Dec 4, 2008

Black Friday Not Black EnoughBy Chuck HageeConnectionNewspapers.com

For most of the smaller retail merchants in Alexandria, Belle View Shopping Center and Hollin Hall Shopping Center “Black Friday” was not nearly as bleak as many had expected. However, it was nothing to cheer about either based on their Monday assessments.

But, the annually hyped sales day, the Friday after Thanksgiving, which many retailers depend on for a significant amount of their annual gross income does not have the same impact on smaller retailers as it does on the large retail chain stores. This was particularly true this year with the larger stores pushing a myriad of sale items — well before Black Friday.

“We never consider Black Friday to be a big shopping day. At most, it can usually be compared to a good Saturday,” said Adam Winer, owner/manager, Artcraft in Old Town Alexandria.

“We were very busy on both Friday and Saturday. But, Sunday was a bust due to the weather. In general people appear to be buying less expensive items this year,” he said.

Todd Healy at Gallery Lafayette found this Black Friday’s sales to be much less than normal. “But, at this point, I attribute that to most people being at the malls hunting for bargains. We’ll see as the season progresses,” Healy said.

One retailer that found the holiday shopping spirit alive and well was The Christmas Attic on South Union Street in Old Town. “We were very happy with our sales throughout the weekend. We had a steady flow of shoppers both Friday and Saturday,” said Betsy Huser.

Kate Schlabach, owner, Why Not, the childrens’ books, toys, and clothing store at 200 King St., gave the Black Friday weekend an “all right” rating. Again she blamed a poor Sunday showing on the weather.

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