Stores prepared for Black Friday stampede

Published 10:56 pm Thursday, November 27, 2008

By Ben Alexander

Special to The Star



Only hours after their Thanksgiving feasts have finally settled, local shoppers will be awakening early this morning to gobble up savings as stores try to lure them inside with promises of “unbeatable” prices.

For most managers and store owners this day is considered to be the single most important date on anyone’s retail calendar. Black Friday.

“It used to be a fairly laid back day, but in the last few years it certainly has gotten a lot crazier,” says Lois Myers, a Meridian shopper who says she will be out battling other customers today for the best bargains in town. “It’s not that unusual to see a hundred or so people lined up outside Wal-Mart at 5 a.m. that morning. People are excited. They are prepared to get in, find what they want, and get it fast. There’s no doubt the tryptophan in the turkey has worn off by then.”

The term Black Friday refers to the fact that this day is the unofficial start of the Christmas shopping season. For many retailers the holiday shopping season determines whether or not they make money that year.

What makes Black Friday so unique is the fact that stores pull out all the stops to entice customers to come in and spend their cash. To get as many customers in their doors today, most national retailers open early for special promotional sales events. “Today only, While Supplies Last and Limited Time Only” are just a few of the promises that anxious shoppers will hear today.

Myers’ take no prisoners approach to Black Friday shopping is only the tip of the iceberg, according to Courtney Hall, Marketing Director at Bonita Lakes Mall. Although “craziness” in front of many stores might make some shake their heads, Hall says behind the scenes a lot of preparation goes on to lure customers to the mall with special promotions.

“Given the economic times we are in we’ve tried to be very supportive of promoting all our stores’ special sales events for today and we’ve done some new things to get people here and reward those who get up so early to save,” says Hall. “We’re doing a Rise and Rewards program – offering gift cards – for the first 100 people that come by customer service this morning.”

Most retail experts say today will be a good indication of just how strong or weak holiday sales will be this year. Today can either turn around a bleak year or make a bad sales year much worse.

According to the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), nearly 45 percent of Americans plan to shop at some point this weekend. Last year the ICSC said Americans spent about $255 billion during the holiday months of November and December.

However, it is not just stores and shoppers who stand to benefit from today’s madness. Government officials from around the country can also be heard exhaling with relief as their coffers quickly fill up with holiday sales taxes.

“It certainly helps the city’s bottom line because of the added tax revenues throughout the holidays,” says Meridian City Clerk Ed Skipper. “It obviously doesn’t have the ‘make it or break it’ meaning for us as it does the retailers, but there’s no doubt that it benefits the city financially.”

Traditionally sales tax collections for most cities in the U.S. are at their highest for the month of December. Skipper says the same is true of Meridian’s sales taxes.

Last year Meridian took in around $1.4 million in December sales taxes. That is about 30 percent higher than any other month out of the year.

Despite the fact that the nation’s economy seems to be spiraling down, Skipper says city officials remain optimistic about a merry holiday shopping season.

“It’s hard to predict things when the nation’s economy has been struggling so much this year, but we generally don’t see these big swings up or down like other areas of the country, so we believe we’ll see some growth this season as well. So far our sales tax collections are up by about 3.5 percent this year.”

Black Friday has become such a big event in Meridian that Hall and others say it could easily rival a sporting event. As people race, pull and push to get the best deals it is quite a spectacle.

“Everyone is generally very friendly and it’s a very exciting day. Anybody who has never come to a Black Friday event should come one time even if you don’t want to shop. There’s nothing quite like it.”