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By Randy Tucker, Tristan Navera and Robin McMacken
Staff Writers
Updated 10:02 PM Friday, November 25, 2011
Black Friday shoppers — some still clad in their pajamas — flooded Dayton
stores late Thursday and early Friday on the hunt for deals.
Traffic around the Dayton Mall remained heavy but spirits were high. The
parking lot was full at 5:30 a.m. as shoppers, many of whom had been at the
mall since its midnight opening, grabbed 30, 40 and 50 percent-off deals.
“I always do this every year with my daughter,” said Mary Houssman, 84, of
Leesburg. “It’s very fun, and we find a lot of stuff.”
Holiday sales are critical for most retailers because they can represent as
much as 40 percent of annual sales. Black Friday has traditionally marked
the beginning of the period when many retailers start to turn a profit for
the year.
This year, however, consumer angst over high unemployment, food and fuel
prices and uncertainty about government policies is expected to restrain
spending.
The National Retail Federation expects this year’s holiday retail sales to
increase 2.8 percent to $465 billion. But that is well below the 5.2 percent
increase retailers saw last year for the holidays.
Experts say that’s one reason many retailers opened at midnight. If spending
is going to be restrained, retailers want to get their share as early as
possible.
At The Greene in Beavercreek, Shirley VanDyke and her daughter Annie Spitzer
said they left their Vandalia homes at 6 a.m., lured to the center in hopes
of winning one of five iPads being given away.
In Miami Twp., several shoppers at big-box stores quickly got in, got what
they wanted and got out. But many at the Dayton Mall tended to linger
between stores. One shopper said at 6 a.m. she’d been at the mall since
midnight, while another said she waited in lines for two hours.
“It’s amazing to see people turn out for Black Friday,” said Nita Paltal,
owner of Tutti Frutti, a new frozen yogurt store in the mall. “Since we’re
so new, it’s been good for us. People not familiar with frozen yogurt try
samples and come in.”
Not all businesses in the area opened for the rush. Dave Murr, of Fan’s 1st
Choice in the Dayton Mall, said his store opened at
6 a.m., but he may have
“missed the boat.”
“I heard it was absolutely crazy (Friday morning),” he said.
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