Chrisanne DuPuis, a 47-year-old woman who was shopping Friday morning at the Macy’s flagship store on State Street, has been taking advantage of Black Friday discounts since the 1980s.
“In the ’80s, that’s what you did,” DuPuis said. “You got up. You are out. You got the Black Friday deal.
DuPuis, who lives in Minnesota and was in Chicago to be with extended family over Thanksgiving, was shopping with her teenage daughter, two of her sisters and a group of nieces. Around 9 a.m., the clan had taken over a fitting area on the third floor of the department store.
DuPuis explained that before purchasing an item of clothing, it is important to consider factors such as the need for the item and how good it will feel while wearing it. One of the goals of Friday’s outing was to buy Christmas dresses for the girls.
“It’s really fun for the girls. It’s fun for us as moms to see our girls try on dresses, and it’s also cool to see the cousin element,” she said. “There are like three different families of cousins in this dressing room right now.”
The National Retail Federation expects a record number of people — 183.4 million — to shop in U.S. stores and online between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday. However, Black Friday no longer creates the midnight mall crowds or chaos of decades past — largely because of the ease of online shopping and habits forged during the COVID-19 pandemic.
On State Street, early risers could start browsing Macy’s inventory at 6 a.m. But on the Magnificent Mile, shoppers had to wait until 9 a.m. to enter Water Tower Place and 10 a.m. to browse stores like Nordstrom Rack.
Don Wroblewski, who was taking a break from shopping by sitting at a table in a common area at the Block 37 shopping center on State Street while his wife and daughter went shopping, said he thought the volume of buyers seemed low.
“We don’t know if the serious buyers have already finished or haven’t started yet,” Wroblewski, 70, said around 10 a.m.
Christopher Wator, a shopper at the Banana Republic outlet on Block 37, who also didn’t think the mall was busy, said his parents lived in Naperville and he was in town for Thanksgiving. The 29-year-old now lives in Nashville with his wife, Amanda.
Amanda Wator, 28, said shopping in a store on Black Friday isn’t really about finding deals anymore because there are so many deals online. It’s more about getting into the holiday spirit and seeing people happy because of Thanksgiving and the approach to Christmas.
“We always loved the downtown vibe, just the Black Friday environment,” added Christopher Wator.
Isaiah Hill, a 21-year-old from Miami who was visiting Chicago for the first time, was at the State Street Macy’s with his younger sister. Hill, who primarily purchased hoodies, said he often decides to buy an item of clothing when the item catches his eye.
He said he was impressed by the size of Macy’s and the 14 stories of the Marshall Field and Co. Building. In Miami, malls and stores are typically only one or two stories tall, he said.
“Your town is so big – like all these department stores and stuff like that. We don’t see things like that in Miami,” Hill added. “It’s crazy here.”
As lunchtime approached at Water Tower Place, other foreigners were taking advantage of Chicago’s rich shopping scene. Jamie Groat, 43, and her husband spent at least 45 minutes helping their daughter choose an American Girl doll.
“We’re from Arkansas. We don’t have an American Girl doll store,” Groat said. “We are visiting family and really wanted to let our 7 year old daughter pick out her first American Girl doll. And what a perfect day to do it…because you get a discount.
The Associated Press contributed.
