Pulaskians say hello to good buys at local retailers for Black Friday

Nov. 24—'Twas the day after Thanksgiving and all through the county, parking lots were full of shoppers with bounty.

That's always the case on Black Friday, and even though the crunch of inflation is a steady lament heard in households across the nation these days, a higher cost of living isn't stopping people from taking part in the year's biggest occasion for hitting the stores and shopping until you drop.

In particular, Ray Stennett, general manager of the local JCPenney store in the Somerset Mall, was pleased on Friday afternoon with how the day had gone — and greeted a Commonwealth Journal reporter in a store packed with customers.

"We have had a bigger crowd than we have seen in a lot of years; it's been a really fantastic day," he said. "In years past, when you look at post-Covid versus pre-Covid, there was a little bit of a struggle these last couple of years, but this year I had about four times the amount of customers standing outside the door at 5 a.m. (when the store opened) than I had last year."

For JCPenney, the classic mall-anchor department store specializing in clothing, housewares, and other assorted items, the home department was "the champion" this Black Friday, noted Stennett.

"We've been selling a whole lot of promotional home items," he said. "Towels have probably been the no. 1 seller. They're running real low at $2.99 each, but we're also selling a lot of small appliances, griddles, crock pots. Those have been the big sellers.

"Probably, no. 2 is jewelry; there are a lot of customers in here buying jewelry," he continued. "Probably the biggest difference from last year is the jewelry; I did not sell jewelry well at all last year year, and we're selling it real well this year."

Another improvement over last year? Consistent customer traffic all day long. "Normally, it's just kind of a rollercoaster throughout the day when we battle other retailers and competition, but we've had really good traffic from the moment we opened. That's a really different trend than we've seen in years past."

In recent years, Black Friday had been starting earlier and earlier — and encroaching onto Thanksgiving Thursday itself for many retailers. But that trend has ebbed in recent years, and Stennett hopes that Black Friday stays right where the name implies it should be.

"It's been a huge win for our team," he said of giving employees Thanksgiving off. "We as a company kind of decided that post-Covid. For that particular year, we didn't want the crowds in the store, but we found out that giving our associates that day off to spend with their families rather than having to drag a team in here after they eat lunch or whatever is just a big win. So that's something as a company we're committed to doing hopefully for the foreseeable future."

Somerset Walmart Manager Sam Scharbrough agreed with that sentiment.

"The biggest reason why we did that was to give our associates time to spend with their loved ones out of respect for them," he said of the more holiday-friendly schedule. "Giving them Thanksgiving is just the right thing to do."

Shopping got underway at the local Walmart department store at 6 a.m. Friday, and approximately 450 people came through the door at that time; "We were very busy (that that time) ... and we've been busy since," said Scharbrough.

Electronics are always one of the key Black Friday discounts at Walmart, and two of the most active deals this time were for a 43-inch onn. television, and a 65-inch TCL television. Scharbrough also mentioned a SertaPedic Dreamloft mattress as being a popular buy.

Walmart also has an extensive toy section, and it was well-visited today; the hottest toy was the Squishmallow stuffed animal line, of which the store sold thousands in the Black Friday period.

Also, housewares sold well; Scharbrough pointed out the Gourmia Air Fryer as an item that people were buying in big numbers.

"Traffic is up and customers are buying things," he said. "We're pleased."

It's not just big retail chains that do big business on Black Friday, so named because that's when stores make up a bunch of their profit goals, or go "in the black." Smaller stores also thrive, and on the day following Black Friday, have a day set aside just for that market — Small Business Saturday, on which people are encouraged to visit local boutiques and merchants and support businesses with roots in the community.

One of Somerset's most notable stores of that kind is The Pink Bee, which has been part of the local landscape for 19 years. Here in 2023, the store is doing as well as it ever has.

"We've had an amazing week," said Lisa Milby of the Pink Bee. "(On Friday), we're just a little bit shy of making the whole day's goal at 1:30 p.m., and we've been open since 10 a.m."

Black Friday was a week-long affair for The Pink Bee — with the exception of being off Thursday for Thanksgiving — with Monday and Tuesday being "steady days," according to Milby. Then Wednesday, sales were equal to last year's actual Black Friday number. Black Friday itself continued to build on that positive trend.

"It looks like it could possibly be the best Black Friday we've ever had," said Milby.

The store sells both clothing and gifts, and both were doing well, said Milby, although the latter might have been the standout, especially with holiday-themed decor items.

"We have a fun little Santa Claus called Howdy HoHo. He's a mechanical waving Santa, he's doing really well," said Milby. "Our food products are selling well, our Water Wick candle is selling well. We actually just opened a box of candle warmers that just came in, so those are new (Friday) afternoon."

Another popular item is the Santa's Kindness Christmas ornament. "It's good for children (and) interactive," said Milby. "You use your cell phone with it. Scan the QR code, and then Santa comes on and talks to the kids. I think it's gonna become a new Christmas tradition, kind of like Elf on the Shelf."

The deals will continue for Small Business Saturday. The festivities include a $600 giveaway — or more accurately, $50 gift certificates every month for 12 months in 2024, noted Milby. It's a great way to honor the customers who keep coming back to The Pink Bee no matter what the commercial economy is like.

"Since August 1, it's been some of the biggest months we've had in our 19 years," said Milby. "We have a very loyal client base and they all seem to be shopping well."