Traditionally, Black Friday actually kicks off on Thanksgiving Thursday, just after the turkey dinner and the turkey nap. But this year, the sales started early, and with a lot of advertising.
Small businesses, of course, don’t have the marketing money to match the big brand names. Still, 74% of shoppers plan to make an effort to shop local this year, according to a survey by Adtaxi. And retailers are doing everything they can to make sure those shoppers follow through.
At Terra Toys in Austin, Texas, Black Friday weekend is usually one big celebration.
“When they walk in, they think they’ve joined some mosh pit of toy shoppers,” said general manager Sylvia Edwards. “There’s children running up and down everywhere and loud music and noises from different toys being played with. It’s just a cacophony of magic madness. It’ll never get like that this year.”
And not just because of social distancing. Terra Toys has divided its shopping hours: adults only, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; all ages welcome, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. The store is also offering night owl tours, private appointments for shoppers after closing.
“You get a whole hour in the store, and then a little personal salesperson that walks you through the store and shows you our toy workshop where we still cut wood and make toys,” Edwards said.
These are the kinds of personal touches that could help small retailers cut through all the noise coming from big-box stores.
Traditionally, a third of shoppers do most of their buying this weekend, said Alexis DeSalva Kahler, a senior research analyst Mintel who focuses on retail. And the message from retailers is that they hope to see even bigger numbers this year.
“Basically start thinking about your holiday shopping now, because it’s just only going to be more of a challenge to get what people want on time,” she said.
The goal this season is to make every day an occasion to shop. Frank Reiss, who owns A Cappella Books in Atlanta, is doing that with extra virtual book clubs and author events.
“A lot of our business in normal times is not in this little store,” he said. “What a lot of our business is is offsite events.”
And he’s also doing the free delivery thing, by hand. Because the bottom line is: Amazon sells books, too.
Are states ready to roll out COVID-19 vaccines?
Claire Hannan, executive director of the nonprofit Association of Immunization Managers, which represents state health officials, said states have been making good progress in their preparations. And we could have several vaccines pretty soon. But states still need more funding, she said. Hannan doesn’t think a lack of additional funding would hold up distribution initially, but it could cause problems down the road. “It’s really worrisome that Congress may not pass funding or that there’s information circulating saying that states don’t need additional funding,” she said.
How is the service industry dealing with the return of coronavirus restrictions?
Without another round of something like the Paycheck Protection Program, which kept a lot of businesses afloat during the pandemic’s early stages, the outlook is bleak for places like restaurants. Some in the San Francisco Bay Area, for example, only got one week of indoor dining back before cases rose and restrictions went back into effect. Restaurant owners are revamping their business models in an effort to survive while waiting to see if they’ll be able to get more aid.
How are hospitals handling the nationwide surge in COVID-19 cases?
As the pandemic surges and more medical professionals themselves are coming down with COVID, nearly 1 in 5 hospitals in the country report having a critical shortage of staff, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services. One of the knock-on effects of staff shortages is that people who have other medical needs are being asked to wait.
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