Here’s how early NJ people start shopping on Black Friday

If the Grinch is the one who stole Christmas, then Jeff Bezos is the one who destroyed Black Friday.

Amazon came along, as well as more and more brick-and-mortar stores getting into the online shopping model.

After years of Black Friday causing massive crowds and jammed highways leading into mall parking lots, it’s not quite what it used to be.

But for some, it’s still a fun tradition. And since the crowds aren’t quite the same, there’s probably a better chance of getting through those doorbuster sales safely.

I knew a woman in Michigan who was nearly killed this way.

She got caught up in a crowd that surrounded a shrink-wrapped palette of some hot item that wasn’t supposed to be unwrapped by an employee until 6 a.m.

Instead, the mob scared the worker away, ripped the shrink-wrap off themselves, and it was a free-for-all.

She was shoved by the crowd into metal shelving and was very nearly asphyxiated.

So while I will never be a fan of early morning Black Friday shopping, it’s still a thing.

For some, it wouldn’t be Christmas without it. A study was conducted by Unit4 to see which states are best for Black Friday shopping when it comes to getting the most bang for your holiday buck.

Part of it had to do with average shopping start times.

I’m happy to report that in New Jersey, we don’t torture ourselves nearly as much as other states. According to a press release on the study, the average shopping start time on Black Friday in New Jersey is 5:15 a.m.

Still too early for my blood. I’m not getting up at 4 in the morning on the first day of a four-day weekend. But you do you!

At least we’re not Vermont and South Dakota. Both states start on average at 1 a.m.

The latest average start time is 8:24 a.m. and that’s in Mississippi.

Overall, because of other considerations like number of malls per 100,000 people, sales tax rate, etc., New Jersey ranks 20th best state for Black Friday shopping.

When it comes to earliest start time, though, we’re tied for 40th place with Maine.

But it turns out New Jerseyans are famous for not waiting for Black Friday to begin a holiday shopping.

We rank very high for states that start our holiday shopping long before Black Friday rolls around. Read more about that from Big Joe Henry here!

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

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