New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
More in store
Undeterred by pandemic, shoppers turn out for Black Friday deals
“There are fewer people browsing and more people buying.” Charlie Guthrie, general manager, Westbrook Outlet Center
In a year of unprecedented disruption and hardship, customers across Connecticut gave retailers a boost Friday by turning out in large numbers for the biggest day on the retail calendar.
With ubiquitous masks, social-distancing signs and hand-sanitizing stations,
Black Friday looked acutely different for customers and retailers than it did in years past.
Even visiting with Santa Claus at the Connecticut Post Mall in Milford looked different.
Saint Nick still looked the same, but rather than hoisting children onto his lap or onto a chair next to him, the Jolly Old Elf sat on a white bench by himself. Strategically placed six feet in front of him were three faux packages on which children could sit.
Children still are able to to share their wishlist with Santa, but both he and his visitors wear masks. Photos with Santa will be professionally staged in such a way that the 6-foot distance will not be noticeable in the photos.
“We’re doing what we can to keep everybody safe while still preserving some of the things that people love about the holiday,” said Ken Sterba,
the mall’s general manager.
Another change, Sterba said, was the absence of so-called “door-buster” sales designed to attract shoppers to the mall early in the day.
“The stores deliberately didn’t do it because no one wanted to create a frenzy that would have made it difficult to do social distancing,” he said.
Sterba and Charlie Guthrie, the general manager at the Westbrook Outlet Center, said they expected fewer shoppers this year, but those showed up were extremely focused.
“There are fewer people browsing and more people buying,” Guthrie said. “Being an outlet center is especially beneficial to us this year because we’re not as closed-in as a mall. It’s easier for people to get in, get what they want and get out.”
A few miles southeast of the Westbrook Outlet Center at Clinton Crossing Premium Outlets, parking was at a premium, with some people circling the lots while others in their shopping party went in search of bargains.
A number of stores at Clinton Crossing had lines of people waiting to get in because stores were limiting the number of shoppers inside at one time.
Both Sterba and Guthrie said stores in their retail centers saw the average haul per customer seemed to be greater compared to last year.
“Everywhere I go, I’m seeing people carrying bags, bags and more bags,” Sterba said.
This year’s Black Friday crowds might not have rivaled the throngs of years past, but many shoppers said they still wanted to shop locally. The turnout was large enough to raise hopes among merchants about their prospects during the rest of the holiday season.
“It’s a beautiful day, so we decided to come out,” said Maureen Harper, a Greenwich resident, during a visit with her sixth-grade son, Owen, to Funky Monkey Toys & Books on Greenwich Avenue. “It’s important to support local businesses.”
‘It’s going to be a crazy weekend’
Many shoppers made an early start on their to-do lists, with the malls in Danbury, Norwalk, Milford and Stamford ranking among the most popular destinations.
Danbury Fair’s parking lot filled steadily heading into the lunch hours. Bethel residents Eric and Sylvia Guido emerged from the newly expanded Dick’s Sporting Goods with a Yeti cooler they purchased for themselves, after finding no better deals online. They said it marked their last stop of the day, having already done most of their gift-shopping online.
“We generally go out on Thanksgiving and do all the shopping then, maybe a little the following day,” Sylvia Guido said. “With the whole situation, we just started early — and a lot of stores had online deals which were a little better.”
At the United House Wrecking home furnishings store on Hope Street in Stamford, a steady stream of customers filed in and out of the approximately 40,000-square-foot showroom. It was operating for the last time on a Black Friday, as it is scheduled to shut down on Monday after a 66-year run. The store’s closing sale is aiming to move approximately $8 million worth of inventory, with about 20 percent to 30 percent still remaining.
“It’s going to be a crazy weekend,” said co-owner Ross Lodato. “We need to sell a lot more stuff.”
Shoppers were also bargain-hunting at Connecticut’s Lord + Taylor locations.
After filing for bankruptcy and announcing in August that it would shutter all of its establishments, the country’s oldest department-store chain has been holding going-out-of-business sales at its properties at the Danbury, Trumbull and Westfarms malls and on High Ridge Road in Stamford.
In response to the customer traffic Friday, many merchants have grown more optimistic about the next few weeks.
“We’re noticing a lot more out-of-towners, particularly from New York City as they seek a less crowded
and more spatially accommodating environment for in-person shopping,” said Funky Monkey owner Jared Greenman. “Overall, we’re making solid gains on ground lost during the lockdown. However, we’re going to have to sell a lot of toys in the next 30 days to hit our original sales estimates for 2020.”
Nearly nine months since Connecticut recorded its first COVID-19 case, a number of store owners said they were encouraged by the extent to which customers had adjusted to the disruption caused by the pandemic.
“It’s good now that we’re on this side of it — everything’s set, we’ve got the systems all in place and they’re working,” said Kim Ramsey, owner of The Toy Room in downtown Bethel. “People are adapting more. I’ve heard more and more people saying, ‘I’m shopping local.’ Everything
seems to be getting shared more on Facebook. People seem to be making a conscious effort at staying local this year.”
Retailing’s outlook has brightened nationwide too. The National Retail Federation projected holiday sales in November and December would increase between 3.6 percent and 5.2 percent year over to year to a total ranging from $755 billion to $767 billion. On average, holiday sales have increased 3.5 percent during the past five years. Those numbers do not include automobile dealers, gas stations and restaurants.
Focus on safety
State officials had cast an eye on retail’s biggest day of the year when Gov. Ned Lamont announced Tuesday that businesses could face fines of $10,000 if they were to violate coronavirus-related regulations such as capacity limits.
Lines formed outside many stores, but shoppers
generally waited patiently. Retailers said that modifications already made in response to the pandemic — including installing social-distancing signs and hand-sanitizer stations, enforcing mask-wearing mandates and stepping up cleaning and disinfecting — prepared them well for Black Friday.
Some stores added a few flourishes. At Westfield Trumbull mall, women’s-clothing seller Cozy outfitted its window mannequins with masks.
“The retailers have been smart this year knowing that overcrowding would put people at risk, so they’ve made arrangements to spread the cheer throughout the season,” said Stamford Town Center General Manager Dan Stolzenbach. “Therefore, we don’t anticipate the usual large crowds that we’ve seen in prior years.”
Not everyone shared the view that shopping for holiday gifts was safe.
“I would not go inside any store today for sure, especially right after Thanksgiving,” said Tamara Epstein of Cheshire. “I drove by Westfarms (Mall) at about 3:30 p.m. and it was packed! I don’t trust that people I would encounter had been safe for the holiday.”
End of an era
Amid the bustle, wistfulness tinged the day at United House Wrecking.
The Lodato family members who own the business have decided the time is right to wind down an enterprise that has amassed thousands of pieces of furniture, decorations and other collectibles from across the country and around the world.
“I’ve been so busy, and I’ve worked straight the past 90 days. It took my mind off the reality that there’s only four days left,” Ross Lodato said. “But it is really coming to an end, which is hard to believe.”