Area sees successful 'Black Friday' business

From national chains to local businesses, Fort Scott has had a successful "Black Friday," according to a random sample of outlets. Nevada businesses also were optimistic on Wednesday, looking forward to the big day.

The day after Thanksgiving, also called Black Friday, is the traditional start of the Christmas shopping season. Many retailers on this day open early offering special sale items for customers willing to get up early. However, there are sales on other items as well. And this year, many stores are offering discounted items throughout the weekend.

Iron Star Antiques & Such owner Barbara Trimbur said people purchased Christmas decorations and gifts for family and friends on Friday.

"It's been very good," Iron Star Antiques & Such owner Barbara Trimbur said. "We've had a really good turnout. People are buying. There's a lot of family in town. ... It looks like it's going to be as good as last year."

"We have the clothing store in here also, and people are buying clothing. It seems to be really upbeat," Trimbur added. "We have been fortunate enough to have continue to improve every year. We work very hard to try and get the right stuff and treat our customers right. To me, in a small town customer service is everything because they can go to big city to be abused."

With the weather warming up Friday afternoon, Country Cupboard owner Judy Renard said she probably had more customers than in the morning, especially people from out of town, including many from the Missouri side of the line, and sons, daughters and grandchildren of area residents.

Country Cupboard has a wide variety of items such as things for the kitchen, bird feeders, children's books, candy, embroidery kits, toys, dolls, western purses, stuffed animals and Webkinz -- stuffed toys with a tag that has a secret code on it. The code allows access to the Webkinz World Web site where owners can play with a virtual version of their pets, according to online references.

Renard's husband also has a shoe repair business, which has been very busy of late, she said.

"We sell lot of kitchen-type things like aprons. Especially popular right now are holiday designs and collegiate designs, like K-State and KU. We have adult's and children's aprons. ... We also sell some interesting cookbooks to go with that potholders and towels and different kinds of things you use in the kitchen. We carry a line children's books and some history books. Those make great Christmas gifts. Birdfeeders, I think we sold a few of those today. Another thing we carry is kits for embroidery for quilts, samplers or runners, things like that. It's kind of fun to buy somebody a pattern and thread to go with it. It's something they can do as a project after Christmas," Renard said.

Radio Shack owner Tim McKenney said his store opened at 5:30 a.m., Friday, as has been "swamped" all day. Customers even arrived at 5 a.m. and by 11 a.m., the store had exceeded last year's Black Friday gross sales. The most popular items have been GPS, computers and toys.

More than ever, he noted, consumers are waiting for the real bargains and they know Friday is the day, although many businesses have extended promotions through the weekend. McKenney said chain stores have cut margins to move products and people know that.

"It's been a pretty good day. We're still having pretty steady traffic," he said.

McKenney said he expected business to be busy, but "honestly, you never know one year to the next.

"We in-creased our inventory this year. Your ordering has to be done so early," he said, adding they order most merchandise in August and September. "... People are still willing to spend the money, but they are just more price conscious."

Mayco Ace Hardware opened at 7 a.m., Friday, greeted by 80 people waiting outside. There were about eight cars at the store before 6 a.m. as well, owner and manager Chris Maycumber said. He added their advertisements probably helped.

"We probably had about 800 people in the store already, based on the transactions," Maycumber said early Friday afternoon. "Usually we'll have five times the traffic this weekend in a day than we normally do."

"We're actually way better than last year. I can't tell you how much better. ... We'll probably be up 30 percent over last year. I thought we had a good ad this year. ... I think people are looking for bargains," Maycumber said.

"We had a good crowd early and we've stayed steady all day," he added.

Fastest moving items are an 18-volt Dewalt drill that was $89.99 after rebate. "Dollar-wise, that's our best item... Then we had a handful of assorted tools for $4.99. Those were pretty popular," Maycumber said. "This is a busy weekend for us. I think it probably is for a lot of retailers."

Some businesses may hope consumer spending continues into December, but Maycumber said if it's not on sale at great prices, that's not likely.

"(We'll) try to do as well as we can this weekend," Maycumber said. "We actually ran three different sale ads. We have a lot of December ads that are coming up, but we went ahead and ran some this weekend.

"The thing for a retailer is you're selling a lot of stuff on sale, so you're not making margin like you normally do. It's good for the consumer and the store, too," Maycumber said. He noted people in Fort Scott are always polite and there are never tussles over items.

Walgreens in Fort Scott referred phone calls to its corporate headquarters in Deerfield, Ill. Spokesman Jim Cohn said because Walgreens is open on Thanksgiving, it's always a popular destination because people know they can pick up last-minute items for the holiday, or get a jump on Black Friday shopping.

Generally speaking, Cohn said popular items were toys, As Seen on TV items and name-brand electronics. He would not be more specific.

"What we see on Thanksgiving Day really does run the gamut. Maybe it's someone picking up milk and eggs. Any last-minute need, as well as those who may want to get a jump on Black Friday deals and holiday shopping," Cohn said.