Frantically dodging carts, people, and spewn items across the store, people rush to find the perfect deals on Christmas presents for their friends and family. As Thanksgiving and Christmas closely approach, so does Black Friday. Black Friday falls on Nov. 24 of this year, the day after Thanksgiving. Just like Cyber Monday, this day is found to host great deals in multiple stores.
Junior Adam Wolok arranged to stay in Midland for the upcoming holiday just like he has in the past. Wolok plans to Black Friday shop locally as well.
“On Black Friday, especially with Thanksgiving, traffic is normally pretty crazy and I just like to stay at home [in Midland],” Wolok said.
Midland doesn’t contain a large amount of stores to shop at in general, so the options for Black Friday don’t offer a large variety of stores. However, there are a few local places to shop at besides the Midland Mall for Black Friday like Marshall’s and Michaels.
“In the past, normally I go to the mall because it’s got a bunch of different stores in it and they’re all really easy to get to from each other,” Wolok said.
While also shopping for one’s self, Black Friday can be a great time to stock up on Christmas presents for friends and family. This Friday, Wolok plans to buy his siblings Christmas presents.
“I liked going to Radio Shack when it was open because I love electronics, and then I also like going to Dunham’s because I love shopping for sports stuff,” Wolok said.
If not shopping in Midland for Black Friday, one might go to the Fashion Square Mall, Somerset Collection, Twelve Oaks Mall, Great Lakes Crossing Outlets, or a multitude of other shopping areas to choose from.
Somerset Collection, located in Troy, Michigan, is just one of the many popular shopping malls. The mall will be closed on Thanksgiving, but will be open 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday morning. For Bebe shoppers, they’ll get 25 percent off everything regular priced 6 a.m. to 12 p.m. and up to 40 percent of select new styles on Black Friday only. At Vera Bradley, shoppers will receive the Holiday Tote in Suzani with a purchase of $100 or more on Black Friday only.
As reported by wallethub.com, the top five stores for Black Friday shopping in 2017 include Kohl’s, JCPenny, Belk, Stage, and Shopko. The stores listed as the best for this Friday are expected to have an average store discount of 37.1%. Midland doesn’t contain stores like Belk, Stage, or Shopko, but some of the local stores on the list include Kohl’s, Walmart, JCPenny, Target, and Staples.
If traveling to another state or out of the country for Thanksgiving, Black Friday is still relevant. Great deals can be found no matter where one is staying at this holiday break. Normally, junior Annie Meilink travels to visit relatives in Ohio for Thanksgiving break.
“We’re in Ohio, usually because we’re with our relatives for Thanksgiving, so then we’re not in town,” Meilink said. “Also, Midland doesn’t have a ton of shops, so in Ohio it’s really different. It’s bigger and there’s more options to get a lot of different things.”
Usually Meilink looks for whatever is on the best sale, or looks for gifts for others. Meilink gets most of her Christmas shopping done during Black Friday.
“Since we’re in Ohio, I just go to, like, Macy’s and I usually go to Nike and Dunham’s and Dick’s and sports shops because that’s where I like to shop at,” Meilink said.
No matter where one is staying for Thanksgiving break, Black Friday can be one of the few days to exclusively receive great deals on Christmas gifts for others or just to spoil one’s self. Different deals can be spotted in magazines, on TV, or simply by Googling “Black Friday deals 2017”.
