Few stores open, shoppers scarce on Thanksgiving in the Triangle

GARNER, N.C. (WNCN) – The hours leading up to Black Friday are typically chaotic, with shoppers camping outside of stores and lines stretching down the sidewalk.

But this year, a majority of retailers opted to stay closed on Thanksgiving. CBS 17 found the Maddrey family shopping at Cabela’s in Garner, which was one of the few stores that decided to open on Thanksgiving.

“There’s not many cars and it’s good for us. Not good for them,” said Jennifer Maddrey.

The family said they followed state guidelines and kept their Thanksgiving small this year, but they wanted to keep this tradition going.

“We’ve done the late Thanksgiving night when somebody would open up at 11 p.m. a couple times and it was fun. It was a new adventure for us,” said Jack Maddrey.

Jennifer added: “We’re careful, we try and go places when it’s not crowded. I want to live still.”

Some shoppers, worried Black Friday may still draw large crowds, said they wanted to get their shopping out of the way early.

“I know it’s usually busy around this time, so to see everything deserted is kind of different,” said Sarai Brodie, who went shopping on Thanksgiving. “I tried to get everything ahead of time so we wouldn’t have to be out with all the commotion if there was commotion.”

Chris Conners and his son went shopping while his wife cooked dinner at home. He added: “Just getting some ideas for Christmas, seeing what’s out there. This is actually the only store that’s open it feels like.”

Conners said Black Friday is a family tradition, but this year it’s off the table. He plans on doing most of his shopping online.

“Black Friday is always fun going out to the malls. It’s always fun,” Conners explained. “But, this year, it’s just gonna be a little bit different.”

A majority of large retailers will open at 6 a.m. on Black Friday.