Move over Black Friday! Downtown Ocean City’s annual “Earlier Than the Bird” tradition gives shoppers good deals while in their pajamas, writes Maddy Vitale for OCNJ Daily.  

Friends and colleagues at a Downingtown School made the excursion to New Jersey’s beach city Nov. 19 in order to catch the worm. From 8 AM to noon shoppers bounced around Ocean City shops and graced the streets in their sleepwear.  

This has been a tradition for Linda Brown (Downingtown), Deb McDonough (Coatesville), Kiersten Geist (Avondale) and Sandy Brower (Pottstown) for nine years.  

“No husbands. No kids. Today, it’s just a girls shopping trip,” joked McDonough.  

Another Chester County resident partakes in this tradition. Jeanne Khan of Malvern has been coming to Ocean City since she was in elementary school.  

“We come to Earlier than the Bird because we love to shop and we like to get our beach tags today too because we save some money.” she said.  

Participants try to out-do one another with silliness in style. The “best dressed” shoppers can win a free turkey.  

Read more about the Downingtown women’s festive tradition in Ocean City in OCNJ Daily.