New York City is the commercial capital of the United States. Knowing that NYC is home to over 7 million people, one would assume that Black Friday brings out more shoppers than anywhere else in the nation. Unfortunately, the people in Times Square were few and far between this past Thanksgiving weekend.
Upon my arrival in New York City, I expected the streets of Manhattan to be flooded with cars and anxious shoppers. By 11:00 a.m. in Times Square, however, the blue sidewalks were completely empty. The famous red steps, a popular observation area for tourists, only hosted a few dozen at the most. Strangely, New York City was empty on Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year.
American Eagle, one of the stores in Times Square, on 46th and Broadway, had very few deals, with most merchandise on sale for only 30 or 40 percent off.
“It’s weird,” said one sales associate; “we haven’t had a lot of people. Black Friday is usually for electronics, though. I remember seeing a line stretching around the block at one of the stores in Radio City.”
Many electronic stores in Radio City, in fact, had deals up to 70 percent off all merchandise. The Rockettes even sold discounted tickets for their Christmas Spectacular. Other deals farther south of the Theatre District, such as Macy’s, had merchandise selling for up to 50 percent off, while Modell’s and Best Buy, north of Times Square, held similar rollback prices. Perhaps the quantity of deals kept shoppers away from Times Square for the time being.
Though the morning began slowly, tourists started to flood into the center of Manhattan by noon, as large crowds of shoppers engulfed Toys ‘R Us and Forever 21.
Amid the crowds of people, it was truly difficult to distinguish a tourist from an avid shopper. While nearly everyone that passed through Times Square carried something from somewhere, whether it be Forever 21, American Eagle, Toys ‘R Us, or Macy’s, Black Friday was just an ordinary day in the city that never sleeps.