Long lines, crowded stores: Vintage photos capture Black Friday on Staten Island

New York’s Staten Island. Over the years, Black Friday—the day when stores typically offer their year’s lowest prices—has undoubtedly evolved.

Since most stores now publish their sale prices online, the days of getting up early, packing, and waiting in enormous lines outside of your favorite Staten Island store in the cold to hurry in and get that coveted, limited-edition gift are largely over.

Additionally, several of those beloved shops are no longer in business now. Additionally, the Black Friday sales begin early on the internet, last for a few days or weeks, and only demand us to click and peruse in search of fantastic bargains.

We looked at what Staten Islanders have endured throughout the years in search of a good Black Friday bargain.

At 5:30 a.m., a line forms around the parking lot to enter the Best Buy electronic store, which debuted in New Springville in 2004 at 6 a.m. (Jin Lee/Staten Island Advance)STATETEN ISLAND PROGRESS

A view of the Staten Island Mall’s Center Court in New Springville in 2003. (Rob Sollett/Staten Island Advance)Advancement of Staten Island

Customers swarm New Springville’s Best Buy in 2004. (Jin Lee/Staten Island Advance)STATETEN ISLAND PROGRESS

The mall is visited by shoppers on Black Friday in 2014. (Jan Somma-Hammel/Staten Island Advance)Employee Photo

Christmas shoppers browse the aisles of Toys “R” Us in New Dorp in 2000, carts piled high, weighing their selections. (Rob Sollett/Staten Island Advance)Advancement of Staten Island

Black Friday, 1997: shoppers meander through the Staten Island Mall. (The Advance of Staten Island)Advance of Staten Island

Customers wait in line at the Staten Island Mall in New Springville in 2008. (The Advance of Staten Island)Advance of Staten Island

When the Toys “R” Us store in New Springville opens at midnight on Thursday, November 26, 2009, holiday shoppers wait in line outside to take advantage of the Black Friday sales. The store was lined with hundreds of customers. (Bill Lyons/Staten Island Advance)Advance of Staten Island

When Best Buy opened on Black Friday in 2008, 19-year-old David Valentine of Port Richmond claimed to have waited 29 hours to be the first person in line. (Bill Lyons/Staten Island Advance)Advance of Staten Island

Michele Twomey of Great Kills fills her shopping basket at the Disney Store in the Staten Island Mall in 2008 after waiting for the store to open at midnight. (Bill Lyons/Staten Island Advance)Advance of Staten Island

In an attempt to take advantage of the Black Friday sales at Best Buy in New Springville, more than 200 individuals braved the cold and light rain to wait in line. Around 500 feet from the entrance of the electrical store, the queue had stretched behind Michael’s arts and crafts store around 4 a.m.
(Mark Stein/Staten Island Advance)Mark Stein/Staten Island Advance

When Best Buy opened at midnight in 2012, hundreds of customers waited in line. (Bill Lyons/Staten Island Advance)Advance of Staten Island

On November 26, 2015, JC Penney employees get ready for Black Friday consumers. (Lauren Steussy/Staten Island Advance)Advance of Staten Island

Black Friday 2024

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