Foreign tourists flocking to the US.

If you think your commute to the mall this Friday is far, try over
4,000
miles.

Marie-Pierre Lalande, an Air France flight attendant and mother of
three,
will board a plane to Atlanta from Paris and arrive on Thursday just in
time for one of America's busiest shopping days. Seems like quite a
journey, but to some foreigners - it's a bargain.

"These very American brands, in France they cost a fortune," Lalande

said.

Lalande is one of a growing number of foreign tourists heading to
the
States to jump on the Black Friday bandwagon.

Wally Brewster, a spokesman for General Growth Properties Inc.,
which
operates over 200 malls across the country, said more tourists are
willing
to travel longer distances for items unavailable abroad.

"Tourists are finding great value over here since we have items that

they
cannot get, and it's way more expensive to import them over there,"
Brewster said.

Visitors usually flock to metro areas, like Chicago, Los Angeles and

New York, and also major border cities, like San Antonio, which draws
Mexican
nationals to its North Star Mall.

Brewster said Japanese jet-setters come to Honolulu's Ala Moana
shopping
center for high-end fashion retailers like Dior, Fendi, Louis Vuitton
and
Hermes.

In Miami, tourists are headed to Miami-based Dolphin Mall from Latin
America, Mexico, Brazil and the Caribbean.

"They want to see the madness of people going to the mall at 5 a.m.
to go
shopping because that usually doesn't happen in any other country,"
said
Lucia Plazis, a marketing specialist for Taubman Centers' Dolphin Mall.

Responding to the growing trend, Chelsea Property Group, a unit of
mall
developer Simon Property Group, sent a team abroad this year just to
market Black Friday to tour operators.

Lalande, who learned about Black Friday from her brother who lives
stateside, said she plans to target apparel retailers Polo Ralph Lauren
and Timberland, and will also purchase an Eastpak schoolbag for her
12-year-old daughter, Marie.

"For teenagers going to school, it's either that or death."

Welll... I am guessing she either managed to work this into her work
schedule or got a non-revenue seat or at least a good discount --
Atlanta is a major hub for Delta, which, last I looked, was a really
closely coupled codeshare partner of Air France. Probably has some
deal with other flight crew on a place to stay, too. So it probably
isn't as though she's paying her own Euros just to hit la rue
Peachtree.

Still, the idea that people would go to such lengths in order to have
an experience that I regard as a good argument for mail order
shopping... Guess if you want to explore our culture, that's one place
to start, though! (Especially with the Euro looking pretty decent
against the dollar these days.)

--Joe