Ready or not, the holiday shopping season is here.
Some are celebrating by finding shopping bargains and waking up early after Thanksgiving, while others choose not to spend a dollar on shopping excursions.
Local retailers expect Black Friday – the day after Thanksgiving – to be busier than normal, but they say most business is done the week before Christmas.
Still, retailers are preparing with more discounts, and most are opening earlier. More bargains this year are expected to attract customers.
National retailers such as Wal-Mart, Macy’s and J.C. Penney announced this year that mortgage payment and credit worries, along with gas prices, would affect holiday business because consumers aren’t as willing to spend their money. Sales at stores open a year or more rose from February through October by 2.3 percent, down 3.7 percent from last year, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Ron Glover, manager of Gateway Mall in Springfield, says management is still optimistic this year. The Springfield mall has actually seen increasing sales and traffic for the past three years, Glover said. The mall added Kohl’s last year.
“The way we’ve been growing and progressing, we’re looking at increasing in sales and traffic,” Glover said. “We’re not riding the storm. We’ve been navigating through the storm.”
But while shoppers rush to the malls this week, not everyone will be found shopping.
University students with the Center for the Advancement of Sustainable Living have been telling students in the EMU about the 15th annual “Buy Nothing Day,” which is also this Friday.
The Adbusters Media Foundation started Buy Nothing Day in Canada. Organizers hope that people spend one day without shopping, but they also hope to change attitudes on shopping in general.
“The idea is to spend your time doing something a little more interesting,” said CASL co-director Emma Garrett, adding that spending time with family is important during the holidays.
She said students wandering the EMU have written a list of alternatives to shopping.
“Napping and eating Thanksgiving leftovers are winning so far,” she said.
Garrett said holiday shopping is especially difficult on students because they worry about tuition, fees and books. She said she hopes to change students’ minds about shopping.
“We want to raise awareness for every day,” Garrett said. “We want people to think about consumerism in our society and how it affects our world.”
But the holiday rush is sure to come, and other area malls are preparing for Black Friday, including the Oakway Center, which is owned by McKay Investments.
“There’s a lot of competition out there for those Christmas dollars,” said Kim Williams, a McKay executive. “It’s crazy.”
Williams said she has heard of customers who consider Black Friday a social tradition either with family or friends.
“There’s a real social aspect – getting together friends, drinking some coffee early in the morning and getting out there and going for it,” Williams said.
Some area shopping centers expect a smaller rush than what is typically found at Gateway Mall in Springfield and the Valley River Center in Eugene.
Brandy Rodtsbrooks, a marketing assistant for the Fifth Street Public Market, says the downtown outlet sees more business in the afternoon of Black Friday and during the upcoming weekend. The center is made up of 25 retailers, including Nike, and nine restaurants and cafés.
“People come here to take a break from the larger shopping malls,” Rodtsbrooks. “This is a nice, relaxing location.”
Rodtsbrooks said Fifth Street Public Market’s busiest shopping days are during the week before Christmas.
At the Gateway Mall, Black Friday produced the highest sales 15 or 20 years ago, Glover said. Now tenants see most sales the Saturday before Christmas.
This year, however, stores may see Black Friday as their busiest day.
Stores are offering more bargains and sales, Glover said, particularly those selling electronics and children’s toys.
Most national retailers plan to open early.
Glover said Sears plans to open at 5 a.m. and said most tenants plan to open at 6 a.m.
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Black Friday offers early morning shopping bargains
Daily Emerald
November 20, 2007
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