Business & Tech

Early Birds Flock to Black Friday Sales

A flurry of Black Friday customers packed into South Hills Village in search of great deals.

Linda Book arrived at at 3:30 a.m. with a plan. By 4:45 a.m., she had the shopping bags to prove her plan was working.

“We’re here to get the best buys of the season,” Book said. “(The stores) have regular sales, which is great, but we want the really good ones.”

She and her nieces, Maria and Amanda, all of Whitehall, admitted

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

But it’s also fun, they said. It’s a challenge to get the best deals – and they insisted it’s well worth it. The family was pretty pleased with the sales they found, mainly at clothing stores.

They weren’t the only early birds to flock to the mall at a time when some people are just crawling into bed, and others have been asleep for hours.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

Lindsey Stoyanoff and her sister Brittany, of Baldwin, arrived at the mall at 4:30 a.m.  By 6:30 a.m., they were browsing through the Pittsburgh Steelers Sideline Store. For Lindsey, this is her first Black Friday experience.

“I wanted to come for the experience and for the deals,” she said around 6:30 a.m. “I love it.”

Her sister, who shopped on Black Friday last year, wasn’t quite as enthusiastic.

“I like it, but Lindsey’s more excited than I am,” she said. “I like it more for the experience than the actual shopping.”

The girls planned to shop for a couple more hours, they said, and then go home and probably take a nap.

The Stoyanoff sisters chose to get up early, but there were other shoppers who hadn’t gone to sleep yet.

Jordan Benson and Kara Krepley of Dormont decided to stay awake after Thanksgiving dinner so they could get to the mall as early as possible. At 7:30 a.m., they’d already been shopping for several hours.

“I don’t think we really had a reason to come out,” Krepley said. “We just wanted to come out and see what was going on.”

A pick-me-up was needed, proven by the fact that Gloria Jean’s Coffee was one of the most crowded stores at South Hills Village at 7:10 a.m. Sonny Anand, the stores owner and manager, said he’s glad the shop can be of service.

“A lot of people come here to shop, and a lot of people need coffee,” Anand said. “It really worked out.”

The coffee shop opened at 11:30 p.m. Thursday night to catch the customers who came to shop at the stores that opened at midnight. Anand said it was busy until about 3:30 a.m. It picked up again around 5 a.m. and shoppers have been coming in waves.

“It’s so exciting,” Anand said. “I really feel passion here. It’s fun. All these people want to shop and they need a boost. We’re happy.”

South Hills Village managers also said they were happy with the turn out.

“This is a good crowd for this time of the morning,” said Jennifer Carroll at about 5 a.m. “It’s comparable, if not more people than last year.”

Carroll, director of marketing and business development at South Hills Village, said she thinks the nice weather, convenience of the indoor mall and great sales all influenced people to come out on Black Friday. Apps for smart phones, tiered sales and performances are part of the day.

“People really strategized this year,” she said.

This story originally appeared on Dormont-Brookline Patch


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Chartiers Valley