Black Friday Found Most SP Shops Bustling

With Black Friday drawing thousands to malls and large chain stores starting in the wee hours of the morning, it was good to see that the small shop owners were holding their own by picking up the business later in the morning and continuing throughout the afternoon.  The special sales and discounts designed for the historic shopping day by smaller shops paid off as many consumers paid a visit to their hometown stores.

The Cottage in Park Plaza  had a line at about 1pm with customers enjoying the extended discounts throughout the store. "We were really busy there for awhile, then it slowed down, and now we are busy again," said Susan Gist, sales associate.

Over at the Wild Bird Center, owners Carol and Mike Moore were pleased with their early morning sales so far of specialty bird feeders, accessories, jewelry and gift items. Mike Moore mentioned that Saturday has been declared by American Express as "Small Business Saturday." The company has been saturating local media with ads asking the holiday buyer to visit and support their local hometown shops on Saturday.

Across the street, Chesapeake Treasures saw people milling about, checking out the variety of clothing and furniture items dotting the store. Next door, Jo-Ann Fabrics also had a long line of shoppers at close to 2pm.

Across the highway at Kohls Department Store, one would have never known that there were hundreds of people there 12 hours earlier for the special Black Friday sales event. By 3pm, it was pleasantly calm with no long lines. Shoppers were milling around as if it was just another day.

Patch Pick upcoming event:

Santa arrives by sleigh at Park Plaza at 6pm Dec. 3. Shops will be open and there will be entertainment and refreshments.