Some shoppers in western Massachusetts said the size of the crowds on Friday was modest — as were the deals.
There were plenty of empty parking spaces at the Mountain Farms mall in Hadley, and no obvious Black Friday panic.
Amy Wolkoff of Pelham was coming out of Walmart with her son, holding nothing more than a shower curtain liner.
They had hoped to find a laptop or television.
"We didn't find anything that we wanted," Wolkoff said. "And the prices didn't seem to be lower than when we scoped [them] out two weeks ago."
Joel Cruz was loading a 65-inch TV into his pickup truck in front of Walmart. It cost $450, down from $600.
Cruz said prices in general are higher than last year and he had been expecting to see deeper discounts.
"I mean, usually I would not consider this a good deal," he said, "but it is a good deal right now."
Cruz said inflation has taken a bite out of his shopping all year. He's planning to look for better deals the day after Christmas.
Anthony Forbes of Springfield was heading to Marshalls in Hadley, looking for polo shirts on sale. He was surprised shoppers weren't running into or shoving each other like in years past.
"You know, seeing people putting four [items] in their cart and and stuff," he said. "So right now it seems to be people shopping, but it's not overly excessive."
Kevin Burns, a delivery driver for the company Roadie, was waiting in front of Walmart to pick up an item for a customer.
"It's a normal day really. And it's not really paying any more," he said. "I haven't made the delivery, so I don't know if I'm going to get any cash tips in hand."
Burns said he suspects most people are getting their Black Friday deals online.
Retailers' expectations are low
Retailers in Massachusetts say they are only expecting a 1% growth in sales from last year, according to a survey by the Retailers Association of Massachusetts.
The group's Ryan Kearney said business owners are concerned inflation and higher interest rates will mean consumers have less money to spend.
This could also increase pressure on retailers, he said, as they face increased costs.
"Inflation and increased costs to sellers, but also inventory, wages increase, borrowing costs and energy are all high," Kearney said. "So with the lower or flat sales expected and then higher costs, the concern is that there may be some profitability issues."
Kearney said the projection for Massachusetts is below what is expected nationally, where a 3-4% sales increase is predicted. He said having an extra weekend this year between Thanksgiving and Christmas could be a benefit for retailers.
