FARMINGTON – Downtown retailers are reporting brisk sales today, traditionally the biggest shopping day before Christmas.
A short snow storm ended around 2 p.m., and shoppers could be seen strolling along the sidewalks in the downtown district. The Friday after Thanksgiving is often called “Black Friday,” as it represents a chance for store owners to make a strong profit.
Devaney, Doak & Garrett Booksellers, on Broadway, was packed Friday afternoon. Owner Kenny Brechner said that while the “traditional image” of shoppers lining up before the store opened wasn’t accurate, his store had sold a number of books.
“Black Friday has kind of evolved into a mall thing,” he said. “Where you get people pushing through for one of five big screen TVs. People here come in to browse and shop in a more gentile environment.”
Brechner said that his store has seen a large number of out-of-town shoppers.
“We’ve been busy,” he said.
Clerks at Mickey’s Hallmark Store, on Main Street, featured a sale of several products. They echoed Brechner’s assessment, saying that the store had done roughly double the business it would on a normal Friday.
Reny’s Manager Carol Robbins opinioned that the snow had actually helped her store’s sales, putting shoppers in the “holiday mood.”
“Business has been excellent,” she said. “Talked to a lot of people who had a great Thanksgiving and the snow helped make it very festive. There wasn’t just one hot item, everything did well.”
She advised people to not get too bogged down into the constant stream of dark economic news on network news stations.
“Don’t listen to the news,” she said, “forcasting doom and gloom. Everyone’s doing just fine here.”
