Black Friday shopping in Fresno: Why you don’t have to go and what to expect if you do
With more people vaccinated and gathering for the holidays this year, will Black Friday be a return to the days of crowds and lines?
Nah. Most likely not.
A “meh” Black Friday seems to be the new normal. Big chain stores will still open in the early morning, but don’t expect huge lines.
More stores will stay closed on Thanksgiving Day this year. Even Fashion Fair mall has pushed its Friday opening time to 8 a.m., compared to last year’s 6 a.m.
If deals are your sole reason for shopping on Black Friday, you don’t even have to leave the house.
Online deals are now the same as in-store deals, a change from three or four years ago, noted Kristin Cook, managing editor of Ben’s Bargains, a site that tracks the best Black Friday deals and lets you set price alerts for certain items.
“Unless you like going for the shopping experience after Thanksgiving – which some people do – there’s really no need to. You can get it on your couch if you want,” she said.
Retailers will still rake in the cash this weekend. At least two-thirds of people surveyed say they plan to shop between Thanksgiving and Monday, with more than 108 million shopping on Friday, according to a National Retail Federation survey.
That includes both in-person and online shopping.
In addition to people increasingly shopping online, there’s another reason the energy of in-person Black Friday is deflating like a balloon.
The sales get earlier and earlier every year.
Many big retailers started their Black Friday sales last weekend.
“By the time actual Black Friday proper starts, pretty much all the good stuff is going to be gone,” said Cook.
One typical driver of crowds on Black Friday is the sale of video game systems. But even that is a little different this year. Target, for example, is only selling the PlayStation gaming console online, though customers can do Target Drive Up or pick it up in store after they’ve purchased it.
If you want to shop
If you do go shopping either online or in person, there are some things you should know.
You may not find what you’re looking for.
You may have heard about worldwide supply problems, prompted by the coronavirus pandemic. Factories have ramped up production, but ships full of potential Christmas presents are still backed up at ports.
So some popular items might not be available anywhere. If there’s something specific you want, look for it as early as possible.
“If there’s something on your list that you know you really need to get, just get it,” said Cook of Ben’s Bargains.
But what if you’re a bargain hunter and want to wait for the lowest possible price?
There’s still a way to buy early and protect yourself.
Both Target and Best Buy have programs where you can get money back if the price drops after you buy something.
There’s some strings attached, like Best Buy only offers its Black Friday Price Guarantee on certain items and requires you to be a My Best Buy member. And Target wants you to keep the receipt. Check each retailer’s website for details.
But in many cases, if the price drops between when you bought something and Christmas Eve, you can get the difference refunded to you.
And use common sense. A retailer may push something as a great deal, but it still may be the same price it is during the rest of the year.
“Don’t get caught up in the rush of Black Friday,” Cook said. “There’s definitely stuff that’s awesome details. There’s also stuff that’s inflated retail price.”
Even though Black Friday will be slower than in years past, expect some businesses to be pretty busy.
In the NRF survey, 64% of people who planned to shop this weekend planned to do so in stores, compared to 50% last year, when stores still had limits on capacity and most people weren’t vaccinated.
There will probably still be some hot spots, like lines outside Best Buy and Victoria’s Secret, and clusters of people in the shoe department at JCPenney, for example.
Here’s a look at who will open when in Fresno and Clovis.
Black Friday Opening hours:
Best Buy 5 a.m.
Costco 9 a.m.
Fashion Fair 8 a.m.
Kohls 5 a.m.
JCPenney 5 a.m.
Old Navy 5 a.m.
Macy’s 6 a.m.
Sierra Vista Mall 7 a.m.
Target 6 a.m.
Walmart deals start at 5 a.m. regardless of store hours.
