“Shop the Halls”

The holiday season brings tons of food, family time, holiday cheer and, of course, holiday shopping. Before Thanksgiving is even over, before the turkey has been taken off the table, people are rushing out to get the best deals on Black Friday.

This year, many stores and shopping malls opened early on Thanksgiving Day. The Broadway Mall in Hicksville, N.Y., opened at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day and stayed open until midnight. The mall then reopened at 6 a.m. on Friday morning, Nov. 27.

Tiye Bradley, a freshman dance major, works at Victoria’s Secret at the Broadway Mall. “The customers weren’t really disorderly but the store was very busy all night [on Thanksgiving],” Bradley said.

Natasha Vaughn, a senior adolescent Spanish education major, accompanied her brother on a quick shopping trip on Thanksgiving night. “We just went for a television purchase, but the madness in those 20 minutes was enough for me,” Vaughn said. Even though Vaughn and her brother were only out for a short while, they saw some interesting occurrences. “I saw people scrambling to get their hands on the last of the 4,ooo televisions that were on sale, whatever that means,” she said.

Even after Black Friday, shoppers are still out and about preparing for holiday gift giving. Roosevelt Field Mall in Garden City, N.Y. like other malls in the area, extends its hours during the holiday season. Starting on Dec. 2, the mall will be open until 10 p.m. on weeknights and until 11 p.m. on Saturdays. From Dec. 11 to Dec. 25 the mall is open until 11 p.m. every night. Many stores have special deals around the holidays; Brighton, for example, gives shoppers a free tote bag with any other purchase until Dec. 13. Journeys shoes also is offering up to 50% off on selected items until Dec. 11, as an extended Black Friday deal.

Despite the crowds and rush for deals, a touch of holiday spirit infused the Black Friday shopping experience, holiday shopping brings people together in an odd way. It reminds us of how close the holidays are and gets us in the spirit.