Local merchant saw some gray in this year's Black Friday sales

By TRISHA PHELPS

Mt. Pleasant News

Thanksgiving shopping threw a wrench in some Black Friday sales this year in Mt. Pleasant.

?Black Friday started out really strong at the beginning of the day and then just really dropped off,? said Karl Schaefer of Becker?s Jewelers in Mt. Pleasant. ?I think the people having a lot more shopping to do on Thursday kind of relieved the pressure. People didn?t come rushing in like they did last year (on Friday).?

While Thursday night shoppers didn?t seem to impact the Black Friday sales at Brown?s Shoe Fit, Kurt Moon thinks that Thanksgiving shopping will have a long-term effect on Black Friday.

?It didn?t really effect us, but I think in time it is going to ruin Black Friday completely,? said Moon.

?Actually our sales were up this year,? continued Moon. ?We opened at 7 a.m. like we have done in the past. I think people went to the bigger stores Thursday (Peebles, Hy-Vee and Walmart were the only retail stores open Thursday night in Mt. Pleasant). Small Business Saturday was pretty good, too.?

Small Business Saturday is a national push to encourage consumers to shop at local businesses on the Saturday following Black Friday to help the local economy.

Cyber Monday, a national push encouraging people to order gifts online the Monday after Thanksgiving, seemed to have the opposite effect than what it was intended for in Mt. Pleasant.

?It was actually pretty busy in store on Monday, which was great,? said Schaefer. ?I think when people are out they come in here and visit as well.?

The top selling item of the day at Becker?s was the Rhythm of Love pendant, according to Schaefer.

?The pendants actually move, powered by her heartbeat. It?s pretty slick,? said Schaefer.

While SmartWool socks are a hot item this time of year at Brown?s, Moon noted that there wasn?t one item that stuck out as the hot ticket item on Black Friday.

?We sold a lot of gift items this year,? said Moon. ?We sold a ton of SmartWool but we also sold a bunch of other apparel and shoes.?