Andrew Presutti has memories from when he was his son’s age of shopping on Black Friday, and this year was making new ones with his 5-year-old, Ryder.
The father and son from Buffalo Township were found Friday morning at Macy’s at the Pittsburgh Mills in Frazer, where Ryder was getting a Christmas gift for his mom.
“We have a tradition every year. I take him out to let him pick whatever he wants for mom,” Presutti said.
But while Presutti remembers how crazy Black Fridays used to be, including getting into a fender bender in a crowded parking lot, he was taken with how calm it is now.
“It’s unbelievable how little action there is,” he said.
It was plenty busy around 10 a.m. at the Westmoreland Mall in Hempfield — at least until a false fire alarm went off.
But while some headed — albeit very leisurely — for the exits, most took a quick look around and then continued their Black Friday shopping.
Cindy Shawley and her friend, Michele Domonkos of Windber, don’t usually come to the Westmoreland Mall on Black Friday, but stopped by shortly before lunchtime so Domonkos could look for some gifts for her grandchildren.
“I do a lot of online shopping through Amazon, especially for the kids, but if I’m buying clothes, I like to come to the stores,” Domonkos said.
By the numbers
The National Retail Federation says some of the busiest shopping days are during the five-day Thanksgiving weekend.
According to the organization, 183.4 million people are planning to shop in-store and online from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday, up from 182 million last year.
Because Thanksgiving came a week later than usual this year, many retailers at the Westmoreland and Monroeville malls started their Black Friday promotions early in anticipation of a shortened holiday shopping season, said Stacey Keating, spokesperson for CBL Properties, which owns the two malls.
“Sales were up at Westmoreland in the third quarter, flat in Monroeville but up across our portfolio during that same time frame,” Keating said. “As we’ve gotten closer to Black Friday, traffic has started to build, which is a positive indicator for the season.”
In the National Retail Federation’s survey, more than half, 57%, said they would be shopping because the deals are too good to pass up, while 28% said it was a tradition and 24% said they like to start holiday shopping over the Thanksgiving weekend.
Swifties among shoppers
Taylor Swift exclusives, including the official Eras Tour Book and The Tortured Poets Department on vinyl and CD, were a major draw at Target stores.
The Swift merch was enough to bring a hobbled Matt Harris to Target in Harmar with his sons, Apollo, 10, and Orion, 8. Harris of Fox Chapel was on crutches, having broken his left ankle while skydiving in September.
He got one of the tour books for himself and one for his sister in England, finding a display in an unusual spot near the grocery section.
“Anything that encourages me to go out is good,” Harris said. “It’s not too busy.”
While looking for other deals, Harris said he’s able to get most of those online, and he saw them starting as far back as Veterans Day.
“Everything starts early,” he said. “As a day, it’s become less of an activity. It’s more of a season.”
The Swift book also brought Kipp and Kathy Shellhammer of Home to the Harmar target. Their daughter, Kayla, who lives on Long Island, wanted it. They made their way across the river to Oakmont Bakery.
“Every once in a while we make a trip to Oakmont Bakery,” Kipp Shellhammer said. “I said since we’re this close to Oakmont Bakery, why don’t we come over?”
They were planning to head to Ross Park Mall and see the movie “Wicked.” But making a day of Black Friday is not something they’ve done for many years.
“It’s not the same as it used to be,” he said. “Sales are out all the time.”
Stephanie Bell of Cranberry was out with her daughters, Sydney and Morgan, and Morgan’s fiancé, Andrew Ledergerber. Sydney wanted to stop at Oakmont Bakery before going to State College, where she’s a student at Penn State.
“We’ve always Black Friday shopped, just the nostalgia of it,” Bell said.
They had three reasons for shopping — Christmas presents, Sydney’s birthday and taking advantage of deals for Morgan and Andrew’s new home in Cranberry.
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“The sales are way better this year than last year,” Morgan said.
Willard Gray of Greensburg seemed like he was fully decked out for the holidays, with a Christmas sweater and a felt hat sporting reindeer antlers as he browsed a few shops at the Westmoreland Mall.
But that’s nothing compared to the outfit he wore in the 1970s, when he worked as Santa Claus at the Greengate Mall for several years.
“My daughter, Heidi, used to be Santa’s helper,” he said. “Today, I’m the helper, holding all her bags.”
Gray said Christmas is his favorite holiday season.
“I just loved being Santa Claus,” he said.