Today’s traditional start of the holiday shopping season was set to begin late Thanksgiving night for some North Olympic Peninsula residents, before sunrise this morning for others and later today at more humane hours for still others.
It’s all part of retailers large and small wanting to create a niche for themselves — in challenging economic times and on a broad playing field — during the three-day, post-Thanksgiving weekend by offering special promotions, employing social media, opening their doors in today’s wee hours or offering timed sales of certain products.
It’s about tailoring a strategy based on your customers, business leaders said.
“That’s the way of the future for small businesses to survive,” said Russ Veenema, executive director of the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce, in a sentiment echoed by Mari Mullen, executive director of the Port Townsend Main Street Program.
“It’s about knowing your business and knowing your brand,” she said.
“We can’t compete on the same level as Macy’s. We really have to be about small-town charm.”
But the competition is there: Black Friday — so named because it’s allegedly the point in the year when retailers begin to turn a profit, or are “in the black” — is the heaviest customer traffic day of the year nationwide for all retailers, said Kathy Grannis, spokeswoman of the National Retail Federation of Retailers.
Midnight Black Friday sales, she said last week, are gaining extra traction among the nationwide holiday-shopping public.
Port Angeles
Don Droz, manager of Swain’s General Store, will monitor how well the landmark Port Angeles establishment fares with its 5 a.m. opening today.
He plans to give 100 gift cards of $10 each to the first 100 families who rush through the doors of the store at 602 E. First St.
All those gift cards were handed out within five minutes of Swain’s opening at 5 a.m. on Black Friday in 2010.
But Droz said he’s a little worried about Walmart’s sales promotion of offering sales on toys, home goods and apparel at 10 p.m. Thanksgiving evening, on electronics two hours later at midnight and on toys, electronics and home goods at 8 a.m. today, so he will monitor his sales hour by hour.
“We know we’ll see a lot of the same faces we’ve seen before, so that part I feel good about,” Droz said.
Because of the economic climate, Droz expects holiday shoppers will be “a little more practical” with the gift-buying.
Then again, plasma TVs are not Swain’s domain, he said.
The four weeks between Black Friday and Christmas account for 15 percent of Swain’s annual sales, Droz added.
“It’s definitely crazier than any other [four]-week period we have.”
The Port Townsend Downtown Association plans nothing out of the ordinary today, said Executive Director Barb Frederick.
The big event will be Saturday, when the association sponsors the annual Christmas tree-lighting ceremony — which will begin at 3 p.m., with Santa arriving just before 5 p.m. — at the Conrad Dyar Memorial Fountain at First and Laurel streets.
Saturday also is designated Small Business Saturday, and many stores will offer specials and extended hours that day, while others are providing specials both today and Saturday.
Among them are Caffeinated Clothiers, 133 E. First St.; Cabled Fiber Studio, 106 N. Laurel St.; Fountain Square Jewelers, 101 W. First St.; Anime Kat, 110 W. First St.; and Port Book and News, 104 E. First St.
Forks
Forks Outfitters manager Dave Gedlund works his Black Friday sales forecast around West End customers who “take off to get a good deal in Silverdale and Port Angeles” during early morning hours, he said.
So the store was set to open at its regular time of 8 a.m. today instead of the 7 a.m. of past Black Fridays, he said, adding that he doesn’t increase his 100-employee staff during the holidays.
Like Droz, Gedlund expects people to buy more basic gift items.
“It’s anybody’s guess,” Gedlund said.
“Customers always surprise you.”
Sequim
J.C. Penney in Sequim is sticking with today’s 4 a.m. opening and expects a run on luggage, appliances and especially jewelry and women’s boots, store manager Paul Quinn said.
Black Friday and the Saturday before Christmas — the highest sales day of the year, according to Grannis — are “barn-burners” for the store, Quinn said.
More than 250 customers showed up on Black Friday in 2010, Quinn added.
Jefferson County
Social media — in particular Facebook and Twitter — have worked into the Black Friday equation in Jefferson County.
Port Hadlock Building Supply, which opened at 4 a.m. on Black Friday in 2010 and in many years in the past, won’t open early this year.
Last year, sales spiked on Black Friday, then sharply dropped that weekend, said Jacklyn Lovato-Kraut, marketing manager.
But specials on Christmas decorations and Carhart clothing will be on the store’s Facebook page from midnight today until the store opens at its normal hour of 8 a.m. Saturday.
“Now we’ll have fun stuff throughout the weekend,” Lovato-Kraut said.
Early Black Friday openings were tried in Port Townsend for one year but were abandoned, the Main Street Program’s Mullen said.
The small-town charm Mullen spoke of is being promoted in a Main Street partnership with American Express Saturday on Small Business Saturday via Facebook and Twitter as part of the Holidays Merchant Open House from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The campaign by American Express and the National Trust Main Street Center is being promoted on Facebook at www.facebook.com/smallbusinesssaturday.
The program also can be accessed via Twitter.
American Express customers who sign up in advance can receive a $25 credit on their bill for shopping at a participating small business Saturday only.
The Wild Rose Chorale will stroll the streets of downtown and uptown from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.
Shoppers can enter the Hometown Holiday Sweepstakes by noon Saturday at 34 participating businesses for a chance to win one of two $500 shopping sprees at local businesses.
The winner will be announced after the Christmas tree-lighting at 5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3, at Haller Fountain.
“We really have to be about small-town charm and specialty shopping and destination shopping,” Mullen said.
The Port Townsend Holidays promotion is sponsored by the city Main Street Program, the city of Port Townsend Lodging Tax Advisory Committee, First Federal and participating merchants.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-417-3536 or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.