Black Friday blackout: Shopping back on track after brief power outage at Wilmington mall

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Black Friday plunged some shoppers and businesses literally into the black after a power outage at Independence Mall in Wilmington early this morning.

The power went out in the entire mall around 3:35 a.m., according to a manager at JC Penney, which had been opened since 2 p.m. Thursday. It was the only store in the mall open at the time. Workers had to escort customers out and hold items in carts for about five customers who were shopping when the power went out.

A store manager said there was apparently a transformer issue throughout the area. The outage lasted about an hour.

The staff at JC Penney said business usually slows between 2-6 a.m. anyways. The store is open until 10 p.m.