Cautious shoppers plan to spend less this Black Friday.

Black Friday shoppers flock to stores, hoping to get more bang for their buck as they grapple with concerns about inflation, tariffs and the health of the economy.

Citadel stores in the city of Commerce were thronged on Friday morning with long waits for parking and winding lines in front of stores as shoppers tried to grab good deals. Camila Romero and her 13-year-old daughter spent hours trying to get the best possible deals on the Ugg and Coach items on their wish lists.

“You come to the Citadel because it’s a store. And it’s a discount on top,” she said. “So even when you’re broken, you don’t feel it.”

Shoppers in the Los Angeles area plan to spend less this holiday season, data shows. Even as retailers hit their biggest deals and prepare for what they expect to be strong demand, a Deloitte survey found that LA-area consumers plan to spend 14% less over the holidays than last year.

Nationally, consumers are expected to spend 10% less than last year.

Consumers are turning to spending in response to economic uncertainty and rising prices, said Rebecca Lohri, Deloitte’s partner in retail and e-commerce.

“At least there is a perception of higher prices and higher costs of goods,” Lohri said. “That’s a concern for consumers across the board, and one of the reasons they’re tightening their belts a little bit.”

The survey found that 62% of shoppers in the LA area expect the economy to weaken in the next year, up from 34% in 2024. About the same percentage of respondents said they are worried about a possible recession in the next six months.

Across income groups, consumers are trading off spending and putting more emphasis on finding the best deal, the data showed. More than half of LA-area respondents said they would switch brands if their first choice was too expensive.

“It’s the lower-income bracket or the middle-income bracket that’s most likely to see business decline,” said Colleen Colborne, vice president of business and retail media at the Interactive Advertising Bureau. “This year, really, everyone is in business.”

Shoppers walk past Citadel outlets in Commerce City on November 28, 2025.

(Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)

Camryn Smith and her daughter showed around early Friday morning for a deal at Brand’s Americana in Glendale. The discount helps offset some of the effects of inflation, she said.

“Prices are high and they’re just going down to what they usually are,” Smith said. “That’s crazy.”

Consumers are tired of the constant inflation and instability created by the Trump administration. A Deloitte survey found that more consumers are registering or considering homemade gifts.

“We’re in an environment where prices are going up for a lot of reasons, inflation being one, tariffs being another,” Colborne said. “I think when it happens annually, it really hits the consumer.”

That means more shoppers are looking for ways to save on purchases — and gifts — they can’t pass up.

The National Retail Federation predicts that a record number of Americans will be shopping over the Thanksgiving weekend. Retail sales in November and December are expected to grow between 3.7% and 4.2% compared to last year, the federation said.

Cautious consumers are more eager than ever to find a hot deal, said NRF’s Mark Matthews, its chief economist.

“People are changing the way they spend,” he said. “They’re more focused on stretching the dollar and getting value for the dollar.”

Even consumers spending more than usual may be doing so out of concern, economists say. Consumers anticipating inflation sometimes spend now out of fear that prices will rise later.

Brooklyn farmers braved the crowds to shop and sell at the fort
Try to save in the midst of inflation.

“People are struggling right now, but the holidays are still important to them,” he said. “The thinking is, if there’s a discount like that, I might as well go instead of spending more later.”

In the L.A. area surveyed by Deloitte, 43% said they plan to spend most of their holiday budget at big-box retailers and 32% said they will spend it at digital-first retailers.

Consumers are using new tools to help them find products and deals, including artificial intelligence. Data collected by the Interactive Advertising Bureau found that AI now ranks as the second most effective shopping source, ahead of retailers’ websites and apps and only behind search engines.

Nearly 90% of shoppers nationally said AI helped them find products they otherwise wouldn’t have found, according to the bureau’s data.

Mattel, an El Segundo-based toy company, is offering up to 50% off Target on Hot Wheels, Barbie dolls and Disney princess toys, company spokeswoman Kelly Powers said.

“Mattel works closely with retailers across the country on Black Friday deals,” Powers said.

In May, Mattel said it was considering raising prices to offset the impact of President Trump’s tariffs on China.

However, in its October earnings call, the company said the full impact of the tariffs would not be seen until the fourth quarter.

Discount retailers that depend heavily on foot traffic have given mixed signals about their business.

Walmart recently raised its sales forecast for last year after reporting a 6% year-over-year increase in revenue in the third quarter.

Target, in contrast, missed analyst expectations and reported a 1.5% drop in sales in the third quarter. On a call with analysts this month, Target CEO Brian Cornell said the company was “not performing up to its potential.”

Of course, for many shoppers on Friday, the shopping spree at the local mall was about more than savings.

Erica Pentasglia brought her daughter to the Americana brand at 3 a.m. to be the first in line for a pop-up store selling Billie Eilish perfume. She thought it was important for her to break the Black Friday shopping tradition.

“I feel like it’s dying a little bit,” Pentasoglia said. “The best thing is that you don’t lose the tradition, it continues to your children.”