Columbus shoppers happy to bond, spend, give back on Black Friday

On a sun-splashed Black Friday in Columbus, there was a steady mix of local residents and out-of-town visitors spending money on gifts, eating a little too much, bonding and joking around with family and friends, and taking first-ever pictures with Santa Claus.

A group of ladies led by Tara Weaver, a military retiree living in the Midland area of city, was loaded down with shopping bags as they moved through Peachtree Mall on Manchester Expressway. Aside from Weaver, 49, and her sister, Lisa Thomas, 53, from Iowa, there were daughters and cousins Teleah Thomas, 18, of Iowa, Courtney Stephens, 30, of Dallas, Texas, and Chastity Thomas, 29, a kindergarten teacher from Iowa — all visiting Weaver for the Thanksgiving weekend.

“This is my first time Black Friday shopping and probably my last, because this is what happens. You can’t stop me!” joked Chastity Thomas, who then ticked off what they had already bought collectively — luggage, eight memory foam pillows for $5 each, a computer, an Apple watch, a comforter, towels, candles, sheets, lots of makeup, keychains and a refrigerator that they obviously did not have with them at the mall.

“It’s not my first time (out on Black Friday) and it won’t be my last. I only shop once a year,” countered Weaver of the group that left their house at 5 a.m., heading for the Fort Benning Post Exchange before traveling to the mall. They then were headed back home to eat more Thanksgiving leftovers. “We have so much fun together, we enjoy each other’s company, we crack jokes.”

That was just-have-a-good time theme throughout much of the day, with traffic quite heavy at times, yet civil, from Peachtree Mall north to The Landings on Airport Thruway, up to the Columbus Park Crossing power shopping center, and over to the Bradley Park Drive area of the city. Parking lots were generally full at the centers, including at Target, where shoppers were spotted carrying out big-screen TVs, clothing and plenty of toys.

“We’re doing a little bit (of shopping),” said Aaron Mathys, 33, a military officer stationed at Fort Benning in June after spending two years in Italy with his family. “We’ve been to Target, and now we’re going to go to Barnes & Noble.”

But first there was a quick detour next to the bookstore, with Mathys and his wife, Anna, both natives of Montana, having their three daughters — Julia, 5, Celeste, 3, and Francesca, 9 months — take pictures with Santa Claus in a small courtyard where he will be from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. each Saturday until Christmas.

“She saw him on the way in and she got so excited,” Anna Mathys said of Julia. “They are very sweet kids. This was their first time with Santa.”

It is such a family atmosphere that Peachtree Mall general manager TaVida Rice said that she is committed to cultivating this 2017 holiday season and beyond. That’s why the indoor shopping center has scheduled festive activities to include storytime sessions with Mrs. Claus and holiday caroling. She also brought back a parade a couple of weeks ago to signal the arrive of Santa Claus to center court, which featured appearances by the Kendrick and Northside High School bands.

Rice reported the mall experienced record foot traffic after opening at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving evening, with the mall’s parking lot more than 75 percent full by the time doors opened. On Friday, foot traffic was a bit slow off the bat, but visibly increasing heading through mid-morning and into the lunch hour.

“I just got a text message letting me know that the food court is full,” the manager said. “Everyone’s really happy. And Dillard’s and JCPenney, as you saw, were elbow to elbow.”

It was in JCPenney that Cassie Culligan, 32, was enjoying a bit of bonding of her own with sister Courtney Cooper, 38, and their mother, Becky Cooper, 63, all residents of Phenix City. The two sisters are teachers in Phenix City.

“We went until midnight last night and then we came home,” said Cassie, who has two girls to shop for and has a son on the way, due in about three months. “We started at Walmart last night, and then we went to Toys R Us, Kohl’s and Target. Walmart was really crowded, but then it slimmed down around 6:30 or 7. We went home and went to sleep for about five or six hours and came back out ... we always eat breakfast at Hardee’s.”

“It’s a tradition for us three,” said Courtney. “It’s for the deals and the fun, and it gets you in the spirit.”

Said their mom, who plans to do more shopping in the coming weeks: “I’ve got seven grandchildren and one on the way, so I’m buying for them, and four children. We bought TVs at Walmart last night. They had good deals on them.”

Amid the holiday energy at the mall on Friday, there was yet another example of the reason for this season. Columbus resident Christine Pickett, 53, and her son, Royce, 15, were standing next to a Salvation Army Angel Tree near Santa’s throne at center court. They already had been spending money at JCPenney, Macy’s and a couple of shoe stores, but several small trees with slips of angel-adorned paper on them stopped the mother and son in their tracks. The pieces of paper had the names of children on them and what they would like to receive for Christmas.

“I’ve done this a couple of years, but last year I skipped it for some odd reason,” said Christine, who was eyeing one of the paper slips with the name of a 4-year-old girl, Mackenzie, who simply wanted a small bicycle, a karaoke machine and a Barbie doll.

Participants who wish to take part in the Angel Tree giving effort simply take the paper to the mall office, which will forward them to the Salvation Army and make sure the Santa-like presents ultimately are delivered to the proper families. The mall assisted about 1,000 children through the program last year.

The Columbus mother said she simply wants to give back to those less fortunate than she is, and set an example.

“Not that we have much, but what we do have we try to share, and I want my son to see me doing this so that when he gets old enough and has a job, maybe he’ll give something back to some deserving child,” Christine said. “It’s instilling something into my young man here.”

This story was originally published November 24, 2017 at 5:16 PM with the headline "Columbus shoppers happy to bond, spend, give back on Black Friday."