Bergen's Black Friday Latecomers Get the Deals Without the Hassle

Friday afternoon saw a different breed of Black Friday shoppers at stores along Route 17 in Bergen County – the latecomers.

Shoppers out in the afternoon said they weren’t missing the . But, instead, were reaping the benefits of ongoing sales without the hassles of waking up early, waiting on long lines and fighting for merchandise.

“I actually think it’s much better to wait until [Black Friday] afternoon,” Janine Iofrida, who was visiting Bergen County for the Thanksgiving holiday from NYC, said. She went to the Ramsey DSW with friend Donna Fitteron and her daughter Dara, of Franklin Lakes, at about 3 p.m. Friday.

“By the time you wait on those long lines, what you wanted was most likely sold out. But, you feel guilty and like you have to buy something because you waited all that time, so you buy something else,” she said of why she never goes “typical Black Friday shopping.” In the afternoon, the trio found “really good deals” on boots, flats and socks, and were planning to get some lunch and head out to other stores, they said.

Most shoppers out said they waited to avoid the frenzy Black Friday has become famous for.

“We came up here thinking we were far away enough from the malls [in Paramus], and it was late enough in the day, that it shouldn’t be too bad,” Marilyn, of Hewitt, said. She and a friend were shopping at the , Toys R Us Express, Dress Barn and Modell’s in Ramsey’s Interstate Shopping Center. They started bargain hunting at about 11 a.m.

“I don’t know if I’m missing out, because I’ve never been Black Friday shopping,” she said. “But, it seems like I’m still getting some pretty good deals.”

And, the stores seemed to benefit from the later crowd, too. Both the Kohl’s and Staples on Route 17 had decent check-out lines lingering Friday afternoon. But, shoppers said they were happy to wait on the quicker-moving lines in order to get good deals without the fuss.