It was just another day in Nelson Mandela Bay where shoppers went about their deal hunting without the frenzy and chaos usually associated with Black Friday.
Extended shopping times, including five-day specials and some stores opening at midnight, are believed to have contributed to smaller crowds at centres around the Bay on Friday morning.
Security measures including centre security, metro and SAPS police stationed around the centres and limiting entry to 20 customers at a time ensure an incident-free morning.
At Baywest the Checkers Hyper, House & Home and Game stores opened at midnight.
A security guard who did not want to be named as he had not been authorised to speak to the media said it was busier at midnight than at 10am on Friday when HeraldLIVE spoke to him.
At the Shoprite Mall in Greenacres, Black Friday regular Veronica Meyers, of Bethelsdorp, was among the bargain hunters at Shoprite.
She had bought everything she wanted – mostly groceries – by 7.30am.
“[This] year was better than last year. It’s a good that I did my shopping because I prepared for this [year’s] shopping by planning for what I wanted,” she said.
“I like this shopping [because] it’s calm and it’s not nerve-wracking like last year.”
Sabelo Nkeakqula came all the way from Kenton on Sea about 130km away to buy a laptop and a television at Greenacres.
“I decided after last year’s Black Friday to start saving because I did not have money to spend last year,” he said.
“I saved up for a new laptop and television and other things I will buy as I go on.”
CJ Van Jaarsveld, a barber from Sidwell, was elated having scored a 50% saving on hair clippers.
“I can’t wait to hook up the guys with new haircuts,” he said.
Westering High School grade 11 pupils, Hlomisa Vuso and Bilqees Webb, said they had too prepared for the day.
And while they had spent most of their money shopping online, they had some gift vouchers to use towards purchases at Baywest Mall.
Vuso scored a bargain when she paid only R150 for a pair of sneakers which usually retail for R1,300.
“We have been online looking for shops that had specials. We woke up at 5 this morning and we budgeted to come to Baywest for specific products,” she said.
Crowds were also considerably smaller at Moffet Retail Park where shoppers queued for specials at Pick n Pay Hypermarket and Toys r Us.