NYC Black Friday shoppers feel the sting of high inflation, soaring prices

Black Friday isn’t what it used to be!

Shoppers in the Big Apple favored affordable brands like Zara and Abercrombie & Fitch over high-end retailers like New York’s famous Bergdorf Goodman on the busiest shopping day of the year Friday — as concerns about inflation hit a 12-year high.

Bargain hunters who hit the brick-and-mortar stores to try and snap up Black Friday deals told The Post that the savings are getting smaller.

Brian Johnson, 56, said it doesn’t feel like he is getting a deal anymore, as he stood outside the Nike store in Manhattan with his daughters and grandson.

“It’s not Black Friday as it used to be. It doesn’t feel like it. I remember when I used to come to New York with $300 or a little more and I would buy sneakers, boots, coats, jeans… Now for $300 you get way, way less,” Johnson said.

“They say I’m getting a deal but I’m not because everything is so high.

“I’m going to get into a little bit of a debt,” he admitted, adding that he was using his credit card for the post-Thanksgiving shopping spree.

The native New Yorker, who now lives in Virginia but has family in New Jersey, had to skip Thanksgiving with his relatives last year because he couldn’t afford it.

This year, although he made it up for the celebrations, he is foregoing a Christmas tree at home.

“The tree is more expensive this year and there are not enough gifts to put under the tree. I’m going to decorate the fireplace and put some stuff on the mantle,” the dad told The Post.

Kirsten Brown, 34, of Brooklyn, is also feeling the weight of skyrocketing prices.

She was dragged to the Lego store in Rockefeller Center by her overjoyed son who wanted the Avengers Towers — which came out at midnight — and the Lion Knights Castle, which they secured for a cool $800.

Brown said she saved only $100 despite it being the sales day of the year, but she was trying not to worry about it because her son was “over the moon” about his gifts.

“The price of everything has gone up. The sales price drops the price back to the full cost of what they used to be,” she said.

“You think you are winning but technically you are not.”

Brown said she even knows people who are weighing their options and asking themselves: “Do I take a vacation or do I buy this?”

Even though his mom’s wallet was feeling the strain of inflation, little Nathan was ecstatic, saying: “I’m just happy I have such a good mom.”

Other cash-strapped shoppers on the hunt for good deals opted still to shop at the more wallet-friendly stores, despite the sales.

They were seen grabbing Abercrombie’s 25% off everything, Zara’s up to 40% off selected items, and Mango’s up to 50% sales for holiday gifts, rather than expensive or luxury products.

Meanwhile, Apple was offering customers gift cards on some purchases and Bergdorf Goodman, which houses luxury brands like Oscar de la Renta and Valentino, was offering a $500 gift on a $2,000 purchase — which has become a reach for the average shopper amid rising inflation.

Prices were up an eye-popping 18.2% in October this year compared to October 2020, according to the latest inflation figures.

The Consumer Price Index — which tracks changes in the costs of everyday goods and services — rose 3.2% last month, according to data by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Still, even more affordable brands aren’t seeing the numbers like they used to.

“People come in waves, but it’s not like back in the day when people were lining up at 4 a.m.,” a Mango sales clerk told The Post Friday. “I think more people do Cyber Monday.”

Many New Yorkers agreed, confessing that they plan on doing all their holiday shopping online.

Chloe Roberts, 36, said she is shopping “exclusively online” as it’s “too hard” to go retail shopping anymore.

“You get it in the mail, you try things on, you return it. This is an easier process,” she said.

Zara on Fifth Avenue did see lines and customers shifting through the racks looking for pink sale tags, but customers weren’t coming out with gigantic bags bursting with clothing like years previous.

Patty, who only gave her first name, spent around $170 inside the store and said she did bag some “very good deals.”

“We got a lot of good stuff,” the mother, who was shopping with her daughter Kelly, said.

“We probably saved about $100,” Kelly agreed.

However, Kelly admitted she does most of her shopping online so she doesn’t have to “deal with the crowds.”

Patty, however, likes to stick to in-store shopping, saying: “I am old fashioned. I like people to keep their jobs. I like to pay in person. I like to see a human in front of me.”

Holiday spending is expected to hit a five-year low this year. The National Retail Federation expects overall sales to increase by 3% to 4% throughout the rest of the year, which is down from the 5.4% increase last year and the 12.7% spike in 2021.

“They had savings from stimulus checks that’s run off now,” Richard Baum, managing partner of Consumer Growth Partners told The Post.

“They do not have a lot of discretionary income to spend and have less this year than last year, even though inflation is starting to ease.”