One of Iowa’s largest shopping malls is taking “Black Friday” to a whole new level. The Jordan Creek Town Center in West Des Moines is scheduled to open one minute after midnight. General Growth Properties, which owns Jordan Creek, had success with similar events at five of it’s malls last year.
Jordan Creek Senior Marketing Manager Mari Anne Coppock says this year, General Growth will open 12 of it’s malls at 12:01 a.m. on the Friday after Thanksgiving. “It’s been very successful in other markets,” Coppock says, “it’s all about staying awake and shopping, rather than getting up early and shopping.” The event is dubbed “Rockin’ Shoppin’ Eve” and will include live entertainment, door prizes, and discounts at nearby hotels.
Coppock says the mall will offer free coffee and will blast confetti from cannons at 12:01 a.m., when the mall doors open. Does the early morning shopping stunt take consumerism too far? Coppock doesn’t think so. “You know, really this is just about having fun,” Coppock says, “General Growth really does believe (that) we’ll never be open on Thanksgiving, we’ll never be open on Christmas Day, we definitely still think that family time is very important.”