Deal hunters will be out early Friday before dawn breaks for the traditional post-thanksgiving shopping event known as Black Friday.
Traditionally believed to be the biggest shopping day of the year, Black Friday marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season and the beginning of the period in which retailers are "in the black." This year the economy is facing a crisis and consumer confidence has taken a hit. According to the Associated Press, investors are anxious about Black Friday.
"The holiday shopping season, which accounts for as much as 40 percent of annual profits for many stores, is expected to be the weakest in decades, as consumers grapple with rising unemployment and rapidly declining household wealth," the AP reported.
However, local retailers are rolling out the red carpet as usual, hoping that Black Friday will bring them some much-needed green.
Jim Burnette, store manager at Belk in Conway Commons, said, "Last year Black Friday was great. It was better than the year before. I'm hoping that this year will be just as good or even better."
The store opens at 5 a.m. Friday. He said The first 250 Belk customers in Conway will receive gift cards valued at $5 or more, and a customer somewhere out of about 400 Belk stores could win a $5,000 gift card.
He said the store will offer deals on GPS units, digital cameras, video projectors, luggage and holiday items.
At Best Buy, store manager Kelly Beard said, "We want to make sure we have enough staff on hand to serve the customers. Obviously we expect a much larger crowd than a normal business day. We want to make sure we have enough employees to run the register, help the customers get what they need, load it in the vehicle and get them on their way."
She said last year's Black Friday drew many shoppers to the store.
"Last year we lad a line that stretched about three quarters of the way into what was an empty field between us and Pet Smart. The line started about (8 p.m.) Thursday night. By 5 a.m., the line was to Pet Smart," she said.
She said the store will offer deals on gaming systems, televisions of all sizes, MP3 players, GPS units and cellular phones.
Regarding the state of the economy, Beard said, "I think we have a very competitive ad, and we hope people will still choose to come out."
Best Buy will be open from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday.
Target senior team lead Scotty Richardson said he could not share details about what the store would have to offer on Friday, but he noted, "We're very excited about it. It's an opportunity to show our store and some of the employees we have here and our great guest service."
The store will be open from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and thereafter until Dec. 23 will be open 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., he said.
Richardson said of Black Friday, "It's the biggest single day of the year for us as a retailer, so just about everybody that works for us will work at some time during the day. Last year we had long lines and plenty of good sale items." A manager at Wal-Mart on Skyline Drive referred all questions to the Wal-Mart corporate office. However, Wal-Mart had already posted its after-Thanksgiving sale flyers for each store on its Web site. According to the Web site, some of the items that will be on sale at Wal-Mart will include televisions, DVD players, cameras, video games, DVDs, desktop computers, video cameras, toys, clothes and jewelry.
Check the Log Cabin Democrat today and Friday for advertising inserts.
(Staff writer Rachel Parker Dickerson can be reached by e-mail at rachel.dickerson@thecabin.net or by phone at 505-1277. Send us your news at www.thecabin.net/submit)
