Local malls prepare for Black Friday amid new COVID regulations

GAITHERSBURG, Md. (WDVM) — Malls and stores are preparing for Black Friday, even with stricter COVID-19 regulations both state- and county-wide.

Many malls, including Lakeforest Mall in Gaithersburg, are opening their doors to customers tomorrow.

“We typically have a really great turn out, but we’re expecting some changes due to COVID,” said Jon Amar, a spokesperson for Lakeforest Mall.

Nationally, retailers such as Home Depot, Macy’s, and Target among others have extended their Black Friday deals and planned for increased curbside pickup to try to reduce the number of people in the stores.

Westfield Montgomery has an occupancy tracker on their website that customers can use ahead of time to see how full the mall is.

While Lakeforest, like many other outlets, has been advertising their sales online, Amar said they encourage customers to call individual retailers ahead of time and ask about curbside pickup availability.

“Many of our retailers are offering Black Friday specials they were promoting through social media channels and our website shop lakeforest.com. We’re going to be open for in-person shopping on Black Friday, and many of our tenants will be offering curbside pick up, but we just encourage shoppers to call the stores ahead to learn more about their curbside pick up offerings,” he said.