Mall of America prepares for big Black Friday crowd
Things are expected to be humming at the nation’s largest shopping mall this Friday.
A majority of Black Friday shoppers are eager to be “early birds” at Mall of America on the shopping holiday, arriving prior to store opening hours for the experience and to find the best deals.
In a survey of its most loyal shoppers, the nation’s largest shopping mall found that 86% of them planned to be out shopping on the holiday season’s official opening day. Asked to place themselves in four different shopping persona categories, nearly four out of 10 in the sample identified themselves as “Early Birds,” who are the first to arrive after storing the leftover turkey in the fridge.
At 24%, the next most popular persona is “Late to the Game,” which means the shopper is still looking for Black Friday deals, but shows up to the mall later in the day to avoid the morning rush. The “Black Friday Weekend Shopper” came in at 16%, and the “Avoider” at 14%. The “Entertainer” persona, who shops later and heads to the Mall on Black Friday weekend to enjoy the attractions, received just 8% of the votes.
When it comes to who Mall of America’s visitors are shopping for on Black Friday, nearly 60% of survey respondents said their kids. Spouse or partner was the next most-common response at 13%, and people treating themselves on Black Friday came in at 9%.
The top gift category was clothing and shoes at 38%, followed by toys and games at 25%, tech gifts at 21%, and gift cards at nearly 10%. Jewelry and beauty gifts were both about 3%.
“Black Friday is our Super Bowl here at Mall of America and our team is dedicated to creating a magical experience for everyone who walks through our doors both on the busiest shopping day of the year and throughout the holiday season,” said Jill Renslow, chief business development & marketing officer at Mall of America. “As a leader in the retail industry, we want to hear directly from our shoppers to ensure we prioritize what is essential to them during the holiday shopping season. We love sharing this special time of year with our guests.”
To celebrate Black Friday, Mall of America recently announced that it would be giving away mystery prizes worth more than $100,000 to the first 4,000 guests on the shopping holiday. Other festivities include live entertainment, kicking off on Nov. 24 and spanning until Sunday, Nov. 26.
At 5.6 million square feet, Mall of America is the largest shopping and entertainment complex in North America with roughly 520 retail stores and restaurants.