Overall, a mixed bag with some stores jam-packed while others were shockingly  empty.

Most surprising, experts declaring Black Friday a great success because store traffic was only down 1%-5%. 

I spent the day checking out 4 different shopping districts:

• Herald Square: Macy’s and Manhattan Mall
• Rockefeller Center/Fifth Avenue (which included the highlight of the day: the new Nike House of Innovation – WOW!!)
• Brookfield Place/Westfield WTC
• Soho/Broadway

 

Scroll down for a visual recap of the day. PLUS the Top 10 Highlights from Black Friday.

 

I started out at the Manhattan Mall: decidedly, NOT busy.

 

 

Only the Aeropostale store was busy. All the others, including J.C. Penney and Bolton’s looked like this. ⬇️

 

On to Macy’s in Herald Square. Lots of red Macy’s shopping bags out on the street. Macy’s itself, totally jam-packed.

 

Next I headed to Rockefeller Center. LEGO, as always, had long lines but I noticed fewer shopping bags than in previous years.

Tiffany’s at Rock Center was not busy. Additionally, few shopping bags to be seen in the crowds walking around the promenade.

 

Fifth Avenue was chock-a-block with shoppers – and Victoria’s Secret and Pink bags were the most popular.

 

AND THEN, THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: Nike’s House Of Innovation 000

WOW! Next Level Retail at its finest. All I could think was, “this is how we used to feel about Apple“. Absolutely brilliant. Genius. Bravo.

The Sneaker Lounge ⬇️, is the inner sanctum, with only true sneaker enthusiasts getting past the velvet ropes.

But people were buying up a storm throughout the store – and it appeared to be primarily sneakers vs. apparel.

 

On the top floor, the Nike Expert Studio. I didn’t feel I could pass muster up there. Have to go with a sneakerhead.

 

LOVED THIS STORE. Sad to leave next level retail for regular humdrum shopping. But somebody has to do it. Bye Nike, I will be back.

 

 

Next, I headed downtown to Westfield Mall in the WTC as well as Brookfield Place. Not much happening at either location, not crowded, few shopping bags. The luxury retailers looked especially forlorn.

 

I was happy to get back to my home turf, Soho. Broadway was hopping! Shopping bags galore – lots of KITH – the NEW luxury!

 

And when shopping makes you hungry, you line up to get a slice at Prince Street Pizza!

 

For those of you still with me, read on for the Top 10 Black Friday Retail Highlights starting with the best of the best.

#1:  Nike’s House of Innovation 000

• Phenomenal. THE best example of next level retail I’ve yet experienced.
• First thought as I walked in: Wow, this is the NEW Apple store.
• It re-sets how we think about Nike. Suddenly, Nike is coming at us from the future.

Here’s what particularly stood out:

• The digital technology/design is game-changing.
• They’ve flipped the script by putting the most desirable products and experiences on the upper floors. As you slowly ascend the stairs (because there is a long line) and there is no escalator or elevator in sight, the excitement builds because you know each level brings you closer to the inner sanctum.
• The sneaker lounge which is like a club with a velvet rope for sneaker enthusiasts is where you see all the people who come in with their KITH bags (an excellent indicator of a sneaker connoisseur).
• The staff on the ground floor wear white lab coats (this seems to be huge trend at the moment).
• Not that I’m any kind of expert, but I was impressed by the sneaker designs. I’ve never been especially fond of Nike shoes (too many bells and whistles) but I saw some that might get me to change my mind.
• The apparel, on the other hand, was outranked by the store design and display features.

Also of note:

• Of all the stores I checked on Friday, Nike’s customers were the most avid shoppers.
• Almost everyone entering the store was carrying multiple shopping bags. About 20% left with a Nike purchase.
• Bravo Nike. Color me impressed!

#2:  Lots of people out and about (especially tourists)

• It was one of the coldest days of the year but the throngs were clearly enjoying themselves.
• The busiest areas were Fifth Avenue from Rockefeller Center to 57^th Street and Soho, especially the stretch of Broadway between Houston and Broome.
• The least busy was Westfield WTC/Brookfield Place.

#3: Retail Winners (NYC edition)

Based on shopping bags and traffic going in/out of stores:

• Victoria’s Secret: Despite all the recent depressing news about the brand, I saw more VS bags than any other.
• Pink: Not quite as often as VS but still plenty, especially on 5^th Avenue
• Macy’s: jam-packed – I walked in and struggled to make my way back out.
• H&M: lots of bags and sizable crowds.
• Uniqlo: jam-packed – especially in Soho.
• J. Crew: surprisingly popular shopping bag among guys.
• Sephora: stores were packed and even though their bags tend to be very small, the black and white design makes them pop.
• LEGO: huge lines at Rockefeller Center and quite a few bags but not as many as in previous years.
• Brandy Melville: one of the busiest stores downtown – both locations, jam-packed.
• Levi’s on Broadway: One of the few places with a line outside – perhaps because of the 40% off sign.
• KITH: lots of bags, especially downtown but also at the Nike store.
• NIKE: See above (#1) – enough said.

I also saw more than a smattering of bags from Aeropostale, Adidas, Forever 21 and Footlocker. What I did NOT see much of was Apple.

#4: Millennials and Gen Z were shopping up a storm in Soho

• Of all 4 shopping districts, Soho’s Broadway and some of the surrounding streets were filled with young shoppers and they WERE shopping based on the number of bags they were carrying.
• Guys more likely to be buying sneakers and streetwear, females more likely to be carrying H&M, Brandy Melville and Victoria’s Secret.
• Canada Goose was the outerwear of choice.

#5: Has Supreme jumped the shark?

• I have never seen so much Supreme before – especially on kids from the suburbs.
• Also some really ugly collabs e.g. the Supreme x NorthFace products are just garish.
• No lines at Supreme? But plenty of security guards.
• And the Supreme re-sellers, always situated kitty-corner from the store, outside of Delicatessen, were not looking happy or doing a thriving business. Maybe, that bubble has finally burst?

#6: Most stores were not busy

• I started out at the Manhattan Mall in Herald Square which was not busy. Some stores had zero customers e.g. Bolton’s. JC Penney wasn’t much better.
• Aeropostale was the busiest store at the Manhattan Mall.
• The stores at Westfield WTC/Brookfield Place were the least busy.

#7: Luxury is Dead/ Long Live Luxury

• For whatever reason, all the traditional luxury retailers had zero customers.
• Is this because those customers are not Black Friday shoppers?
• Are they more likely to shop online?
• Are they more likely to spend on experiences e.g. trips
• I don’t know the reason but it was startling to see Gucci, Burberry, Bottega Veneta all empty.
• However, the new luxury (brands like KITH) are hopping. Go figure.

#8: Heavy security and NYPD presence

• Both reassuring and at the same time perturbing. Especially since there was a shooting at a NJ mall on Friday night, followed by robberies in the parking lot as people were trying to escape.

#9: Shopping works up a hunger: long lines for pizza and cupcakes

• The longest lines I saw downtown were at a pizza-slice joint on Prince Street.
• The Cupcake place across the street, equally jammed.

#10: The Great Shopping Divide

• According to a recent retail study, 54% of us would rather sit on our couches and order what we need online.
• 46%, however, are into Black Friday even as it increasingly becomes a contact sport.
• Some people even complained on twitter that since there were fewer people in the malls, there was less mayhem to enjoy!!
• Were it not for writing this blog post, I would not have hit those streets or stepped into any store on Black Friday.
• So is the shopping divide driven by age, income, gender?  Something else?

 

Bottom Line.

Today, on  Cyber Monday, the last few days are being assessed with data to back up (or not) what I saw and experienced in NYC.

Shopping is clearly changing with more of it moving online and with free shipping and returns, what does that do to margins?

In the meantime, turning all of November and December into an extended Black Friday may be what it takes to keep brick-and-mortar retailers in the game, but it sucks the joy out of the Holidays for many of us.

What was your experience?