Black Friday.
Small Business Saturday.
Cyber Monday.
The race is on — for customers seeking bargains, and businesses seeking customers — in the crucial Christmas shopping season, when both brick-and-mortar and online retailers can make up to 40 percent of their annual revenue.
Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving when stores traditionally opened early with “doorbuster” sales to launch the Christmas shopping season, has lost some of its lustre in recent years as more and more retailers launched their sales early and some opened their doors Thanksgiving morning.
The trend has sparked campaigns on Facebook and other websites where people have decried the end of family traditions, pledged to boycott stores and pleaded with retailers to remain closed for the holiday.
“Black Friday is no more,” said Willis Qualheim, owner of Qualheim’s True Value, 1345 E. Green Bay St., in Shawano, which remained closed on Thanksgiving and opened for its regular hours Friday. “It destroyed itself.”
The Shawano Kmart, 1211 E. Green Bay St., opened Thanksgiving Day at 6 a.m. and won’t close until 11 p.m. Friday — 41 hours later.
“We’ve set ourselves up to be successful,” store manager Mike Schmidt said. “We have better merchandising, great pricing and a knowledgeable staff.”
Maurices, 170 Woodlawn Drive, opened on Thanksgiving for the first time this year, said Jodi Ihrcke, acting manager, and opened the doors again Friday at 6 a.m.
The JC Penney store, at 128 Woodlawn Drive in Shawano, opened at 8 p.m. Thursday.
Store leader Kurt Adamson said employees had mixed feelings about the hours and holiday shifts, but he said the time goes quickly as customers make holiday shopping an event.
“Customers do it as a group, and families do it as a special day,” he said.
Although some stores opened on Thanksgiving, Schmidt said Black Friday remains important to bargain hunters.
“I still think Black Friday will be a big deal with people,” Schmidt said. “When there’s a great deal, people will wait in line for it. We appreciate everybody spending their time. We do our best to take care of them.”
Small businesses don’t surrender Black Friday to the big box stores and malls, they just take a more relaxed approach.
For Til the Cows Some Home owner Mary Zimanek, Black Friday began at 8 a.m. and will continue until 6 p.m. or later.
“I think it’s going to be good,” she said. “I’m still re-ordering things that are running out.”
The store at 154 S. Main St., Shawano, is stocked with not only Christmas decorations, but also home and garden décor and gourmet foods.
Zimanek reminded shoppers that Nov. 30 is Small Business Saturday, which was started by American Express to spread awareness about the benefits of shopping at local businesses.
The American Independent Business Alliance says $48 of every $100 spent at a local independent business stays in hometown coffers, compared with just $14 for chains and big box stores.
“We are proud to be part of the Shawano community and contribute as much as we can to making our community the best it can be,” said Tim Coffey, of Floors Unlimited Carpet One Floor & Home, 1350 E. Green Bay St., which also is promoting Small Business Saturday.
“It’s a time for people to remember small businesses,” Zimanek agreed. “We might be small, but we provide our customers a family touch.”
Shoppers appreciate the smaller stores’ customer service and relaxed approach, local business owners say.
“The people who are shopping downtown are looking for the personal touch and a nice atmosphere,” said Kathy Hansen, co-owner of Body Essentials, 126 S. Main St., with Christa Hansen. “We are expecting a phenomenal Christmas season.”
Although the holidays are not the store’s busiest season, Qualheim predicted sales will be up 3 to 4 percent this year as the economy improves.
“Customers seem to be optimistic about the holiday season,” Adamson agreed. “Locally I think it will be good.”
Nationally, holiday sales are expected to rise 3.9 percent to $602.1 billion, according to The National Retail Federation. Of that, about $78.7 billion is expected to be online, up 15 percent from last year, according to Forrester Research.
Much of the online activity is anticipated on Cyber Monday, the Monday after Thanksgiving.
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