Shoppers in Sussex County got an early start on holiday spending.
The Tanger Outlets in Rehoboth Beach were among the Delaware retailers that opened their doors on Thanksgiving Day.
General Manager Amy Norgate says today’s Black Friday shopping event is an important one for retailers. Its name refers to stores moving from the ‘red’ to the ‘black’ back when accounting records were kept by hand. Red ink indicated a loss, and black a profit.
“And Black Friday is the first day of the year that most retailers start to make a profit in terms of the full year,” she says. “It's so important to the retail trade when customers are starting to buy for the holiday season and they start to see a lot more economic boost to the retail economy.
And for many Americans, Black Friday means waking up at dawn on the day after Thanksgiving and rushing to their favorite stores to buy holiday gift items at deep discounts.
“Anybody that’s shopping on Black Friday wants to be there,” she says. “It’s not last minute shopping, it's not ‘I must do this,’ there’s still plenty of time left in the holiday season so the Black Friday shoppers tend to be really cheerful and excited. We see a lot of families doing it, it's a tradition.
The Tanger Outlets will remain open until 10 pm on Black Friday.
Norgate adds that Tanger Outlets count every vehicle that enters their property. As of Friday morning, traffic had increased by eight percent over the same time last year.
