By TYLER RIDDIN and ZIKHONA MOYIKWA
Black Friday shoppers did not disappoint East London shop-owners yesterday as they were out in their droves cashing in on the many specials on offer.
While it was a slow start for Hemingways Mall, this had little impact on foot traffic as it picked up throughout the day, and estimates from the mall put total shoppers at over 60000.
Estee Roos, the mall’s marketing manager, said they had experienced “a phenomenal Black Friday turnout, with early estimates suggesting that foot traffic is expected to exceed the 60000 shoppers who took advantage of the massive one-day sale last year”.
During the Daily Dispatch’s early morning visit to the centre there was a permanent queue outside Dennis Collins Jewellers, where prospective customers were hoping to get their hands on a R1 silver and cubic zirconia pendant.
An elderly man, who did not want to be named, said he was hoping to get it as a Christmas present for his wife.
Nigel Collins, manager at the Hemingways Mall’s branch of the jeweller, said: “It’s been a very busy morning. We had a few more than 140 of the silver pendants and those were gone within three-and-a-half hours. Once those were finished I managed to find about 20 pearl pendants which were also sold for R1.
“The money from those items is going to Reach for a Dream Foundation, which we support in a big way. How it worked was that people would put their R1 in a donation tin. Fortunately the public got on board and we had some people giving R20 and R50. There were a lot of givers, not just takers,” he said.
“We have had about 200 to 250 people this morning . That might not sound like much but we are a small jewellery store which can only take in five people at a time, who all get individual attention from our five sales staff.”
Cheryl Steenekamp, who does the marketing for Dennis Collins Jewellers and works from their Vincent Park shopping mall branch said: “We had people queuing in front of our store from 6.13am. We had to open before 7am as the queue was becoming so long.
“The R1 pendants were sold within 30 or 40 minutes. Our special prices will continue on Saturday and Sunday.”
The only store at Hemingways Mall which even slightly resembled the chaotic video footage often seen in the United States at this time of year was Checkers. Customers packed out the store, with their trolleys cramming the isles.
Old and young alike could be seen with armloads of cereals, soft drinks and nappies, while a backlog formed in the frozen goods section as customers tried to get their hands on margarine and butter specials.
When interviewed shortly after opening yesterday morning Marlene de Wet, manager at Checkers, said: “I’m not sure how this compares to Black Friday last year as I fortunately missed it because I had broken my arm. Some of the staff say it’s a little less busy but it is still early.
“We planned to open the doors at seven but had to open them 20 minutes earlier because a crowd was forming and we didn’t want the doors to be damaged. We definitely have enough stock to last the day. There shouldn’t be any trouble as we have hired our own security,” she said yesterday, adding “we are expecting thousands of people to come through the store today and are open an hour later than usual, until eight”.
While Checkers in Vincent may have only opened its doors at 7am, by 7.10am there were already scores of people leaving with trolley-loads of goods.
Nobulali Reuters said she had been queuing since 4am as she wanted to be the first when doors opened. “I got here at four. I knew if I waited till seven I would find empty shelves.”
Frere Hospital nurse Nomazizi Ngesi knocked off night duty at six in the morning and went straight to Vincent Park shopping mall for the Black Friday specials.
After shopping at Game she said: “I did not want to miss out on today’s special. I have been planning to buy a microwave for a while now. I’m glad that I waited till today because it was very cheap.”
Also at Game, Thando Barnabas said: “I was hoping to buy a lot of electronic devices but there was no discount for some electronic hardware machinery. I found a beautiful kettle which I bought at half price. It was so packed I thought there were going to be injuries. People were pushing each other. I thought everything was half the price but unfortunately not.”
Shopper chaos erupts across EL
Black Friday shoppers did not disappoint East London shop-owners yesterday as they were out in their droves cashing in on the many specials on offer.
While it was a slow start for Hemingways Mall, this had little impact on foot traffic as it picked up throughout the day, and estimates from the mall put total shoppers at over 60000.
Estee Roos, the mall’s marketing manager, said they had experienced “a phenomenal Black Friday turnout, with early estimates suggesting that foot traffic is expected to exceed the 60000 shoppers who took advantage of the massive one-day sale last year”.
During the Daily Dispatch’s early morning visit to the centre there was a permanent queue outside Dennis Collins Jewellers, where prospective customers were hoping to get their hands on a R1 silver and cubic zirconia pendant.
An elderly man, who did not want to be named, said he was hoping to get it as a Christmas present for his wife.
Nigel Collins, manager at the Hemingways Mall’s branch of the jeweller, said: “It’s been a very busy morning. We had a few more than 140 of the silver pendants and those were gone within three-and-a-half hours. Once those were finished I managed to find about 20 pearl pendants which were also sold for R1.
“The money from those items is going to Reach for a Dream Foundation, which we support in a big way. How it worked was that people would put their R1 in a donation tin. Fortunately the public got on board and we had some people giving R20 and R50. There were a lot of givers, not just takers,” he said.
“We have had about 200 to 250 people this morning . That might not sound like much but we are a small jewellery store which can only take in five people at a time, who all get individual attention from our five sales staff.”
Cheryl Steenekamp, who does the marketing for Dennis Collins Jewellers and works from their Vincent Park shopping mall branch said: “We had people queuing in front of our store from 6.13am. We had to open before 7am as the queue was becoming so long.
“The R1 pendants were sold within 30 or 40 minutes. Our special prices will continue on Saturday and Sunday.”
The only store at Hemingways Mall which even slightly resembled the chaotic video footage often seen in the United States at this time of year was Checkers. Customers packed out the store, with their trolleys cramming the isles.
Old and young alike could be seen with armloads of cereals, soft drinks and nappies, while a backlog formed in the frozen goods section as customers tried to get their hands on margarine and butter specials.
When interviewed shortly after opening yesterday morning Marlene de Wet, manager at Checkers, said: “I’m not sure how this compares to Black Friday last year as I fortunately missed it because I had broken my arm. Some of the staff say it’s a little less busy but it is still early.
“We planned to open the doors at seven but had to open them 20 minutes earlier because a crowd was forming and we didn’t want the doors to be damaged. We definitely have enough stock to last the day. There shouldn’t be any trouble as we have hired our own security,” she said yesterday, adding “we are expecting thousands of people to come through the store today and are open an hour later than usual, until eight”.
While Checkers in Vincent may have only opened its doors at 7am, by 7.10am there were already scores of people leaving with trolley-loads of goods.
Nobulali Reuters said she had been queuing since 4am as she wanted to be the first when doors opened. “I got here at four. I knew if I waited till seven I would find empty shelves.”
Frere Hospital nurse Nomazizi Ngesi knocked off night duty at six in the morning and went straight to Vincent Park shopping mall for the Black Friday specials.
After shopping at Game she said: “I did not want to miss out on today’s special. I have been planning to buy a microwave for a while now. I’m glad that I waited till today because it was very cheap.”
Also at Game, Thando Barnabas said: “I was hoping to buy a lot of electronic devices but there was no discount for some electronic hardware machinery. I found a beautiful kettle which I bought at half price. It was so packed I thought there were going to be injuries. People were pushing each other. I thought everything was half the price but unfortunately not.”
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending Now
Latest Videos