Black Friday shoppers flock to Friendly Center amid pandemic

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Black Friday may be scaled down this year, but that didn’t stop people from shopping around for the best deals in person. 

“Trying to buy stuff for the kiddos and mostly finding stuff for ourselves,” said shopper Jayne Simmons.  

From hunting down the best deals to adding onto a Christmas wish list, not even COVID-19 can put a damper on a Black Friday shopping tradition.  

“Swinging by, getting some last minute Christmas gifts,” said shopper Tahtiana Mcauley. 

“We came to meet friends, do a little Christmas shopping,” stated shopper Fadhillah Strong. 

The first thing Mcauley noticed Friday afternoon was the traffic.  

“There’s definitely a lot of cars out. A lot of traffic,” Mcauley said.  

“There’s so many people out. There are a lot more cars than I see people, so I imagine they’re in the shops trying to find the best deals,” Strong confirmed.  

Shoppers lined the sidewalks at Friendly Center in Greensboro. But instead of waking up early and waiting for hours to get the best deals, they only waited a few minutes. 

“You know it’s different this year but glad to see a lot of faces,” Mcauley explained. 

“I like to just come look around and shop,” said Strong’s daughter Lili.  

Once they got inside, they basically had the stores to themselves with the governor’s executive order only allowing 10 people inside—a socially distant personal shopping experience. 

“I love cozy stuff. I just bought this sweatshirt, so I was really excited about it,” Mcauley told FOX8.  

“We just love shopping and looking at everything, and we just buy anything we don’t need,” Lili concluded. 

If you missed out on Friday’s deals, a spokesperson for CBL Properties told FOX8 many stores will extend their sales into the weekend.