CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Holiday shopping in Charlotte kicked off on Thanksgiving Day with many retailers opening their doors ahead of Black Friday.
According to Charlotte Simons Center, Charlotte Premium Outlets' parking lot is 100% full. SouthPark's parking lot is 90% full (as of noon on Friday.)
Sandip Pawar and Shorya Malhotra were some of the first people in line at the Best Buy off Centrum Parkway in Pineville.
Pawar said he was looking to get a doorbuster deal on a laptop, and Malhotra said he was standing in line to get a reduced price on a TV.
“I just wanted to get a feel of what exactly the Thanksgiving shopping is,” Pawar said.
The line started forming at that Best Buy location around noon on Thanksgiving Day.
Pawar said he tried to get a doorbuster deal last year, but got in line a little too late. This year, he said he knew to come a little earlier ahead of the crowd.
Pawar and Malhotra are some of the 34 million people the National Retail Federation estimates will shop on Thanksgiving Day.
The federation reports 65 percent who shop on Thanksgiving and the following three days are trying to take advantage of deals and promotions, while 26 percent said it’s just a tradition.
Pawar said going shopping for deals on Thanksgiving will now be part of his yearly tradition.
“From this experience onward, I’ll do it every year,” he said.
