Like their counterparts across America, some local merchants, seeking to have savvy and picky consumers spend dollars in their stores, tried to get a jump on the highly competitive holiday shopping season by opening Thanksgiving Day or at midnight and will remain open through most of today, Black Friday.
They’re excited about it,” Bob Vollmer, executive director the Downtown Vacaville Business Improvement District, said of the single busiest shopping day of the year. “There are a lot of early shoppers already. And they’re looking forward to a big weekend.
He added, “There’s a lot of shopping to be done in the heart of the city,citing locally owned retailers such as Ray’s Cycle and Yellow Brick Road, among others.At the Vacaville Chamber of Commerce, board chairwoman Carol Landry said area mom-and-pop store owners “are looking forward to a strong Black Friday.
Downtown Vacaville has its holiday decorations up and the Christmas tree at CreekWalk is being decorated for Merriment on Main on Tuesday,” said Landry, a vice president and commercial loan team manager with First Northern Bank of Dixon.
She encouraged residents to shop locally, not only to benefit struggling, independently owned shops but also because sales tax revenues help the city and local nonprofit agencies.
The National Retail Federation estimates that holiday retail spending in November and December will reach $465.6 billion, up 2.8 percent from 2010. That is lower than the 5.2 percent gain from 2009 to 2010, but slightly above the 2.6 percent average increase over a 10-year period.
Some 152 million consumers, looking for deals from e-readers and smartphones to clothing and toys, plan to visit stores and websites today through Sunday, a 10 percent increase over last year, said Kathy Grannis, a spokeswoman for the Washington, D.C.-based trade group.
Last year, 9.5 percent of Black Friday shoppers started shopping at midnight, up from 2.2 percent in 2008, and, if trends continue, the number will increase this year, she noted.Some merchants at Nut Tree likely will contribute to the higher numbers, said Margo Foster, general manager of the East Monte Vista Avenue complex.
Kook Kids, which carries children’s clothing and American-made toys and children’s furniture, opened at 9 p.m. Thursday and kept the lights on until midnight. Old Navy, the clothing purveyor for the entire family, opened its doors at 9 a.m. Thursday, locked them at 8 p.m. but reopened at midnight. Also open since midnight is Best Buy, seller of computers, video games, TVs, mobile phones and appliances, and Pearl Izumi, an active sportswear merchant.
But midnight madness reached a zenith earlier today at Vacaville Premium Outlets on Nut Tree Road, where all stores opened when clocks struck 12.
Leave a Reply