Shoppers hit Black Friday sales with celebratory mood despite economic strain

NEW YORK (AP) — The economic picture hasn't looked very rosy: Hiring has been sluggish. Consumers have been dealing with soaring meat prices. Layoffs are rippling through companies.

But despite those concerns, shoppers hit the stores in full strength on Black Friday, with some even sipping champagne as they searched for discounts on the day that traditionally kicks off the holiday shopping season.

Just outside New Orleans, shoppers flooded Lakeside Shopping Center to see what deals they could find. The mall offers champagne to Black Friday traditionalists while they shop, as long as they have a receipt of at least $50.

“Sipping and shopping is the best, so I feel like that’s a New Orleans thing to do” said Lacie Lemoine, who was shopping with her grandmother, an annual tradition they've kept despite the fact that their budgets are shrinking.

“The economy is bad, but you still have to celebrate," said her grandmother, Sandra Lemoine. "Everybody has to do what they can do on their own budget. That’s it.”

Both the massive Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, and Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus, New Jersey, reported strong customer traffic on Friday and said Black Friday would once again rank as their busiest day of the year.

“We are off to a great start,” said Jill Renslow, Mall of America’s chief business development and marketing officer.

The line to enter the shopping and entertainment center started forming at 3 p.m. on Thursday, Renslow said. About 14,000 visitors entered within an hour of the mall’s 7 a.m. opening, she said.

“We are tracking one of our best Black Fridays ever,” she added.

Many retail executives have reported customers becoming more discerning and increasingly focused on deals while at the same time remaining willing to splurge for important occasions, creating a potential halo effect that might keep financial worries from discouraging holiday shoppers.

National Retail Federation CEO Matthew Shay said in early November that consumers tend to wall off holidays, whether religious, secular or bank, from outside concerns.

“It’s a sort of a category of spending that has a moat around it,” Shay said. “Shoppers view them as opportunities for celebration. I think that really captures the way the (winter) holiday season goes. People save for it. They plan for it. They prioritize it.”

While some are being cautious about this year’s Christmas expenses, others are not. Metairie, Louisiana resident Denise Thevenot says this year is no different. “I wish I could say that I had, but no, we’re just blowing it away just like we do every year. We’ll worry about that tomorrow, right? I got the receipts to show you.”

Marshal Cohen, chief industry adviser at Circana, a market research firm, visited several malls on New York’s Long Island and New Jersey. He noted strong traffic and said the centers grew busier as Black Friday went on.

Cohen said Target drew lines for complimentary gift bags for the early shoppers, but overall “gone is Black Friday as we know it,” he said. “There’s no sense of urgency.”

According to Target, which aims to reverse a sales slump, 150 shoppers on average were in line at its stores for the bags filled with what it described as “goodies.” The discounter was giving away the bags for the first 100 customers who showed up for its 6 a.m. opening

At Macy’s Herald Square flagship store in New York City, customers who streamed in soon after the store opened at 6 a.m. found deep discounts on clothes, shoes, linens and cosmetics. The footwear department discounted everything up to half off.

Nicholas Menasche, 19, from Queens, New York, shopped with his mother for shoes and clothing, and planned to head next to Best Buy for video games. Menasche, an intern at a bank, said he expected to spend around $1,200 this year on his holiday shopping, roughly the same amount as last year.

“It’s a great tradition," he said. "The stores are open really early.”

Westfield Garden State Plaza let customers in an hour early instead of making customers wait outside in the frigid weather, but stores didn’t open their doors until 7 a.m. as planned, said marketing director William Lewis. Members of Generation Z mostly comprised the early crowd, but older customers came in later, he said.

“People are definitely buying,” Lewis said. “Most people are walking around with a shopping bag."

Shoppers appeared to have done research ahead of time and “know exactly where they are going,” he said.

Although Black Friday still reigns supreme as a magnet for in-store shopping, the ease of browsing and buying gifts online has eroded the event’s singular significance. Online purchases now account for more than 30% of total holiday sales compared to 15% in 2012, according to the National Retail Federation.

The growth in online sales also has been robust so far. From Nov. 1 to Nov. 23, U.S. consumers spent $79.7 billion, or 7.5% more than a year earlier, according to web tracking and analysis platform Adobe Analytics. They spent another $6.4 billion online on Thanksgiving Day, a 5.3% increase over last year, while taking advantage of better than expected deals, the firm said.

“Clearly, there’s uncertainty,” Mastercard Chief Economist Michelle Meyer said ahead of Black Friday. “Consumers feel on edge. But at the moment, it doesn’t seem like it’s changing how they are showing up for this season.”

Black Friday Shoppers queue to enter Macy's flagship store in New York on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

Black Friday shoppers look at shoes at Macy's flagship store in New York on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

JoJo Siwa performs as shoppers watch at Mall of America for Black Friday deals, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, in Bloomington, Minn. (AP Photo/Adam Bettcher)

Black Friday shoppers queue to enter FAO Schwarz in New York on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

Becca Mendoza and Tammi Hines look at products as shoppers browse through Kohl's department store for Black Friday deals, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, in Woodstock, Ga. (AP Photo/Megan Varner)

Black Friday shoppers admire a Christmas LEGO set at the LEGO flagship store in New York on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

Shoppers browse through stores at Mall of America for Black Friday deals, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, in Bloomington, Minn. (AP Photo/Adam Bettcher)

Shoppers wait in lines before they browse through stores at Mall of America for Black Friday deals, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, in Bloomington, Minn. (AP Photo/Adam Bettcher)

Shoppers browse through stores at Mall of America for Black Friday deals, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, in Bloomington, Minn. (AP Photo/Adam Bettcher)

JoJo Siwa greets shoppers at the Mall of America for Black Friday deals in Bloomington, Minn., Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Adam Bettcher)

Shoppers browse through stores at Mall of America for Black Friday deals, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, in Bloomington, Minn. (AP Photo/Adam Bettcher)

JoJo Siwa greets shoppers at Mall of America for Black Friday deals, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, in Bloomington, Minn. (AP Photo/Adam Bettcher)

Shoppers line up to get into Mall of America for Black Friday deals, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, in Bloomington, Minn. (AP Photo/Adam Bettcher)

Jenny Poole pushes a shopping cart at Kohl's on Black Friday, Jenny has shopped at this Kohls on Black Friday every year for the last 10 years, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, in Woodstock, Ga. (AP Photo/Megan Varner)

Shoppers browse through Kohl's department store for Black Friday deals, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, in Woodstock, Ga. (AP Photo/Megan Varner)

A sign sits by sweaters as shoppers browse through Kohl's department store for Black Friday deals, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, in Woodstock, Ga. (AP Photo/Megan Varner)

Shoppers enter a Kohl's department store for Black Friday, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, in Woodstock, Ga. (AP Photo/Megan Varner)

The shirt of a woman who has matching shirts with 4 other friends and all shop together on Black Friday as shoppers browse through Kohl's department store for Black Friday looking for deals, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, in Woodstock, Ga. (AP Photo/Megan Varner)

Yugita Suresh, right, an AT&T account representative assists Patricia Neerman and her children Jonathan, right rear, and Esther, left, through a purchase at Best Buy, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Chad Cook of Dallas, tries checks out a headphone unit as he shops at a Best Buy store, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

People pass a display as they walks among early Black Friday sale items at Best Buy Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Signs denote Black Friday deals already available on clothing in a Target store, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025, in southeast Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Sign marks special prices on toys as retailers roll out Black Friday deals, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025, in a Target store in southeast Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune announced a plan Wednesday to fully fund the Department of Homeland Security, moving past a split between the two Republican leaders that resulted in Congress leaving Washington last week without a fix to a record-setting partial government shutdown.

They said in a joint statement that “in the coming days” Republicans in Congress will return to a Senate plan to fund most of the department through an agreement with Democratic senators, with the exception of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Border Patrol. Republicans would then try later to fund those agencies through party-line spending legislation.

Neither outcome is guaranteed, and the strategy could potentially still face opposition from the GOP’s own ranks even though President Donald Trump has given his support.

“We appreciate and share the President’s determination to once and for all bring an end to the Democrat DHS shutdown,” said Johnson, R-La., and Thune, R-S.D.

The plan represents a do-over of what senators had in mind when they passed a bipartisan funding agreement through unanimous consent last Friday. The Senate could approve similar legislation as soon as Thursday morning through unanimous consent, but even if that happens, it's unclear how quickly the bill could move through the House. It will likely take several months for Republicans to act on the second part of Trump's plan and pass budgeting legislation to fund ICE and Border Patrol.

House Republicans refused to go along with the Senate plan last week, instead changing the bill to fund all of DHS for 60 days.

As a result, the shutdown continued as lawmakers left for their home states and congressional districts for a two-week recess. The DHS shutdown reached its 47th day on Wednesday.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement, "Republican divisions derailed a bipartisan agreement, making American families pay the price for their dysfunction."

The announcement from the GOP leaders showed that for now, Thune and Johnson are on the same page. Their working relationship experienced a rupture late last week when Johnson — at the urging of many House Republicans — rejected Thune’s plan.

The top Republicans hoping the path ahead will win over skeptical GOP colleagues, but the most conservative lawmakers are likely to seek full funding for all of Trump’s immigration and deportation operations.

“Let’s make this simple: caving to Democrats and not paying CBP and ICE is agreeing to defund Law Enforcement and leaving our borders wide open again,” Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., posted on X. “If that’s the vote, I’m a NO.”

It is uncertain whether Johnson could find enough support from the House to recall lawmakers back to Washington before their spring recess ends in mid-April.

Meanwhile, the narrow budget package being prepared for later this year is expected to fund ICE and Border Patrol through the remainder of Trump’s term, as a away to try to ensure those agencies are no longer at risk from Democrats objecting to the president’s immigration enforcement agenda.

Earlier Wednesday, Trump weighed in on the shutdown, using a social media post to seemingly call on Republicans to fund the immigration portions of DHS through a bill that would not require Democratic support. He said he wanted the legislation on his desk by June 1.

“We are going to work as fast, and as focused, as possible to replenish funding for our Border and ICE Agents, and the Radical Left Democrats won’t be able to stop us,” Trump said.

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries released a statement saying, “It’s time to pay TSA agents, end the airport chaos and fully fund every part of the Department of Homeland Security that does not relate to Donald Trump’s violent mass deportation machine.”

The vast majority of Homeland Security workers continue to report to work during the shutdown, but many thousands have been going without pay. That led to more Transportation Security Administration agents calling out from work, causing frustrating security lines at some of the nation's biggest airports. Those bottlenecks appeared to be clearing this week as agents began receiving backpay, per an executive order from Trump.

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Associated Press writer Lisa Mascaro in Washington contributed reporting.

Sen. Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., speaks during a news conference after a policy luncheon on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, March 24, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill, Friday, March 27, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)