Community Corner
Black Friday Signals Kickoff of Holiday Shopping for Small Merchants
But the impact will be far different; it won't make or break the mom-and-pop stores in the East Bay.
Small, independent retailers in the East Bay look at Black Friday as the kickoff to the holiday shopping season. It’s not a day that will make or break them for the year. And no one expands their hours.
Indeed, many of their Black Friday customers will wander in during the afternoon hours after they spend the morning hustling around the Big Box stores in nearby Seekonk.
And for many of the mom-and-pop stores in Barrington, Warren and Bristol, Small Business Saturday on the day after Black Friday will be a better day for business.
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“It’s the kickoff to the holiday,” said Dana Shechtman, owner of Barrington Books and The Studio at Barrington Books. “We’ll be ready to go with our decorations. It will be a very successful weekend. It always is. We’ll see many more customers in the afternoon than in the morning.”
Imagine gift shop owners Emily Calandrelli and Gene Oberhauser of Warren agree with Shechtman.
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“It will be busy in the afternoon,” said Calandrelli of Black Friday. “The crazy, impersonal shopping will be done early. Then they’ll come in here for more personal shopping for things they can’t find in the Big Box stores for stocking stuffers. I don’t even stock it if they can find it in the Big Box stores.”
Lynn Shaw of Harbor Bath & Body in Bristol said: “I’ll do something special for Black Friday. Maybe 20 percent off everything in the store. But it won’t be a huge day for many of us. Saturday will be better.”
She was referring to all the small merchants in Bristol.
“It’s a signal, a kickoff that tells people it’s crunch time, that they have to get their Christmas shopping done soon,” Shaw said. “My customers will wander in during the afternoon after they tire of shopping at the Big Box stores.”
Susan Tamer at Center ACE Hardware in Barrington said she doesn’t even look at Black Friday as a one-day shopping frenzy anymore. It has spread out across the whole Thanksgiving weekend.
“It’s definitely a busy day, with many more afternoon shoppers than in the morning,” Tamer said. “That’s when people will come in for our Christmas decorations. We take great pride in our decorations and our window displays.”
“But we’re not impacted like other stores,” she said of Black Friday.
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