It’s the shopping season, and of course Black Friday attracted many shoppers to stores nationwide. November 28th was the day to find all the deals these stores have to offer, but surprisingly Black Friday sales dropped as in comparison to last year. According to the National Retail Federation, NRF, Thanksgiving weekend sales dropped a total of 11% which accumulated to around $50.9 billion in total sales. Part of this could be blamed on stores opening as soon as 5:00 on Thanksgiving day.

“We opened at 6:00 p.m. at American Eagle and workers had to be there at 5:30 to prepare for all of the madness,” Says Haley Stallings. “We had a crazy amount of people lining up outside before we were opening up, and the whole time it was crazy and psychotic and a constant amount of work to keep everything going.”

Not everyone decided to celebrate the shopping madness though, Sarah McKinnis adds that, “I decided to continue my streak of sleeping in on Black Friday while everyone else was fighting to the death for a new pair of shoes.” Among the others though, many cashed in on the deals that Black Friday had to offer. Ashlea Burks was able to pick up a tablet at Walmart for only $30 bucks, and Evan Fullerton was able to get a steal at Hollister, getting two shirts for $20 bucks.

Of course, many deals will still remain for the holiday season while shoppers still scurry to find the best gifts. But, these deals won’t last long so it is suggested to get your shopping done before Christmas day arrives.