Local shoppers turn out for Black Friday deals

“It’s a family tradition that we do Black Friday,” said Kathy Garcia.

Whether they hit the stores right after taking the last bite of turkey or waited until early Friday morning, shoppers were on the hunt for black Friday deals.

“It feels so good when you find something that should be like $20 dollars but you get it for $10 or $5 or whatever you get it for,” said shopper Nicole Patel. “I feel really good about myself.”

Retail reports estimate 133 million shoppers will hit the stores and shop online this Thanksgiving weekend.

“If you see something you like you can’t not buy it, it’s on sale,” said Ashley Garcia. “Sometimes we come here shopping for others, sometimes for ourselves also.”

The Northridge Mall in Salinas opened their doors at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving.

They tell us by 11 o’clock they were at 95% capacity.

“There were a lot of events going on, a lot of prizes being given away,” said Susan Causey, Northridge Mall general manager. “The Northridge prize patrol was out in full force.”

Families and millennials were their main customers.

Specialty and tech items along with shoes and apparel were the big draws.

“It’s getting cold and I don’t have much pants and I needed joggers so we went to H&M,” said Manny Delreal.

Customers who waited until Friday to shop say it was slim pickings.

“You could tell that a lot of people came yesterday,” said Kathy.

But retailers delivered when it came to offering deep discounts.

“The ones I’ve seen they have been pretty good,” said Nicholas Sandberg.

“The big department sales were like better than you know the little stores in the mall,” said Patel. “But overall I thought there was pretty good sales.”

The Del Monte Shopping Center in Monterey was also really busy.

Guest services say they opened up at 8 a.m. on Friday and expect large crowds.