HONOLULU (KHON2) — The biggest shopping weekend is officially here. Millions of Americans are projected to spend billions of dollars over the next few days and Hawaii is no exception.
Black Friday is finally here and so are the crowds and lines. The wait to get into Lexbreezy Hawaii at Pearlridge was up to two hours.
“We got doorbusters, good deals, bags, outfits, aloha wear,” said Chelsea Maialoha, an Aiea resident who waited two hours to enter, then shopped at Lexbreezy for an hour.
“We prepare all year for this,” said Lexy Akiona, Lexbreezy Hawaii. “So this is the biggest day of retail. We have to stack our stores. We have new releases, doorbusters, we bring it all out for Black Friday.”
Analysts predict shoppers will spend an average of $650 just this weekend starting on Black Friday and ending on Cyber Monday.
“I think it’s a make-it-or-break-it time of year,” said Jess Akamine, HIC manager. “So I feel like it’s super important for us. It’s like the last part of the year to make sure we get everything all good.”
“So far, so good,” said Kealii Cabral, Miniso area manager – the chain’s first store in Hawaii. “Honestly it’s been pretty exciting the amount of foot traffic that’s popped up, I’m just really happy that it’s going well.”
Part of the reason, shoppers aren’t just looking for gifts.
“Are these presents or is this stuff for you? Mostly presents, but shopping for them too – family that came with me,” said Charlotte Nitahara, Kapolei resident.
“Most of them are gifts,” said Maialoha. “A few for me. But yeah, most are gifts.”
“They’re shopping for themselves for sure haha,” said Akamine. “Nothing wrong with that though right? Yeah, nothing wrong with that. But I wanna say 90% of the sales are shopping for themselves.”
There are more than 200 stores here at Pearlridge and about 60% of them are locally owned and operated.
Management said that is a big number for a mall of this size. And supporting local is extremely important. The Better Business Bureau said for every dollar spent at a local store, close to 70 cents stays right here in the local community.
“I think it’s super important to support local,” said Nitahara. “If we support local, we help more families that are able to make it in the economy, so super important.”
“We’re just grateful,” said Akiona. “Grateful to be here, grateful for all the support. 99 percent of our customers are kamaaina. Local. So to see that support for us really means so so much and if you can get out there and support local this weekend, that’s what it’s all about.”