Black Friday is a day to save money and get cheaper gifts for the following holidays while everything is on sale. Having cheaper prices nation-wide brings far more people into stores, stampeding closely together, racing to low priced holiday gifts. With the global pandemic at its highest numbers, will this extravaganza worsen the number of cases? 

“There are no confirmed cases of ‘community spread’ or ‘community transmission’ of COVID-19 in the areas subject to the Directed Health Measure,” Nebraska Director of Public Health Gary Anthone said.

Gatherings are now restricted to 25% for indoor facilities and 100% for outdoor facilities, neither of which are allowed to exceed 10,000 people.       

According to Blackfriday.com in 2019, 75.7 million people shopped both online and in-store for Black Friday. Also according to digitalcommerce360.com, U.S. consumers spent $21.7 billion shopping online within the first 10 days of the holiday shopping season and more than half of consumers avoid shopping in stores because of the pandemic. 

Hobby Lobby plans on opening an hour earlier and closing an hour later for Black Friday. They also said that after closing they will be cleaning the store to make sure no one gets sick afterward. 

Brown Shoe Fit Co. said they will be continuing their curbside pick up for Black Friday and they will be promoting and advertising their store more.

Riddle’s Jewelry will also be promoting their store a bit more and when Black Friday comes there will be a lot more social distancing. Online shopping is also an option for people that don’t want to shop at the actual store. 

Sasha O´Donnell from Hibbett Sports says that there will be 25 people allowed in the store including employees and the sales are lasting all week instead of just one day. 

Game On plans on adjusting their hours and put more ads out. They will also have social distancing and specials for Black Friday. They are allowing up to 10 people in the store for Black Friday. 

In order to prevent COVID cases from rising, even more, shoppers should ensure that they are distancing six feet from others and wearing a mask for all in-store shopping.