Retailers expecting good sales on Black Friday
Many Cape Coral businesses are expecting good sales during Black Friday weekend, Nov. 26-28.
Many of the larger corporate businesses in Cape Coral are opening their doors early Friday morning and offering many early bird specials.
Kohl’s Store Manager Sabrina Howerton said that the store’s doors will open at 3 a.m. for the first time this year to give customers some extra time to shop, so they can make it to all the places they wish to hit. The store will close at midnight on Friday.
“We are expecting crowds to be good this year,” she said, adding that they have already seen interest in their early shoppers as they get their Christmas lists ready. “They are eager and ready to shop this year, so we are excited to see how that turns out.”
There will be 400 early bird specials from 3 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Friday, along with various specials on Saturday beginning at 6 a.m.
Many online-only specials will be offered beginning Thursday at midnight to kick off the holiday shopping.
Howerton explained that toys, sleepwear, jewelry, throws and blankets are always among the biggest sellers Thanksgiving weekend at Kohl’s.
She said this year they have kiosks set up in the store that provide customers with the opportunity to go onto the store’s website and order an item that they do have in stock at the store. She went on to explain that there is no shipping fee for the item, which will be sent directly to the customer’s home.
“It is some additional savings for our customers,” she said.
Kohl’s is located at 513 S.W. Pine Island Road.
Beall’s Outlet Manager Laura Sweeney said although the economy has been tough on sales during the past few Black Fridays, she is also anticipating a large crowd to take advantage of the special sales.
“We are definitely expecting sales to be good,” she said. “Sales have been strong this month already.”
The store will open their doors at 4 a.m. with its special bell ringer sales, along with promotional items until 1 p.m. Sweeney said the first 150 customers who enter the store will receive an ornament.
She explained that they were able to hire an additional 12 seasonal employees this year for the holidays.
Sweeney said although there is nothing in particular that stands out this year as a must-have gift, the Florida decorative goodies always do well during the Thanksgiving weekend.
“We will take good care of them with smiling faces,” she said about all the customers who stop by the store Friday.
Beall’s, which is also located at Coralwood Mall on Del Prado Boulevard, will close at 10 p.m. Friday night.
Dave Kreller, who owns Crystal’s Hallmark with his wife Nancy, said he is also anticipating a good turnout for Black Friday.
“We usually have quite a few folks on Thanksgiving weekend and it has been pretty busy so far this month, which is a good indicator,” he said.
Some of the popular items this year at Hallmark include recordable Christmas books, frames and albums.
The recordable Christmas books include a “Night Before Christmas,” “The First Christ-mas” and “Frosty the Snowman.”
He said the books are constructed in such a way that an individual can read a story page by page while recording their voice, so when the child sits down to read the story they can hear their voice.
“It’s really nice technology,” Kreller said.
They have sold quite a few Christmas books so far.
Other good sellers include wireless interactive items and Christmas ornaments.
Last year Crystal’s Hallmark experienced a small decrease in sales from the previous year during Thanksgiving weekend, but so far this year the sales are up due to individuals spending a little more money.
“We are ready,” he said. “We have good inventory, so we are ready for whoever comes.”
Crystal’s Hallmark will be open from 8 a.m. until 9 p.m. on Friday. It is located at 2301 Del Prado Blvd. in the Coralwood Mall.
John Michael’s Fine Jewelry owner John Michael said typically on Black Friday the store does not experience a flow of traffic until later in the day, due to the majority of individuals shopping at the big department stores in the morning and early afternoon.
“We anticipate a softer Christmas due to the economic times,” he said.
For the first time since they opened their doors 25 years ago, they have added lines of silver to their jewelry collection. Michaels explained that since the price of gold is extremely expensive, he wanted to offer silver for his collection.
This is our “first time carrying silver,” he said. “It is such a new line for us, we are trying to launch it right now.”
Michael explained that there is a mixture of items that are popular this year, which include alternative metals, silver and charm bracelets.
It would “be nice for people to visit the small stores” on Black Friday, Michael said.
John Michael’s Fine Jewelry’s extended hours during the holiday season are 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. from Monday through Thursday and Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. It is located at 1325 Cape Coral Parkway.
According to the National Retail Federation, 138 million shoppers are expected to hit their favorite stores this year during Black Friday weekend, which is up from last years crowd of 134 million shoppers.
The federation also reported that 54.9 percent of retailers will reach out to the community through special emails, another 39.2 percent will use their Facebook page to attract customers, the businesses home page will also be utilized by 31.4 percent and 21.6 percent will announce deals through Twitter.