Black Friday buoys hopes for local retailers

With a tough economy this year, local store managers and owners hoped to profit from the sales of Black Friday as long as shoppers crowded into their businesses.

Jim Plate, manager of ACE Hardware in Youngtown, said he was a little nervous about Friday and didn’t expect to outdo last year’s sales numbers but hoped to match them.

Plate said the beginning of the morning was slow when the store opened at 7 a.m., but traffic picked up around 9  and remained steady throughout the day.

“I believe we’ll match last year’s, and that is all that matters,” Plate said. “With the way things have been, it’s all we can ask for.”

Many sale items, Plate said, sold well during the day, including a wet and dry utility vaccum, power drill and kid’s pop-open play tent.

The nation’s retailers ushered in the traditional start of the holiday shopping season with expanded hours and deep discounts on everything from toys to TVs in hopes of getting consumers, many of whom have slashed spending to focus on basics amid high unemployment and tight credit, to open their wallets.

Still, with unemployment at 10.2 percent, many analysts expect that total holiday sales will be at best about even from a year ago.

Optimism rose in early fall as shoppers spent a little more, but stores say they’ve seen a sales slowdown since Halloween, putting merchants more on edge.

The holiday weekend has high stakes for retailers who’ve suffered through a year of sales declines. It’s also important for the broader economy, which could use a kickstart from consumer spending.

Black Friday gets its name because it traditionally was the day when huge crowds would push stores into “the black,” or profitability. But the weekend doesn’t necessarily predict spending for the rest of the season, which accounts for as much as 40 percent of annual sales and profits for many stores.

Still, retailers closely study buying patterns for the Thanksgiving weekend to gauge shoppers’ mindset - what kinds of items they’re buying and what deals are luring them.

Locally, officials at the Village Store in Sun City West said they expected brisk sales on Black Friday.

Ingrid Johansen, assistant store manager, said last year during Black Friday the shop “was very crowded.”

“We’re definitely hoping for the same thing, and it will probably get busy for us around 10 a.m.,” she said.

Johansen said she contributes the sales to residents who bring family members and friends from out of town into shop.

The Village Store carries handmade items from 24 of items the Recreation Centers of Sun City West’s clubs.

“People are in and out all day, and that’s what we like to see around this time,” she said.