Black Friday 2022: King of Prussia Mall crowded as record number of people expected to shop

KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa. - A record number of people are expected to shop from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF). It estimates 166.3 million will shop in-store and online, which is 8 million more than last year.

Retail experts said the top reasons people plan to shop this weekend are the deals are too good to pass up, it’s something to do over the holiday and tradition.

"We went every year for the past, probably like, six years and it’s always King of Prussia Mall. Just because it’s a fun experience," said Ashleigh Adams of Newtown. "Anything on sale for Christmas presents. That’s the goal of today, save as much money as you can while also spending money."

"This is one of the first years where everyone’s feeling more back to normal for shopping," said Kacey Stoecker. "It’s the first Black Friday, everyone’s like let’s go."

The King of Prussia Mall during the afternoon on Black Friday saw a flurry of shoppers, many with multiple shopping bags in hand.

"It’s one of the most important days on the retail calendar. We’re just so excited to have everybody here," said Todd Putt, Director of Marketing of King of Prussia. "People really love the ability to touch, try, buy things in-person and we’re seeing that now more than ever, which is great."

This season, the NRF said the top five gift categories are clothing, gift cards, toys, books/music/movies/video games and food or candy.

"I like to shop, I’m a very busybody. I think COVID kind of put a hunch on everything and so going from that and then, like, actually being exposed to, like, all these people all over again it’s a huge thing," said shopper Taylor Reuille.