Ready for a Black Friday sales frenzy in South Florida? It’s already happening
Black Friday used to be a one-day shop-a-palooza, focusing on a sales frenzy the day after Thanksgiving, maybe even starting on the night of the holiday before the turkey leftovers even cooled.
If shopping were an Olympic event, Black Friday would be the 100-yard dash.
But the official kickoff of the Christmas shopping season has evolved and expanded, away from those overnight and early morning store openings, to span several weeks of sales and deals, some starting as early as before Halloween and gearing up Thanksgiving week.
That continues in full force this year — although one thing has remained the same: the name and spirit of Black Friday, so dubbed because stores typically consider this period their high profit period, when they operate in the black.
Even though Black Friday now goes across several weeks of sales, the day after Thanksgiving still signals a ready-set-go milestone. You can see it work that way at South Florida malls, which expand their hours.
Aventura Mall, Dolphin Mall in Sweetwater, Dadeland Mall in Kendall and Coral Square Mall in Coral Springs, traditionally open at 10 a.m. on weekdays. But on the day after Thanksgiving, these malls plan to let customers in between two and four hours earlier in the morning for Black Friday — as early as 6 a.m. The malls tack on an extra hour for closing time, too, sliding from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. in some cases.
MORE: Are Publix and Sedano’s closed? Malls? Buses running? See Thanksgiving hours
For those shoppers wanting to get a sooner start, they can spread out their purchases before and after Thanksgiving instead of trying to squeeze through the doors at JCPenney, Dick’s, Macy’s and Nordstrom to buy everything in a single 16-hour day after the the turkey and pie food coma.
And you can even get a head start to snag some gifts online through the ongoing sales that culminate in Cyber Monday on Dec. 1.
We know the action has started early with our inbox overflowing with ads. Best Buy, for instance, pings us to promote “Early Black Friday Deals.” Our smart phone email accounts trumpet $74.99 32-inch Insignia TVs (”Save $55!”) or 65-inch Samsung TVs for $329.99, marked down from $469.99. How about that MacBook Air 15-inch laptop Black Friday Deal at $949 — $250 off its regular price?
“Thanksgiving weekend retains its prominence among holiday spending events and continues to play a significant role in the holiday season for both consumers and retailers,” National Retail Federation President and CEO Matthew Shay said in the Washington-based organization’s report last December. “Even with this year’s shortened shopping period and the multitude of early sales promotions from retailers, this past weekend exceeded expectations in terms of the sheer volume of shoppers.”
Another factor: Customers are opting to shop online rather than jostle with their neighbors outside storefronts on Black Friday. According to WalletHub, a personal finance website, more Americans shopped from home than in stores in 2024, with 87.3 million making purchases online compared to 81.7 million shopping in person.
That 81.7 million figure for in-store customers was the best since the height of the COVID pandemic, up from 76.2 million in 2023, according to the National Retail Federation. But the numbers may be aligning. The 87.3 million online consumers last year was down from 90.6 million in 2023.
“The best Black Friday deals can save you up to 86% this year, but when you’re bombarded by ads and there are so many places to shop, it can be hard to decide where to actually spend your money,” said Chip Lupo, a WalletHub analyst. “Knowing which retailers actually offer significant deals compared to their normal prices can save you a lot of time and prevent buyer’s remorse. This year, the stores offering the top deals are JCPenney, Belk and Kohl’s.”
Belk stores in Florida are concentrated on the West Coast and Panhandle including locations in Fort Myers, Land o’ Lakes, Winter Haven, Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Melbourne and Lakeland.
Are those Black Friday deals crowding your inbox, mailbox flyers and store window signs really worth your attention?
Homework helps.
“To tell real Black Friday deals from marketing traps, look up the item’s price history and compare today’s price to its usual average,” said Md. Rafiqul Islam Rana, an assistant professor in the Department of Retailing at the University of South Carolina.
“Be skeptical of ‘was/now’ comparisons that cite an inflated former price, and read the fine print for shipping, handling, restocking fees or short return windows that erase savings. Watch for look-alike ‘special models’ that cut features to hit a low headline price and compare specs line by line rather than trusting brand and size alone. If a discount is not clearly better than the typical going rate, it is not a real deal,” Rana told Wallet Hub.
You better shop around, as the old song says.
“Many consumers appear to have been trained to think that Amazon has the best deals on everything but that is definitely not always the case. Looking at more than one site would be a good idea,” said Melissa St. James, an associate professor at California State University Dominguez Hills.
Here are some facts and figures from last year’s Black Friday from retail experts to help you smooth out your holiday shopping plan for this year:
Best places to shop on Black Friday
Wallet Hub researchers looked over current ads touting Black Friday sales offers this year and prices found inside the stores and reported these merchants are showing the largest average discounts. The average discount among all surveyed retailers for 2025 is 37.17%.
- 1. JCPenney: 74.08% (still No. 1 but a bit less than 2024’s 76.2%.)
- 2. Belk: 72.42%.
- 3. Kohl’s: 45.39%.
- 4. Macy’s: 44.46%.
- 5. The Home Depot: 35.63%.
- 6. BJ’s: 31.26%.
- 7. Amazon: 29.63%.
- 8. Target: 29.36%.
- 9. Newegg: 28.80% (primarily an online retailer; no physical Florida stores.)
- 10. Best Buy: 28.58%.
- 11. Walmart: 28.54%.
- 12. Dell: 19.94%.
- 13. Costco: 15.08%.
Buy on Black Friday? Cyber Monday? Strategy tips
The best day to buy depends on what you are buying, retail experts say.
Black Friday often delivers the biggest drops on TVs, toys and large appliances, according to Rana. Cyber Monday tends to be strongest for laptops, accessories, headphones and apparel from online-first brands.
“Thanksgiving Day can be surprisingly good for sporting goods,” he said. “Treat the Thursday-to-Monday stretch as one event and time purchases by category rather than chasing a single ‘magic’ day.”
But Patrick Tormey, an adjunct lecturer in the Department of Management and Business Innovation at New York’s Lehman College, tells Wallet Hub not to rule out procrastinating.
“Interestingly, it really depends on the item itself. For toys, it is likely to be Black Friday but for other items — laptops, watches, clothing — it might even be the week before Christmas if retailers feel overstocked and are desperate to unload their bloated inventories.”
Busiest stores on Black Friday
These were the stores Azira, a Pasadena-based technology platform that provides consumer insights to businesses, judged 2024 Black Friday Retail Winners. Azira based its rankings on increased foot traffic on Black Friday compared to a preceding Friday two weeks earlier:
- 1. JCPenney: +431%
- 2. Best Buy: +392%
- 3. Dicks: +353%
- 4. Macy’s: +334%
- 5. Nordstrom: +283%
- 6. Kohls: +194%
- 7. Target: +85%
- 8. Marshalls: +77%
- 9. Lowe’s: +64%
- 10. TJ Maxx: +61%
- 11. HomeGoods: +57%
- 12. The Home Depot: +56%
- 13. Walmart: +33%
- 14. Costco: +20%
Avoid the crunch
Azira analyzed foot traffic at 14 major retailers in 10 metro areas, include the Miami region, on Black Friday 2024 to see which stores saw the biggest surges, and when shopper traffic peaked. Researchers compared foot traffic on Nov. 15, 2024, two Fridays before last year’s Black Friday on Nov. 29, with what they saw on the post-Thanksgiving mega shopping day.
Knowing when a store is at its busiest can help you plan your visit based on your tolerance for crowds and “Black Friday madness.”
In addition to South Florida, Azira based its data on observations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas–Fort Worth, Houston, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Atlanta and Phoenix.
Here were the retailers’ peak crowds hours on Black Friday 2024 to help you plan for 2025. All of these stores have locations in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area:
- Lowes and The Home Depot: 11 a.m.
- Walmart, JCPenney: 1 p.m.
- Nordstrom, Homegoods, Kohl’s and Costco: 2 p.m.
- TJ Maxx, Best Buy, Dick’s, Macy’s and Target: 3 p.m.
- Marshalls: 4 p.m.
Miami data
Gladys Kong, Azira’s CEO, told the Miami Herald in an email that every holiday season comes with variables, such as inflation, shifting tariffs and changes in employment.
“One pattern continues to stand out: Shoppers show up for value. Last Black Friday, Miami retailers saw a 52% surge in foot traffic, with activity peaking at 3 p.m. Based on the momentum we tracked throughout 2024, we expect deal-driven behavior to remain strong this year. We have seen that the retailers who have a deeper, clearer view of how, when, and where shoppers actually move are much better equipped to make the right decisions to increase revenue even when the economic environment is unstable.”
Foot traffic began to rise around 8 a.m. on Black Friday in the Miami area, Kong said.
South Florida Black Friday mall hours
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- Aventura Mall: Closed Thanksgiving Day. Black Friday: 8 a.m.-10 p.m.
- Brickell City Centre: Closed Thanksgiving Day. Black Friday: 9 a.m.-10 p.m.
- Broward Mall: Closed Thanksgiving Day. Black Friday: 8 a.m.-9 p.m.
- Coral Square Mall: Closed Thanksgiving Day. Black Friday: 6 a.m.-10 p.m.
- Dadeland Mall: Closed Thanksgiving Day. Black Friday: 6 a.m.-10 p.m.
- Dolphin Mall: Closed Thanksgiving Day. Black Friday: 7 a.m.-11 p.m.
- The Falls: Closed Thanksgiving Day. Black Friday: 7 a.m.-9 p.m.
- Florida Keys Outlet Marketplace: Closed Thanksgiving Day. Black Friday: 6 a.m.-9 p.m.
- Galleria Fort Lauderdale: Closed Thanksgiving Day. Black Friday: 8 a.m.-9 p.m.
- Miami International Mall: Closed Thanksgiving Day. Black Friday: 6 a.m.-10 p.m.
- Palms at Town & Country: Closed Thanksgiving Day. Black Friday: Hours at this open-air Kendall venue vary by store.
- Pembroke Lakes Mall: Closed Thanksgiving Day. Open 9 a.m.-9 p.m.
- Sawgrass Mills: Closed Thanksgiving Day. Black Friday: 6 a.m.-10 p.m.
- Shops at Merrick Park: Closed Thanksgiving Day. Black Friday: 9 a.m.-9 p.m.
- Westland Mall: Closed Thanksgiving Day. Black Friday: 8 a.m.-10 p.m.
This story was originally published November 22, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
