Black Friday back on in Wrentham

WRENTHAM, Mass. (WPRI) - Early Black Friday shopping at The Wrentham Village Outlets may be allowed to continue, officials said Wednesday night.

The Wrentham planning board discussed whether to end the center's midnight opening the day after Thanksgiving.

The event draws thousands of shoppers each year often causing a traffic jam and what officials believe to be dangerous situations.

Police say security cameras are necessary to ensure safety; a measure which has not yet been implemented by the outlets.

"This is about trying to prevent crime, and trying to investigate crime," said Wrentham Police Lt. William McGrath.

Officials said Wednesday if cameras are installed, the tradition could be allowed to continue.

The town is in disagreement with Simon Corporation, the outlets' owner, about who will maintain, operate and monitor the cameras.

"There are reasons why we've been very resistant to cameras at this mall, or any other mall," said Lawrence Kaplan, an attorney for the owners.

The outlets have been opening at 12:01 a.m. on Black Friday since the town authorized a special permit in 2008.

Outlet officials said midnight madness shopping has been mainly without incident.

Many store employees and managers came to Wednesday's meeting.  They are afraid the stalemate will hurt their holiday hiring planning, and their bottom line.

"Every dollar counts, every hour counts. If we don't have those hours at the beginning, it could cost us thousands of dollars," said Isaac Larkin, who represents some of the outlet stores.

It's not clear when a final decision will be made on whether to install the security cameras.