Black Friday shopping — the day after Thanksgiving, the time of year when the stores are much more crowded and the customers even more active — is not the same as it typically is.
Tens of millions of Americans hit the malls after Thanksgiving, but as this year’s merchants begin to release their discounts, many of those same people say they won’t be as focused on the bottom line as they were in years past.
“Black Friday is kind of new to me,” said Ashley Johnson, 16, of Clackamas, Oregon. “I used to really want to go shopping and get lots of good deals. But now I just kind of go there so people can come over and try to hang out.”
Johnson told FoxNews.com that although she doesn’t usually go shopping on Black Friday, she loves how crowded the stores can be.
“That’s why people go to it, to be part of it,” she said. “It’s more of a scene now.”
For other shoppers, the wide selection of merchandise available online just makes Black Friday less attractive.
Amy Malloy, 22, a Paron, Florida resident, told FoxNews.com she rarely shops at stores on Black Friday, but does instead usually buy her items online.
“I actually went shopping online the other day and I bought a good deal,” she said. “I had to be a little more choosy, but I’m usually on Amazon.”
Malloy told FoxNews.com the cost of her purchase was about $400 and she used Amazon for “everything.”
Carolyn Phelan-Brown, of Los Angeles, California, told FoxNews.com she shops at a mall in her neighborhood on Black Friday for “the people.”
“I usually get there a couple of hours before it starts so I can see the little kids having fun,” she said. “A lot of times, the babies won’t be talking. You never know how little things are going to go with them.
“But that’s really what I like about shopping on Black Friday, that when everyone else is focused on themselves and taking pictures and making pictures, there’s a mom just buying a big carrot cake and kids are playing. It’s a different scene.”