SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (WXYZ) — Stampedes of Black Friday shoppers, once commonplace Thanksgiving night, but not so much anymore.
Since the pandemic, shopping trends have changed drastically with a lot of people opting for online.
Some of the biggest names in retail now close their doors for the holiday.
The Best Buy in Southfield has their barricades up but are not set to open their stores until 5:00 a.m.
"You'd see tents, you'd see people camping out for Black Friday specials and no one is here," said Dave Tomalis.
Bass Pro Shops is one of the only retail chains still open on Thanksgiving day. Willie Wesley took advantage because he wasn't able to see his family.
"It did bother me a little bit that Black Friday shopping got pushed into Thursday afternoon," said Wesley. "So if the store was closed I wouldn't be bent out of shape."
In 2020 tech giant, Best Buy, announced their stores would start closing for the holiday.
Other big box stores like Target, Walmart, and Burlington Coat Factory followed suit.
"I kind of like it. Due to the pandemic, we can most definitely do the shopping online," said Rachael Dinwiddie.
In 2020, online shopping during Black Friday increased as many of us were told to stay at home.
According to a Drive Research study, online Black Friday shopping will see a 33% increase compared to 2021.
About 32% of people still plan to shop in person, which decreased by 9% this year.
"In-store you run across things you won't see online and dealing person to person you just get deals that an algorithm won't give you," said Wesley.
Even though Dave Tomalis likes the in-store shopping experience, he's glad most places are closed for Thanksgiving.
"It is for the best to be with their families and spend Thanksgiving and then hit it hard tomorrow," said Tomalis.
Most big box stores like Walmart and Target open between 5:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m, however some are opening up as late as 9:00 am.
