My local mall was a madhouse. My mother and I arrived at the mall around 5AM (we've noticed there's a lull around 4-8AM). JCPenney's wasn't bad and had some really good sales; I got a cute pair of boots for close for less than $20 (originally $90). The
Disney Store was busy, but the CMs had everything super organized and kept the checkout lines moving.
Bath and Body Works was a whole 'nother story. They designed the line so that it snaked around the entire store, though the workers were not entirely sure where exactly the line ended. They would direct you to one end of the store only to say five minutes later that the line ended elsewhere. It was crowded, and the snaked line made if difficult to shop without getting in other people's way. Of course, there were also a few people who thought it would be genius to have one "representative" wait in the 60+ minute line while the rest of the party shopped, only for all of them to return when the representative got closer to the front and then have everyone within the party check out separately (I personally would have no issues if it was all one transaction, but if you want to check out separately, wait your turn like the rest of us).
We then went to Target. It wasn't as bad as I expected. I found a Fitbit charge HR (only two were left when I got there around 7-7:30AM) for $30 off. They were already all out of the Fitbit flexes, and I didn't want to gamble with Kohl's running out also, so I treated myself to the HR. They still had a lot of the doorbuster TVs and Beats headphones, and the checkout lines moved quickly. The only issues were that people left empty carts all over the store, which made it difficult to find available carts (I didn't want to risk taking an empty cart only to find out it was someone's). By the time that we left the mall, it was starting to get uncomfortably busy.
Kohl's wasn't too bad. They were out of the flexes also, but were well-stocked otherwise. The checkout line also moved pretty quickly (it was less than 15 minutes).
Once we got home, I saw that Lauren's Hope was running a 15% off promotion (including sale items), so I was able to get a beautiful engraved medical ID bracelet and dog tag for less than $100 (I've been wearing one bracelet from them daily for close to two years, and it's still going strong).
Next year, I might do online shopping instead (or avoid Bath and Body Works like the plague). The mall was way too busy, and I noticed that many of the places had similar sales online.
. If we want more stores, or better choices, it's more than a 45 min drive to get to them, not what I want to do on Thanksgiving or Black Friday!
