Retailers look for plaid
As published on page one of the Nov. 23, 2011 edition of The Keene Sentinel, and online.
Tired of black?
Try plaid.
Not a Friday person?
Maybe Saturday is a better fit.
As major chain stores go to ever greater lengths to add store hours and discounted prices to the shopping excitement of "Black Friday" -- the day after Thanksgiving, and the traditional start of the holiday shopping season -- smaller retailers across the country are joining together in marketing campaigns that draw heavily on the Internet and bring attention to independent businesses.
Black Friday, said to be called this because it's the day retailers begin turning a profit for the year, and get out of "the red," is a big deal at big-box stores.
All three of the region's Walmarts will open their doors at 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving this year, with sales scheduled through the wee hours of the morning, while Target shoppers will have to wait until midnight for their post-turkey purchases.
Both stores will be prepared for long lines of customers seeking deep discounts on consumer electronics and gift items.
But hype plays a big role in the Black Friday reputation, according to some local business owners -- and now they're working on building some hype of their own.
"It is such a myth that it's the biggest shopping day of the year," said Dean J. Eaton, owner of Your Kitchen Store on Main Street, who maintains the Saturday before Christmas is the real biggest shopping day.
Nonetheless, this year, Eaton's store will open slightly early on Friday and offer discounts and coupons throughout the day, as part of "Plaid Friday," a marketing campaign with origins in Oakland, Calif., that has been adopted by local-business advocates across the country.
In the Monadnock Region, the Plaid Friday effort is coordinated by Monadnock Buy Local, and the organization's website (monadnockbuylocal.wordpress.com) offers a full list of participating stores and activities.
A central piece of the campaign asks shoppers to wear an item of plaid clothing for the day in a show of support.
Employees at Ted's Shoe and Sport on Main Street in Keene will break out their plaid, according to manager Molly Dunholter.
"We're open regular hours so we're not doing any crazy get-up-at-4-in-the-morning thing, but we'll have coffee and tea for people and we're hoping for it to be just a nice fun day," she said.
"We're hoping that most people, instead of going to the big-box stores, will come downtown and shop with us."
Ted's biggest sales days are the Keene Pumpkin Festival and the day after Christmas, she said, while Plaid Friday is "an awareness day, to sort of keep things local and not go crazy at the mall."
Plaid Friday isn't the only local-shopping event in store for this weekend.
Moe - Momentum Clothing, also on Keene's Main Street, is a local clothing store that has aligned itself with "Small Business Saturday," according to owner Beth Doyle.
The campaign is sponsored by American Express and a long list corporations, nonprofit organizations and local governments.
By Wednesday, Small Business Saturday had more that 2.4 million likes on its Facebook page, which provides access to a database of small businesses across the country.
Moe will offer special discounts on Saturday, which Doyle will email directly to the store's mailing list.
Keene's Main Street is becoming more and more of a shopping destination, she said, and events that raise the profile of independent businesses may help draw more shoppers who might otherwise head for the mall.
"Even going to the big-box stores that are here in Keene, that's not the same as shopping locally," she said.
But the benefits of shopping in small stores go beyond supporting local business, according to Doyle.
"I think we're also seeing that people are really starting to understand that small boutiques really offer something more than clicking online does, or going to a big chain does," she said.
"When you shop where everyone does, you look like you're wearing a uniform."
tagged with: black friday, plaid friday, retail, shop local movements, small business saturday
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