Black Friday hasn't yet lost its allure

West Park Mall in Cape Girardeau was crowded with people of all ages, their hands full of colorful shopping bags stuffed with merchandise, as they made their way in and out of stores for the annual -- if unofficial -- day-after-Thanksgiving shopping holiday.

Some stores this year offered Black Friday discounts earlier than in years past -- on Thanksgiving Day.

Evie Smith, talent resource leader at J.C. Penney Co., worked Thanksgiving until midnight and handed out fliers at the entrance of the store during her shift Friday morning. The store opened at 8 p.m. Thanksgiving and remained open until 9 p.m. Friday.

Smith said working Thanksgiving night was exciting.

"They were running at me," she said of the customers. "I loved it."

Smith said she noticed customers were in good spirits this year.

"It probably was one of the best Black Fridays I've worked in 13 years," she said.

J.C. Penney Co. store leader Sarah Grigaitis has said one month of sales can be done on Black Friday.

"Black Friday actually can be the same volume as the whole month of February," she said in a previous interview with the Southeast Missourian.

Across the mall, Victoria Scheller organized clothing racks in Macy's. Scheller is part of the support team and worked until 2 a.m. Thursday preparing the store for Black Friday. She did not have to work Thanksgiving.

"I got lucky," she said.

In the midst of Scheller's 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. shift Friday, the department store seemed relatively calm.

"Everything's kind of crazy, clothes-wise," but the store has been operating smoothly, she said.

Black Friday was Jill Coleman's first day on the job as a Bath & Body Works saleswoman, but she was confident because she worked many other Black Fridays in retail.

Bath & Body Works employees who worked Thanksgiving did so voluntarily, she said.

Coleman said the customers she had encountered on her shift that began at 9 a.m. Friday were friendly and in a good mood.

Early Black Friday discounts proved to have a negative effect on sales at least one area eating establishment.

Brian House, owner of Chick-fil-A in Cape Girardeau, said as of Friday afternoon, the restaurant had seen about a 50 percent decrease in sales compared to last year's Black Friday.

House said he believed the drop in sales had much to do with early Black Friday deals offered at many area stores Thanksgiving evening and through the night. Some stores opened as early as 5 p.m. Thanksgiving Day.

Chick-fil-A was closed Thanksgiving and open during its usual operating hours Friday, beginning at 6 a.m.

House said being open on the holiday would have been worth it monetarily, but not when it came to his staff.

"To me, it's not worth it to my team" to be open Thanksgiving, he said. "I want them to be home with their families."

House predicted sales for the remainder of Friday would remain steady.

The fact deep discounts were offered on Thanksgiving this year didn't keep people from coming to shop. Many area stores that opened on Thanksgiving were met by a line of customers.

Some families continued the tradition of Black Friday shopping; they just bumped up the time of getting in line.

A group of six family members and friends from Jackson and Millersville, Mo., were the first in the line Thursday night outside Best Buy in Cape Girardeau.

Kim Sander, part of the group, said they staked out a spot and shopped the day after Thanksgiving for the past five years. They don't get to see each other often otherwise, she said.

The group saved their spot in line beginning at 7 a.m. Wednesday so they could be the first in the store to buy TVs and laptop computers, Kim Sander said.

Madison Sander, daughter of Kim Sander, slept in a heater-equipped tent overnight, and said the group talked to pass the time.

The line outside Best Buy stretched around the side of the building before it opened at 6 p.m. Thursday.

Robin Wood and her aunt, Pat Kallemeier, both of New Madrid, Mo., took a break from walking the mall Friday morning and chatted on a bench.

Wood said the two were part of a group of about five other women in the family who shop the deals and have lunch every year on Black Friday. They don't scout out particular deals, she said, but just shop, visit with each other and people-watch.

"We've done this for years now," Wood said.

ashedd@semissourian.com

388-3632

Pertinent addresses:

3049 William St., Cape Girardeau, MO

3333 Gordonville Road, Cape Girardeau, MO

3026 William St., Cape Girardeau, MO