Presley Fowler

The San Marcos Outlets have nearly eleven million visitors a year from all over the world. Thousands of them will show up later this month for Black Friday and the following weekend. And, as Presley Fowler tells us in this Bobcat Update, a big shopping weekend requires extra planning.

Standup: "It's a calm day out here at the San Marcos outlets, but in a little over a week from now, it's going to be a completely different story."
Black Friday is quickly approaching. With over 245 stores, the San Marcos outlets are going to see tens of thousands of shoppers coming to this tourist destination, in hopes of finding early holiday bargains. Tanger Outlet General Manager John Lairsen says the outlets have to prepare months ahead to handle the huge number of shoppers. He says the number one concern with the large crowds is keeping traffic and safety under control.
SB: "We have San Marcos police department, fire department, and EMS actually set up a command post here at the outlet center. If anything were to happen their vehicles are here and they can take care of whatever emergency arises quickly." (Lairsen, 15 sec).
Tanger management also works closely with all of the tenants for Black Friday preparations.
SB: "We just had our merchant meeting and we go over all of the different rules and helpful things to make sure that everything flows smoothly." (Lairsen)
Angel Santillan has been the store manager at Journeys for four years and knows what to expect for Black Friday shopping.
SB: "It's very hectic. A lot of customers, a lot of kids, a lot of running around and a lot of redbull (laughs)" (Santillan)
According to Santillan, Journey's has six to eight employees on average, but the holiday rush calls for a major increase in workers.
SB: "During Christmas and back to school and all those rush periods I have up to 30 people."(Santillan)
Of course, Texas State students make up a large portion of the outlet's workforce, especially during the holiday season.
SB: "We're very fortunate that we have a job pool and employee pool to pull from like the university." (Lairsen)
Tag out standup: If you're planning on coming to do Black Friday shopping, the outlets will be opening at six p.m. on Thanksgiving Day. For Bobcat Update, I'm Presley Fowler."