Black Friday shoppers are starting to look like procrastinators.
The traditional kickoff to the holiday shopping season didn’t seem as frenzied as in past years after many die-hard shoppers swarmed stores the night of Thanksgiving.
Still, millions of Americans headed out in search of deals. Sales estimates for Black Friday should start trickling in during the weekend. For the full holiday season, the National Retail Federation forecasts an increase of 4.1 percent — the biggest jump since 2011.
To meet expectations, stores may have to keep slashing prices in the weeks ahead.
In Denver, the parking lot of the Lakewood Walmart was only about 25 percent full at 9 a.m. Friday. A cashier who asked not to be identified by name said she was surprised at the calm after the store was “nuts” Thursday.
She said she worked four hours on Thanksgiving but was told she’d be paid for a full eight-hour shift, which she said was “worth it.”
However, more than 100 protesters picketing outside the store might not agree, calling instead on the company to pay workers $15 per hour and hire more of them for full-time-work. They carried signs, with the jolly old elf himself hoisting one that read, “Santa supports Walmart strikers and workers.”
Labor organizers said demonstrations were planned for 1,600 Walmart stores Friday.
“It’s ridiculous that they cannot … pay their employees $15 an hour and let us make $25,000 a year,” said Lashanda Myrick, a Colorado Walmart employee who said she is on strike over the company’s labor practices.
About 200 people demonstrated in a plaza near Chicago’s historic Water Tower, calling for a boycott on shopping to show solidarity with ongoing protests around Ferguson, Mo. Protesters also entered a Target and multiple Walmart stores in the St. Louis area, according to Johnetta Elzie, who tweeted and posted videos of the demonstrations.
At Westfield Fox Valley mall in Aurora, Ill., parking spaces were plentiful and lines in many stores short or nonexistent Friday morning.
“It was a zoo last night around 10 p.m.,” shopper Kimberly States said. “Now it seems like more of the old folks.”
Some people waited in the cold for inexpensive TVs. In Wisconsin, they did it for beer.
People arrived at Lakefront Brewery in Milwaukee early Friday to get a shot at the limited-edition Imperial Stout Aged in Bourbon Barrels. A few stood outside overnight.
Brewery spokesman Matt Krajnak estimated around 800 people were in line by the time doors opened, when it was snowing and about 15 degrees.
In Colorado, the new retail marijuana industry joined the holiday rush, too. About 120 people lined up Thursday for a “Green Friday” special offered by The Grass Station in Denver: 1 ounce of pot for $50, about $200 less than normal, available only to the first 16 customers.
Denver Post staff writer Laura Keeney contributed to this report.
