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Dawn of new shopping season
by Jule Hubbard
(Photo caption) Jule Hubbard/staff photo-The parking lot of the shopping center that includes the new Super Walmart was still packed with cars as the sun rose this morning.
Retailers in the Wilkesboros reported that shoppers eager to stretch their dollars even farther over the holidays responded well to more aggressive pricing and early store hours this "Black Friday" morning.
Derwin Kilby, owner of the Sears of Wilkes store that opened in August on Edgewood Road in Wilkesboro, said sales there were even better than he hoped this morning.
"I'll put it this way, me and Jacob (Curry) haven't been able to leave our two cash registers since 4 this morning," when the 10,000-square-foot store opened to a line of about 75 people waiting at the front door and a parking lot full of vehicles. It normally opens at 9 a.m.
Kilby said special pricing on washers and dryers was a strong draw as expected, but that demand was good for other large appliances, TVs and other merchandise. He met customers from as far away as Asheville and Raleigh.
Today was also the first Black Friday for Wilkesboro's new Walmart Supercenter on U.S. 421 West, which is nearly 50 percent larger than the old Walmart on the other side of the highway.
Steve Penland, manager of the 170,000-square-foot Super Walmart, said the store had "a good, healthy double-digit increase" in Black Friday sales this morning.
Penland said the store's parking lot, although 40 to 50 percent larger than at the old location, was filled to capacity at times this morning.
Because the new store is open 24 hours a day, there was no long line of Walmart shoppers waiting for the doors to open this morning.
Penland said 12 to 15 customer "queue lines" were established inside the store, each one for a product or product category in high demand like LCD televisions, cameras, camcorders, basketball goals and Blu-ray DVDs. "They were very polite and well mannered," he said about the crowd.
He said Wilkesboro's Walmart Super Center, one of the largest in the immediate northwestern area, has a customer base that includes people in adjoining counties.
Several shoppers interviewed as they left stores in the Wilkesboros this morning were from outside Wilkes.
Felicia Daniel and her mother, Brenda Eller, got up at 2 a.m. today to leave their homes in Mouth of Wilson, Va., in time to be among the first in line for the 4 a.m. opening of the Kohl's department store on U.S. 421 West in Wilkesboro.
"We did this instead of going to Bristol. We thought about Hickory, but we like the stores here (in the Wilkesboros) better," said Mrs. Daniel. Mrs. Daniel and Mrs. Eller also shopped at Belk and JCPenney on U.S. 421 West in Wilkesboro.
Kay Roberts, Diane Williams and Tasha Braswell, all of Taylorsville, also decided to shop in the Wilkesboros instead of Hickory. Mrs. Roberts, who is Mrs. Williams' sister and Mrs. Braswell's aunt, said the decision was partly based on the smaller crowd of shoppers in the Wilkesboros.
The trio arrived here in time to be sixth in line at Kohl's, where they bought throw blankets and other Christmas gifts. They also shopped at Belk and JCPenney, which also opened at 4 a.m., and other stores here.
Pat Bowlin of Hays and Belta Handy of North Wilkesboro missed the line outside Belk by arriving about 5 this morning. They shopped at Belk until about 7:30 a.m. and had to make two trips carrying merchandise to their car.
Belk Manager Jeff Beard said sales at his store this morning appeared to have improved over Black Friday morning last year. Belk opened at 5 a.m. instead of 4 a.m. last year.
JCPenney Manager Phyllis Blackburn said sales at her store this morning appeared to be about even with last year, but JCPenney opened at 4 a.m. on Black Friday last year.
Many local retailers, such as Walgreen's on D Street, North Wilkesboro, count more on daylong Black Friday sales and less on early morning sales. |
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