Black Friday shopping is a tradition for this CT family

Even though Black Friday deals have started earlier this year, some families still enjoy the tradition of going out shopping.

This is the 14^th year the Manafort family went out Black Friday shopping together. They started at Old Navy when the store opened at 5 a.m. and then headed over to Westfarms.

For them, this tradition started randomly at the Thanksgiving dinner table.

“After we had dessert or whatever, we would go through all the ads and say, 'oh my gosh, look at all the sales here and the deals here,'” said Jolyn Manafort, from Farmington. “We decided it would just be fun to, you know, get up in the middle of the night and go.”

The Manafort family spoke with NBC Connecticut in 2021, when they were sporting their old matching shirts.

“Our old shirts said ‘up all night to get lucky’ and it doesn't really make sense anymore,” said Elizabeth Rosado, from Berlin.

They wore those old shirts from 2017 through 2022. But the Black Friday shopping started before that in 2009.

“Me and one of my cousins, we would have sleepovers the night before because we get up so early. And we all go together to meet and it's just a fun day to spend together and shop,” said Alyssa Anello, from Bristol.

But with every passing year, the deals started days earlier, more brick and mortar stores like Toys R Us and The Disney Store have closed, and the stores that have remained are opening later.

So, they made new shirts this year that say ‘Black Friday squad,’ and they’re still looking forward to the family memories they’ll make together.

“We never went with the intention of getting doorbusters or we never really looked for specific things. It was more about being together and you know, seeing what we could find out,” Rosado said.

They will be exchanging those gifts together on Christmas Eve with a family gathering of about 40 of them. Maddy Manafort was born on Christmas Eve - the year their shopping tradition began.