Walmart TV Black Friday
A Walmart employee helps Taylor Flood load a big-screen TV into his car on Friday morning. Photo by Bob McGovern

It took Rhianon Bender a year to get her Black Friday deal, but she got it.

The Maricopa resident came out of Walmart on Friday morning with the price-reduced Canon Pixma wireless inkjet printer she had seen last year – for just $19.

“I saw it last year and didn’t get it,” she said as she prepared to put the printer in her car. She took her chances that the bargain would be available today and she was correct.

Bender usually does her Black Friday shopping online, she said. “But this was just an in-store deal, so I had to come in.”

The urgency for a printer at home increased this year with her son learning virtually at home due to the coronavirus pandemic. Now, she said, she’ll be able to print out his work instead of having to write it out. She sounded relieved.

Bender was among those shopping at the big-box store – it opened at 5 a.m. – on a Black Friday that looked different from the frenzied affairs of the recent past. With the pandemic persisting, many retailers were offering their best deals online, helping to keep numbers of shoppers down on what is typically one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

It was a similar, quieter scene at stores and shopping malls across the nation, though there were reports of people camping outside of Gamestop stores to get their hands on the popular and scarce Playstation 5 game console, including a man at a Scottsdale store who was first in line at 5 p.m. Wednesday, according to news reports.

For the Jensens – mom Tonya and daughters Katelin and Kearsten – their Black Friday trip to Ross was atypical. They are usually busy this day decorating their home for the holidays, not going out shopping.

They had come for a few more decorations, of course.

“The lines were a little longer than usual,” said Tonya, a Hidden Valley resident who has lived in the area since 2002. They said they would be busy later Friday to be sure their home was decorated in time for Kearsten’s birthday on Saturday.

Kearsten, who lives in St. Louis, came down to Maricopa for Thanksgiving and will be staying due to the COVID-19 “numbers” in Missouri.

“We’re unexpectedly spending Christmas in Arizona this year,” she said.

Black Friday Walmart
The crowds appeared light Friday morning at Walmart. Photo by Bob McGovern

According to BlackFriday.com, the annual shopping bonanza has primarily been an online event for years. The site was projecting an $11 billion haul this year, down 7.5% from last year. Their prediction, which includes Thanksgiving Day spending, dis forecast an uptick in spending compared to the rest of 2020, however.

Amanda and Taylor Flood, residents of Acacia Crossing, took advantage of in-store sales at Walmart to score a 65-inch LG television for less than $500. It was their sole purchase.

While they don’t typically shop on Black Friday, they will when “we want a big electronic purchase,” Amanda said.

With the help of a store worker, the couple crammed their big-screen TV into the back seat of their Hyundai Sonata before heading home.