Black Friday: It’s about tradition and deals
Shoppers carrying bags from various stores take a break while shopping during Black Friday at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa.
Joan Basombrio and her 13-year-old daughter had one item on their minds as they rushed to Fashion Island on Black Friday: a discounted swimsuit.
The pair had planned to arrive at the outdoor Newport Beach mall at 7 a.m. to join hundreds of teenagers and women in line at San Lorenzo Bikinis, a luxury swimwear store founded in Peru, to take advantage of discounted pieces. However, a distraction at home left the pair running behind schedule. They parked just as the first shoppers were welcomed inside the store.
Basombrio, a Laguna Beach resident, said she typically doesn’t shop on Black Friday, but decided that this year she would splurge since it’s almost her daughter’s birthday.
“I’m not your typical mom who shops a lot,” she said. “But I have a feeling I’ll be shopping a lot more on Black Friday now that I have a teenager.”
Teen girls and women armed with pillows and blankets had been waiting in a line outside the shop since the wee hours Friday. Roughly three hours after they arrived at the mall, Basombrio’s daughter made it inside San Lorenzo Bikinis while mom waited outside, content to avoid the madness.
Women rifled through sales baskets and combed through the racks looking for discounted suits. Some shoppers, noting the long line for the dressing rooms, began trying on bikini tops and bottoms over their clothes.
Holiday music played over the loudspeakers as shoppers rushed from one store to the next, often with multiple bags in hand. Groups paused to get a cup of coffee in front of Nordstrom and listened as carolers sang a snappy version of Elvis Presley’s “Blue Christmas.”
Shoppers at South Coast Plaza were met with a similar scene Friday morning.
After braving packed parking lots, they searched for the best doorbuster deals on clothes, fragrances, cosmetics and home goods at department stores like Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s and Nordstrom.
A single sale didn’t seem to draw most shoppers to the Costa Mesa mall. Many who packed the stores Friday morning said it was the tradition of shopping with their families that got them out of bed.
Nelson Griffin of Laguna Beach said shopping at South Coast Plaza with his wife and daughter on Black Friday has been a holiday tradition for years. They don’t necessarily always buy Christmas gifts either. Sometimes their purchases are simply a pre-holiday treat, he said.
“It really gets us in the holiday spirit,” Griffin said.
After about two hours of shopping, he stopped to take a break near the Antonello Espresso Bar. Bags from Lululemon, Ted Baker and Sur La Table took up two extra chairs at his table.
“We shop together for a few hours, and then we split up and do our own thing for a while,” Griffin said. “Then we meet up for lunch and show each other what we bought. It’s a fun way to spend the day.”
With a mix of big-box retailers and high-end boutique brands, South Coast Plaza caters to a variety of holiday shoppers. About 200,000 people are expected to visit the mall throughout the weekend, said Debra Gunn Downing, South Coast Plaza’s executive director of marketing.
“The beauty of South Coast Plaza is that there’s something for every shopper,” she said. “We strive to be the best of the best in every category.”
South Coast Plaza officials welcomed about 200 VIP guests throughout the day to a holiday suite on the third floor, where they could dine, sip Champagne, have their portrait sketched and relax away from the rush of shoppers.
“You could go anywhere for deals, but people come here for the tradition because that’s what they’ve done with their families for years,” Downing said. “We’re more about the experience of shopping.”
Twitter: @HannahFryTCN
