Shops busy at different times Friday

    Businesses in Washington County had a mostly successful day of sales on ?Black Friday,? the Friday after Thanksgiving. Some businesses opened their doors before sunrise to accommodate the early-morning shoppers, while other businesses saw their sales pick up in the afternoon.

    The RadioShack in Kalona opened more than three hours earlier than normal, and that still wasn?t early enough for some shoppers. Casey Peck, the manager of RadioShack, said that about 25 people were waiting outside the store when the doors were unlocked at 5:30 a.m. Peck said that number is even higher than last year?s Black Friday when the store opened at 6 a.m.

    ?We had a solid line at the checkout counter for over an hour,? said Peck. ?That doesn?t happen very often in Kalona.?

    Peck said that she normally has two employees working at a time but decided to double her work force for Black Friday. She said that some of the popular items this year were global positioning systems (GPS) for automobiles and digital cameras.

    ?We were hoping to improve on last year?s sales, but we were satisfied given the state of the economy,? said Peck. ?Sales were about what they were last year. It was a good day overall.?

    Brent Kromrie, who owns Brown?s Shoe Fit Company in Washington, said he opened 2 1/2 hours early on Friday. However, Kromrie said that he normally doesn?t get an early morning rush on Black Friday. He said that business was noticeably busier on Friday and that he had steady traffic throughout the day.

    Kromrie remarked that winter boots ? especially winter boots for teenage girls ? were a popular item on Friday and have been for the last several weeks.

    The Country Market in Washington was one business that saw sales increase as the day wore on, according to the store?s owner Gary Glandon. Glandon said he was not expecting many early-birds to

For the full article, see the Nov. 30 edition of the Washington Evening Journal