ESTERO, Fla. — Love it or leave it. Black Friday brings out a mix of emotions for shoppers in southwest Florida.
Your Fox4 community correspondent, Miyoshi Price, talked to people at Miromar Outlets in Estero who say they're not necessarily waiting in the Black Friday lines to save.
Watch Fox4's Community Correspondent Miyoshi Price's report on the Black Friday Madness:
"They're not that great," says Julie Golden. "I expected more doorbusters, but that's okay since we're at an outlet mall."
Thousands of people walked through the Miromar Outlets on Friday, visiting their favorite stores and hoping to find what they were looking for. Some folks came with a shopping list for Christmas gifts, while others were simply winging it.
"My shopping is wonderful," says Judi ."I'm walking up and down looking at all the doors, and they're beautiful. And there's so many people standing in line, and they're all anxious to shop."
Judi's granddaughter stood in line for a couple of hours to make her Lululemon purchases, while her grandmother went to multiple stores. She enjoyed the deals at Old Navy.
Just like Judi's granddaughter, Islarose Wheeler got to the Miromar Outlets at 5 a.m. Friday.
"We waited in line for like an hour, and I picked up some stuff at Lululemon, and now I'm waiting in line to check out there," says Wheeler.
The crowds increased by the hour on Friday, and some got really creative by bringing luggage to carry all of their new items.
As the day progressed, a few of the parking lots were filling up. Some cars were even parked illegally on the islands.
According to the National Retail Federation, 76.2 million shoppers plan to shop in person.
So Price asked a shopper, "Why did they rather stand in line than shop online?"
"Why not do both?" says Elaine Dobra.
Dobra and her girlfriends have been Black Friday shoppers for five years. Another group of shoppers says that going Black Friday shopping is a tradition.
"It's just so much more fun to go black Friday shopping in person," says another shopper.
Select stores at Miromar Outlets will have sales throughout the holiday weekend, and you can't forget Cyber Monday.
The Miromar Outlets close at 9 p.m.
There is a list of holiday festivities you can participate in in Estero for the holidays.
- Daily Live Entertainment Monday through Saturday from 4-7 p.m. and 1-4 p.m. on Sunday.
- Free Friday Night Concerts between Michael Kors and Polo Ralph Lauren from 6-8 p.m. on Dec. 6, Dec. 13, Dec. 20 and Dec. 27.
- Farmers Market & Craft Show every Saturday from 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.
- Gift Wrapping Stations throughout the mall, Dec. 14-15 and Dec. 19-24.
