Black Friday buzz in Miami: Shoppers flock to Dadeland Mall and Swifties swarm Target
Black Friday beckoned with shocking pink signage screaming “Happening Now” to customers strolling through Dadeland Mall.
Shoppers wandered the mall with Zara bags brimming with fashion. Apple lured them with new tech toys. Macy’s followed up its annual Thanksgiving Parade with Friday deals.
Such was the scene Friday morning for the first official day of the 2024 holiday shopping season, Black Friday.
“We’re thrilled to welcome shoppers to Dadeland Mall this Black Friday. The energy is amazing with the crowds and hands full of shopping bags. We are trending for an exceptionally busy shopping season and look forward to celebrating the holidays with our community,” said Lourdes Rodriguez, director of marketing and business development for the popular mall that has been a mainstay of Kendall Drive since October 1962.
Taylor Swift Eras Tour book in Miami
Around the corner at Dadeland Station, shoppers headed to Target to buy up copies of Taylor Swift’s newly-released $40 hardcover, 260-page “Official Taylor Swift / The Eras Tour Book.”
Target put its holiday hopes on a sure bet: The simultaneous release of Taylor Swift’s book and physical editions of her “The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology” album on vinyl and CD, which, until Friday, was available only to stream or download.
Dates for Miami’s three October shows at Hard Rock Stadium that served as the opening of the final leg of Swift’s Eras Tour are included in the printed tour dates section on the closing page. But images from the concert, including Florence Welch’s first U.S. guest appearance to sing “Florida!!!” with Swift, didn’t make it into the book. Certainly the coffee table keepsake was printed already.
READ MORE: Inside Taylor Swift’s Miami Eras Tour: Rain, new outfits and a few only-in-Miami moments
But there is a page dedicated to Swift’s beloved “rain shows.” Two out of three shows in Miami were rainy nights (Oct. 18 and 20).
“We only save the rain shows for the most worthy of crowds,” Swift writes in her “Eras” book. “A rain show only chooses a crowd that can handle a rain show.”
Miami fan Carla VKemm handled one — and noticed the dedication page to hardy Swifties.
“Miami N3 was a rain show and I am so lucky and grateful to have been a part of it,” she wrote next to a photo of the rain show page on the Facebook group, Taylor Swift Miami Eras Tour Alumni & Friends. “When I saw this … immediate tears.”
Other fans in the Facebook group had tips for Miami Swifties about which Targets were stocked with the goods.
“Just FYI for my Miami Swifties: the Target on Flagler street and SW 102 Avenue has plenty of vinyls and books. Also, the promotions do not apply to the TS products (buy 2 get 1 free music/books AND $25 off of a $150 or more purchase),” posted Stephanie Luaces Bayona.
“If you live in the Homestead area in Fl and are looking for the Anthology and Eras Tour book the Homestead target is full of CDs, vinyls and books,” posted Flor Landeros on the Facebook group page.
The initial print run for “The Eras Tour” book? Two million copies.
Target opened at 6 a.m. on Black Friday. By 4 p.m. at the Bird Road Target at 7795 SW 40th Street in Miami, the four-disc “TTPD: The Anthology” four-disc LP set on marbled translucent vinyl was out of stock on the store front display case. But copies of the book remained.
Black Friday 2024 at Dadeland
But not everyone was at Target Friday. Here’s what it looked like at Dadeland around 10 a.m. Friday as South Florida customers sought deals at the Kendall attraction.
Take a look at the scene outside Hard Rock Stadium before Taylor Swifts’ Eras Tour in Miami
