As my eyes blink open, I see my grandma flick on the lights in my room. The red neon glow of my alarm clock reads 5:30. I roll out of bed with much more excitement than I would have on a school day. As a seven-year-old, 5:30 was extremely early, but on that day, nothing mattered except getting up on time and getting out the door. I was going on my first-ever black Friday shopping trip with my aunts, grandma, and sister. A tradition that my family has been doing for many years, making sure they wake up very early to get to the mall before the large crowds. Â
One of my fondest memories during Thanksgiving break is driving to the King of Prussia Mall with my aunts, grandma, and siblings for Black Friday shopping. This is a tradition I have been a part of for the past 11 years starting in 2013. From then until now Black Friday has changed drastically. In the first couple of years on our way to the mall, we would see tents and folding chairs lined up in front of stores like Best Buy and Walmart. But now these sites are extremely rare to see. Most of the large tech stores have sales that begin hours, days, or even weeks before black Friday. The tradition of camping out to score the best deals seems to have stayed in the past. With online shopping becoming the norm and Black Friday Deals starting way before Black Friday, the days of standing out in the cold at 1 am are long gone. Â
Malls like the King of Prussia still get extremely crowded on Black Friday even in the early morning, but often people go for the experience and not the sales. Some stores have exclusive Friday deals but usually, the sales last the whole weekend and are not that much different than the online sales. Recently, many popular stores have given out freebies like branded blankets and tote bags to customers on Black Friday, but these freebies pale in comparison to the traditional exclusive sales that used to be the largest incentive for shoppers in the past. I remember, at the King of Prussia Mall, stores would have different sales at different hours of the day so people would wait outside the door until that hour to purchase their gifts. Many of these sales tactics are not in practice anymore and make braving the crowds less and less appealing. The idea of sleeping in, staying warm, and browsing gifts from the comfort of one’s couch is becoming the norm.
After all, of this is said though, I will continue to wake up at 5:30 am every Black Friday just for the pure joy it brings me. It is truly one of my favorite family traditions and always gets me in the holiday spirit. Â