black friday

The Lines Are Back: Shoppers Brave Stores for Black Friday Deals

NBC Universal, Inc.

Another holiday tradition that took a hit last year is back - in-person Black Friday shopping.

There were about 60 people in line waiting for Best Buy in West Hartford to open Friday morning.

“I’ve been up since 3. We got here around 4:20 and getting him the PS5, if they have it," said Chris Lapolla, who came from Plainville.

Many of the people in line were looking for gaming systems or other electronics like TVs or computer parts.

The National Retail Federation estimates about 158 million people are expected to shop this holiday weekend, nearly back to the pre-pandemic level. They estimate shoppers will spend nearly $1,000 each this season.

Many shoppers are looking for gaming systems or other electronics. Retail experts expect the number of shoppers to be close to pre-pandemic levels.

And there are good discounts on everything from electronics to clothes.

A lot of big box stores started running Black Friday week deals on Sunday, and then reserving a couple of items just for Black Friday.

“We’re seeing a lot of 40% off the entire store, 50% off the entire store for Black Friday. It’s really going to be about Black Friday weekend. Black Friday, it used to be a traditional one day sales event, as morphed into a little bit of a season and retailers are taking advantage of that in a big way this year," explained Amanada Sirica, spokesperson for Westfarms.

New this year, a lot of retailers went back to being closed on Thanksgiving, including Westfarms. But it helped that the deals started earlier this year.

National retail experts say you may see smaller discounts this year because of supply chain issues and stores having to pay more to get products on their shelves.

Small Business Saturday follows Black Friday, giving smaller stores a chance to get in on the holiday shopping rush.

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