Charlotte parking lots reported full to near-full at prime Black Friday retail centers

At least two prime Charlotte shopping destinations reported full to near-full parking lots, as shoppers braved the traditional post-Thanksgiving mayhem for Black Friday specials at their favorite stores.

By noon, parking was “100-percent full” at Charlotte Premium Outlets and 90-percent packed at SouthPark mall, a spokeswoman for owner Simon Property Group said in an email to The Charlotte Observer and other media outlets.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department got “additional holiday funding” for more patrols at busy retail centers this year, CMPD Captain Ryan Kendall told Observer news partner WBTV. “So we can provide extra security for families coming out to shop without diminishing our normal 911 response citywide,” Kendall told the station.

At Concord Mills mall, meanwhile, shoppers “pushed and sprinted through the doors” Friday morning., WSOC-TV reported.

Shoppers at Concord Mills told WBTV that “the mall was not as busy as in other years, but still sizable given the significant increase in online shopping.”

Joe Marusak: 704-358-5067; @jmarusak

This story was originally published November 23, 2018 at 2:25 PM.