I Love (Black Friday) Saipan

At its flagship Star Sands Plaza location, I Love Saipan will offer deep discounts from 30% to 70% off on Everblue Clothing and 20% off on toys. (Mark Rabago)

It may not have started Black Friday on the island, but I Love Saipan definitely popularized the frenzied spending tradition a day after Thanksgiving that marks the unofficial start of America’s Christmas shopping season.

“When we started a Black Friday sale back 10 years ago, there was no [CNMI] company doing Black Friday sale. We were the first company that opened at 2am to do the Black Friday sale 10 years ago,” said Alex B.K. Youn, president of AC Pacific LLC, which owns I Love Saipan.

I Love Saipan has become the go-to-place every Black Friday because they give deep discounts on their items, especially their Everblue Clothing line.

“Everblue Clothing is not having many discounts throughout the year because the profit margin is low even at a regular price, but our Black Friday sale is like giving out the merchandise, with close to zero profit margins to show appreciation to our customers,” said Youn.

I Love Saipan started its Black Friday sale in 2010 and it has grew every year except for 2018 due to Super Typhoon Yutu. (Mark Rabago)

For this year, I Love Saipan will have Black Friday at all four of its location on Saipan— Star Sands Plaza will be from 6am to 3pm; I Love Saipan Hyatt will be from 12pm to 8pm (cosmetics, toys, and Everblue Clothing), its Outlet Store along Middle Road will be from 12pm to 9pm, and I Love Saipan Paseo de Marianas will be from 12pm to 8pm (toys and Everblue Clothing).

At its flagship Star Sands Plaza location, Youn promises deep discounts from 30% to 70% off on Everblue Clothing and 20% off on toys.

From 2010 until 2017, I Love Saipan’s Black Friday sale just kept getting bigger and bigger.

That was until last year when Super Typhoon Yutu pummeled Saipan and Tinian and the local economy took a huge hit a month before Thanksgiving.

“The sale was getting bigger as the year goes by…we started without really knowing that we will get such a big crowd in those early years… except last year due to Super Typhoon Yutu,” said Youn.

Aside from the usual discounts on clothes, toys, and cosmetics, I Love Saipan will also be selling its Myungrang Hotdogs a dollar off this year.

“We are planning to offer $1-discount for our popular M-Hotdog from 6am to 3pm for the first 500 orders. This is a new popular Korean food we launched a few months ago,” said Youn.

I Love Saipan’s main store at Star Sand Plaza is located along Beach Road in Garapan. For more information, call 233-3535 or search on Facebook at “Star Sands Plaza-I Love Saipan.”