Black Friday sales consistent despite Thursday start, online sales
Black Friday was a success for large retailers in El Dorado, they said, despite Thanksgiving Day deals and online sales.
Several big box retailers started their Black Friday sales Thursday afternoon. JC Penney manager Dustin Mabbitt said he held the door open for almost 500 people when their sale started at 2 p.m. on Thanksgiving.
Mabbitt said JC Penney started their online Black Friday sales Monday, Nov. 19. However, he said the online market has not hurt the amount of business JC Penney’s physical location has seen.
“Shopping, to me, I see it as a social event. You know, you do it with your friends and family and that’s typically what we see. Everyone still comes in,” Mabbitt said Friday. “If they’ve already purchased their items that they wanted earlier, those key items that drive business, they are getting extra items that maybe they didn’t intend to. So I still see the excitement, the drive is there. Customers are definitely here.”
He said the sale started very strong Thursday, but with longer hours Friday, they have seen a high volume of customers spread throughout the day. Mabbitt said online sales have supplemented in-store sales. He did not have numerical data to say whether sales have been equal to previous years’, but did say it seemed to be comparable from what he’s seen.
Stage also started their Black Friday sales Thursday afternoon, opening early at 1 p.m. Manager Aaron Huckabee said traffic was constant throughout Thursday and Friday.
“[It’s] going fantastic. Traffic is strong, every-
Traffic is strong, everybody seems to be in a merry spirit,” Huckabee said.
Huckabee said work has been too fast paced to tell whether sales this year outdid last year’s Black Friday. However, he said both Thursday and Friday, lines were formed outside the store at opening time. Additionally, he said online sales have helped boost in-store sales and the two options for customers have complemented each other.
At Atwoods, sales started Thursday at 3 p.m. Manager Joe Massey said Friday afternoon that the customer count was the same as last year’s, so he expected this year’s sales to be more successful.
Massey said on Thursday, Atwoods had a buy one, get one free sale on guns, which prompted a very busy afternoon for them. He said there was a large wave of customers when they opened that day and the stream of patrons since then has been steady.
“We were up [in sales] quite a bit last year, so I would’ve been happy just to break even with what we did last year,” Massey said. “I’m looking to probably come out ahead before the night’s over with.”
Walmart’s media relations department could not comment on Black Friday at press time. Customers at the store had varying opinions on the early start to Black Friday sales.
“We’re just really trying to find some deals,” Monte Levingston said. “We missed the Black Friday yesterday. I was scared to go.”
Levingston said he usually shops in physical stores, but avoided shopping Thursday after hearing that shopping was intense this year.
Layne and Breanna Henry shopped for their son this year, starting Thursday night.
“We went last night, around 9, after the hectic part kind of ended,” Layne Henry said. He said he has shopped during previous early Black Friday sales, but Breanna said this year was her first time.
“It was so different, because I never bought toys for my son in the store before. I usually do it all online,” Breanna Henry said. “It was fun.”
Despite working Thursday, Vasheeda Washington said she found time to do a little shopping as well. She said she likes the excitement of the Black Friday, saying she felt like the shopping day helped bring people together.
“They had some pretty good deals. … It was fun,” Washington said.
Lindsey Yarbrough did not start her Black Friday shopping on Thursday. She said she has gone to previous Black Friday sales, but this year she stayed home with her children. She said she did shop sales Friday morning, though.
Brian Alva also avoided shopping Thursday, saying it would have interfered with his Thanksgiving holiday.
“Black Friday kind of took a turn,” Alva said. He added that he does prefer to shop in physical stores, but said Black Friday was too much.