Have SLO shoppers lost interest in Black Friday? ‘I don’t see any point’

Has Black Friday lost its sparkle for San Luis Obispo County shoppers?

While the parking lot of the San Luis Obispo Target would have once been full of eager shoppers ready to go hunting for bargains or carting out their prizes, the store on Friday morning had empty parking spaces right next to the entrance.

Inside, the aisles were mostly devoid of shoppers. Neat stacks of TVs and other electronics appeared almost entirely undisturbed nearly two hours after the store opened.

The big box store was less busy than during move-in weekend at Cal Poly.

Black Friday in San Luis Obispo dawned much like any other day, devoid of the frenetic energy that once characterized the first shopping day after Thanksgiving and the traditional start of the Christmas season.

It’s not that people aren’t shopping holiday deals anymore.

In fact, according to the National Retail Federation, a record-breaking 166 million people were expected to shop over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, up almost 8 million from in 2021 and the highest number ever recorded by the trade group.

That’s in spite of inflation stressing Americans’ wallets.

“While there is much speculation about inflation’s impact on consumer behavior, our data tells us that this Thanksgiving holiday weekend will see robust store traffic with a record number of shoppers taking advantage of value pricing,” National Retail Federation president and CEO Matthew Shay said in a news release. “We are optimistic that retail sales will remain strong in the weeks ahead, and retailers are ready to meet consumers however they want to shop with great products at prices they want to pay.”

Shoppers avoid in-person retail on Black Friday

Despite the NRF’s rosy predictions, enthusiasm for in-person Black Friday shopping has waned in recent years.

In San Luis Obispo County, a number of residents said they no longer planned to shop in-person on Black Friday.

“I’m shopping Black Friday deals on my apps,” Dawnice Dotson told The Tribune on Friday. “I don’t see any point in shopping in store on Black Friday anymore.”

Dotson said her decision was “mostly out of convenience, and availability of goods.”

Michele Ayers also said she was planning to only shop online.

“I imagine the stores would be crowded,” she said. “And it’s too hard to carry items to the multi-story parking lots in downtown SLO.”

Black Friday is still the most popular day to shop, according to the National Retail Federation. According to its survey, about 115 million people were expected to shop on the day itself, with about 64 million of those saying they planned to shop on Cyber Monday.

Of those who planned to go Black Friday shopping, 67% said they planned to physically go to stores, according to the trade group.

One wouldn’t have guessed that the case looking around San Luis Obispo’s main shopping corridors on Friday morning.

Across from Target in the Irish Hills Plaza shopping center, Costco, Old Navy and TJ Maxx all had only semi-full parking lots as of 9 a.m.

Up the road at the Madonna Plaza shopping center, it was the same story.

Pam W., who declined to give her last name, was at Best Buy on Friday morning to purchase a refrigerator after hers broke.

“Otherwise we wouldn’t be here,” she laughed. “We don’t go Black Friday shopping.”

Pam said she and her husband used to go Black Friday shopping, but stopped in recent years because they “don’t need anything, don’t want anything.”

When asked how this year’s turnout looked compared with what she remembered in years past, Pam said, “There appear to be less people.”

SLO to launch ‘shop local’ program to encourage holiday shoppers

Though turnout was light early Friday morning, more customers began flocking to the stores as the warm day wore on.

Many shoppers interviewed by The Tribune on Friday said they were just doing their regular household shopping, and weren’t specifically out for Black Friday.

In downtown San Luis Obispo, a typical number of shoppers checked out deals at stores such as Barnes & Noble, Apple, Anthropologie and Victoria’s Secret. Some locally-owned shops also held Black Friday sales.

More shoppers are expected downtown on Saturday for Small Business Saturday, when businesses are expected to offer special deals and giveaways to encourage folks to shop local through the holidays.

The city of San Luis Obispo is re-launching its Buy Local Bonus program starting Friday. Anyone who spends $100 at a SLO retail business can get a $25 gift card to another local business, according to a news release.

“Injecting money into our local economy is critical to small business success,” Chamber of Commerce President Jim Dantona said in the release. “The hundreds of thousands of dollars spent locally through this program will support our doers and dreamers, and help small businesses thrive this holiday season.”