VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Black Friday deals drew large crowds at stores from sun up to sun down in Hampton Roads. Shoppers were hunting for the best bargains all day long.
"It's a family tradition for us. We've been Black Friday shopping for the last 10 years now," said Tierra Griffin of North Carolina, who was in town for Thanksgiving.
Tierra and her sister Tasha Griffin came out to the Norfolk Premium Outlets. They said the deals did not disappoint.
"50% off in majority of the stores," said Tasha.
"I know some stores have reached up to 60% to 70% off. So, it's definitely been a good day to buy," said Tierra.
The National Retail Federation expects more than three-quarters or 74% of holiday shoppers to spend money during the five-day holiday period including Thanksgiving. That's the highest projection from the association since it began tracking related data in 2017.
"Last year, I went out when stuff opened at regular time, I waited. This was the first time I actually got up an hour before to come out," said Robert Hudson, a Norfolk resident.
Hudson was among the shoppers who lined up at the Virginia Beach Town Center Best Buy bright and early Friday morning.
He went for discounted laptops, "anywhere from $500 to $800 off."
The average consumer plans to spend somewhere in the ballpark of $1,652, surpassing pre-pandemic figures for the first time, according to a Deloitte holiday shopping survey.
"It's nice to be out post-pandemic where everyone can just go out at the same time now," Tasha added.
Shoppers 13News Now spoke with also plan to score or have already scored seasonal deals online, ahead of Cyber Monday.
