Forever 21 before the opening.

The Legends at Sparks Marina outlet mall hosted the first black Friday midnight opening in Northern Nevada. On point with the national trends for black Friday 2009, the Legends saw large crowds but shoppers were working with shorter budgets this year.
People of all ages were out after their Thanksgiving dinners. It was clear that people were there to find the best bargains, but the excitement of the midnight opening radiated from the crowds.
The big excitement at the Legends was for the opening of Forever 21, a store full of current fashions for teens. The crowds started lining up at 11p.m.
“We expected it to be busy, but we didn’t expect it to be that crazy at all,” Shaun Aquinl, a co-manager at Forever 21, said. “There was a crowd of people outside the door, and we tried to open to doors but we almost got trampled. It was pretty crazy. Everything was on the floor.”
The store was filled with hundreds of people seeking out their purchases and waiting in the 4o foot lines. Every neatly folded pile was soon destroyed and on the floor. Even though Forever 21 didn’t have a large sale, their everyday low prices were good enough for most shoppers. People were shopping for themselves and a great majority of purchases were gifts.
“I am excited to be here tonight, it is a really nice way to kick off the holiday season,” midnight shopper Elizabeth Daniel said. “Although I have to watch my spending closer this year, I hope that the bargains here tonight will make up for my tightened budget.”
Forever 21 was able to greatly surpass their sales goal for Black Friday. Aquinl said that most of their business was at midnight, making the first midnight opening a huge success for them. He hopes that next year they will have a sale so that they can do even better.

Listen to an interview with Shaun Aquinl.

Across the nation budgets were tighter, making the door buster sales even more popular than ever. According to the National Retail Federation, people were looking for more practical gifts this year. The most popular purchases were greatly reduced electronics, toys, and winter clothes. The National Retail Federation estimates that the combines spending at stores and on the web from Nov. 26-29 rose 0.5% to an estimated $41.2 billion. Despite this increase, the Federation still predicts a 1% drop in holiday spending.
Although Forever 21 was able to greatly surpass their sales goal for the day, many other stores at Legends were not so lucky. As for the rest of the Legends stores, the people were circulating, but the spending was much lower. People were out looking for the best bargain. Even though Legends is an outlet mall with everyday discounted prices, some of the merchandise is originally $1,000-$5,000. Even at a discount, these items are still several hundred dollars. This year people aren’t looking to spend that much money in one place.