In a scene repeated all across the country Thursday, shoppers tried to beat the Black Friday crowds and snag some bargains for Christmas gifting on what is being called “Brown Thursday.”
A long line appeared at Gordmans in Hillsboro as the store re-opened for holiday shoppers at 3 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, and assistant store manager Brenda Coleman said it was one of the busiest days she had seen in her 19 years with the company.
“We were busy the whole time,” Coleman said. “Even with all the online shopping going on and the big box stores staying open 24 hours for their Black Friday preview, we were still busy and stayed that way until we closed at one in the morning.”
The number of people enjoying their Thanksgiving dinner at Bob Evans Restaurant was nothing short of overwhelming, according to hostess Kelsey Adams.
“I was welcoming people at the door yesterday,” Adams said. “At one point I was telling people there would be almost a one-hour wait, and I was scheduled eight to eight yesterday [Thanksgiving].”
Adams said it was almost an even mix of people spending their Thanksgiving dinner inside with Adams and her fellow serving staff and people stopping in to pick up a Farmhouse Feast to take home.
At Janie’s Closet, owner Janie Angles said their Thanksgiving night store opening was “a great, fun night, with a lot of local and out of town customers.”
The story was the same at Lisa Pitzer’s Shabby Moose store on N. High St. Pitzer called Thanksgiving evening at the store “nothing short of insane.”
“It was wonderful, we were open 6 p.m. to midnight,” Pitzer said. “This is my second year of owning the store, so I feel like I’m in competition with myself, and we well exceeded our numbers from last year.”
It was so busy, she said, that the store didn’t close until 45 minutes past their midnight closing time. Pitzer said she’s looking forward to the Small Business Saturday event in Hillsboro, adding that even without the event last year, her store wasn’t prepared for the amount of sales.
The Take Me Home for the Holidays event is scheduled for Saturday in conjunction with the nationwide Small Business Saturday.
In Hillsboro, 28 members of the Hillsboro Uptown Business Association and Highland County Small Businesses are teaming up in the promotion. Participating merchants have punch cards available for customers to pick up.
When a customer visits 10 participating stores, they’ll be eligible for entry into a giveaway with over $1,000 in gift cards and products.
A complete listing of the participating businesses in Hillsboro, Greenfield, Leesburg and New Vienna appeared in Tuesday’s edition of The Times-Gazette.
Reach Tim Colliver at 937-402-2571.
