Black Friday shopping in Los Angeles County was underway Friday at Citadel Outlets in Commerce where many of its stores opened on Thanksgiving.
All but one of the stores that were open on Thanksgiving will remain open until 11 p.m. Friday, giving consumers at least 27 consecutive hours of shopping.
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"It's been at least 10 years that we've been doing something of this nature on Thanksgiving," Ken Crow, general manager of Citadel Outlets, told City News Service Thursday.
"It's just fun to see people coming into the center as early as 10 o'clock this morning, making it a day."
Black Friday is considered the start of the Christmas shopping season, although Black Friday sales continue to begin earlier and earlier.
According to an annual survey released Nov. 20 by the National Retail Federation conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics, 130.4 million people nationwide plan to shop in person or online Friday. That's part of a record 186.9 million planning to shop between Thanksgiving and Monday, which is dubbed Cyber Monday because of discounts offered by online retailers.
The previous record was 183.4 million set in 2024. This is the fourth consecutive year a record has been forecast. In 2022, when 166.3 million people were predicted to shop.
The survey found 70% of holiday shoppers plan to shop in stores or online Friday.
"Many Americans consider shopping to be an important part of their Thanksgiving holiday and one of the best ways to get deals on gifts," Phil Rist, executive vice president of strategy for Prosper Insights & Analytics, said in a statement.
The survey found that clothing and accessories continued to top the list of what people plan to buy during Christmas shopping at 50%, followed by gift cards (43%) and toys (32%).
Legos and Hot Wheels were the top two toys shoppers told pollsters they planned to buy for boys for the fourth consecutive year. Cars were again third, followed by Nintendo video game products.
Trucks were fifth, five spots higher than 2024, PlayStation video game products sixth, Nerf products seventh, one spot higher than last year and returning to its 2023 rank, video games eighth, Pokémon items ninth, a year after not making the list, and Spider-Man-related items 10th, one spot lower than in 2024.
Remote controlled cars dropped out of the Top 10 after ranking sixth in 2024.
The top two on the list for girls were the same for the fourth consecutive year -- Barbie dolls and any doll. Legos were third for the third consecutive year after finishing fourth in 2022. Labubu collectible plush toys were forth after not making the Top 10 in 2024.
Cosmetics and makeup were fifth, the Barbie Dreamhouse was sixth after tying for ninth in 2023 and placing seventh in 2024. Items related to the animated musical urban fantasy film "KPop Demon Hunters" were seventh, followed by stuffed animals. Baby dolls and clothes tied for ninth.
Disney items, electronics and Squishmallows plush toys dropped out of the Top 10 after ranking fifth, ninth and 10th in 2024.
Meanwhile, Last Chance for Animals will conduct its 39th annual Black Friday Fur-Free Friday protest in Beverly Hills.
While the sale of new fur products in California has been banned since Jan. 1, 2023, the group continues its protests on Rodeo Drive because there are fashion brands on the famed shopping street that have not adopted a fur- free policy and continue to sell fur online and outside of California in places where it is still legal, according to Lisa Beal, campaigns manager for Last Chance for Animals.
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