Black Friday

Big shopping day after Thanksgiving feels good

By Rob Cullivan

The Gresham Outlook, Nov 28, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (4 Reader comments)

Jim Clark / Gresham Outlook

Nestor Torralba of Gresham exits Best Buy with a new 32 inch flat screen television on Friday afternoon. Shoppers were out on Black Friday, but were being careful how they spent their dollars.

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Aaron Bargar, who manages Best Buy in Gresham Station, has a smile on his face as customers mill about his electronics and software store on Black Friday.

“It’s actually increased in total traffic and total volume compared to last year,” he says.

His store has staged a number of promotions recently, he says, and customers are coming in to save money on such items as Blu-Ray Disc Players, televisions and laptops.

Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is so called because it’s generally when a large amount of shoppers help stores become profitable for the year. The Outlook informally surveyed stores such as Best Buy as well as shoppers to see what kind of effect the slumping economy had on Black Friday, traditionally the largest shopping day of the year.

Twilight zone

It’s the Harry Potter of this year, the book and movie “Twilight,” according to Julie Nelson, general manager of Borders in Gresham Station.

“Anything associated with ‘Twilight’ keeps selling out,” she says as she looks over a display with books, hoodies, pins and magnets associated with the young adult vampire-romance novel written by Stephenie Meyer.

The book was adapted for the silver screen, and the blockbuster movie includes scenes shot in Corbett, Damascus and Multnomah Falls.

Deanna Fitzwater, 14, who attends Sam Barlow High School, is one of several teenage girls perusing the Borders “Twilight” display.

“Even though it totally couldn’t happen, the way (Meyer) writes seems more realistic,” Deanna says.

Meyer is not the only popular author this year, Nelson says. Popular suspense novelist Dean Koontz has just published “Your Heart Belongs to Me,” and journalist Malcolm Gladwell has released “Outliers: The Story of Success.” Both books are attracting buyers, Nelson says.

Bookstores have an advantage in a sluggish economy over other retailers, she adds.

“Even the nicest book in the store is not nearly as expensive as a TV,” she says.

Black Friday is turning out to be a good day, she says, noting the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is shorter this year so people want to get out and shop.

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