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November 27, 2009

Early reports from Black Friday encouraging

Charles Oliver

JC Penney manager Dottie Ray says she doesn’t know exactly how many people were waiting outside when the store opened at 4 a.m. on Friday, the day considered the unofficial start of the Christmas holiday shopping season. But she says it was a large number.

“They were lined up around the building (at Walnut Square Mall), and we’ve had lines at most of our registers all morning long,” she said. “We’ve been doing great.”

Ray said the store’s “door buster” sale items were proving especially popular. JC Penney had items for sale in all departments, but Ray said cookware did especially well, with slow cookers, grills, coffee makers and griddles flying off the shelves.

“Of course, we are selling lots and lots of clothing items. Any type of gift-giving item is selling,” she said. “But our door busters have been what’s really selling.”

The day is dubbed “Black Friday” because black ink traditionally denotes profits. Stores across the city marked the day with extended hours and special promotions.

“It’s the start of the holiday season, and it’s usually a good indicator of how things are going to go, and so far, so good,” Ray said.

Walnut Square Mall itself opened at 5 a.m., and manager Brandy Christian said traffic in the mall appeared to be higher than last year.

“We haven’t had any sales reported yet, so I can’t comment on that, but the traffic is high,” she said. “The store managers report things are good, and a lot of their door busters sold out even earlier than last year. That’s encouraging.”

Christian said Black Friday is a very important day for mall shops.

“It’s definitely the time that most people kick off their Christmas shopping, and it’s the time when they know they are going to save the most money for the items they want. We use it as a gauge to tell how the season will go, and the traffic and the door buster sales are encouraging,” she said.

The parking lots at the mall were still fairly full around 1 p.m., and the parking lot at the adjacent Carmike Cinemas 12 was almost full.

“My daughter wanted to see the new ‘Twilight” movie, so I brought her over here while her mother was shopping,” said Jack Stanley of LaFayette.

Theater manager Brian Latour said “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” and “The Blind Side” were the most popular movies on Friday.

“Both of those have sold out numerous shows since we opened them,” he said. “Last Saturday, we set our attendance and our concession stand records.”

Dalton Outlet Shops at 1001 Market St. had some of the earliest openings of any stores in Dalton. Rue21 opened at 10 p.m. Thursday and 10 other shops opened at midnight.

“I came in at 6 a.m., and it was a little slow, but it quickly picked up a lot. It got really busy,” said Ann Gonzalez, manager of Rue21.

She said sweaters had been selling especially well.

The parking lot at Dalton Outlet Shops was still moderately full around 11 a.m. Friday. Most of the cars sported Whitfield or Murray County tags but a few had Gordon and Walker County tags.

“We didn’t get up super early like some people, but we’ve been shopping since about 9,” said Dalton’s Maria Hernandez, who said she was shopping with her sister. “We won’t buy all of our presents today, but if we see something that’s a good buy, we’ll pick it up.”





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