billion.

According to Flickinger, this is due to safety concerns and fear of crime in the western United States.

“Walmart literally uses 911, for security,” said Flickinger. “The safest places to shop, or safest places to go anywhere in America are Kroger, Costco and Target, because they invest in security.”

Online, Taylor Swift dominate

Christine Haylock, who was shopping at Town Square at 10 a.m., said she prefers Cyber Monday deals, but the $5 pajama pant deal at Old Navy and 30 percent off select items at Sephora couldn’t keep her indoors.

Although, even with the steep deals, the normally bustling shopping center was quiet.

“I feel like Black Friday gets super overwhelming,” said Haylock. “But, Black Friday Sephora got me with their 30 percent off, so I had to go get stocked up on some stuff.”

Haylock bought three high-end perfumes and colognes as presents at Sephora for a nice discount and matching pajama pants for her family on Christmas.

Despite the option to online shop, many stores offer in-person only discounts or items, like Target. This year, Target is having “the best Black Friday of anybody in America,” said Flickinger because of one mega-popstar: Taylor Swift.

On Black Friday, Swift released exclusive vinyls and CDs for her newest album “The Tortured Poets Department” and an official Eras Tour Book, in-person only on Friday and only at Target.

Stefanie Hafen could be seen grabbing one of the last vinyls at 7:30 a.m., which she said was the only draw for her to go Black Friday shopping. Even with the high demand for the products, Hafen didn’t have to wait in line outside of the store to get her hands on it.

“I was worried about the lines, but I checked some Target TikTok videos,” said Hafen. “I was like ‘I’m gonna go an hour later and see if I get lucky and there were like three left.”

Currently, Target has a deal on CDs and vinyls: buy two of any, get one free, which was another draw for Hafen. The vinyl set costs $59.99 and includes four records and the book costs $39.99.

Contact Emerson Drewes at edrewes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @EmersonDrewes on X.